UN calls for action to ensure
mental health of adolescents
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| World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 ctober every year. |
The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day, October
10, is “young people and mental health in a changing world”.
By Robin Gomes
With one out of five adolescents in the
world said to be suffering from mental health problems, most of
them undetected and untreated, the United Nations is calling on the world to
ensure the psychological wellbeing of young people aged 10 to
14, to prevent them from compromising a serene future and creating social
problems.
For this reason, the United Nations World Health
Organization (WHO) marked this year’s World Mental Health Day on Wednesday,
drawing attention to the psychological wellbeing of young people.
Distress
“Poor mental health during adolescence has an impact on
educational achievement and increases the risk of alcohol and substance use
and violent behavior,” said UN Secretary-General António
Guterres in a message for the annual October 10 observance.
He warned that many children and teenagers caught up
in conflicts and disasters worldwide, are
particularly at risk of psychological distress.
According to WHO, half of all mental illnesses begin by the
age of 14, but most cases go undetected and untreated. Depression is
one of the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents and suicide is
the second leading cause of death among 15 to 29 year-olds.
Physical, sexual and psychological violence against women,
the UN secretary-general said, results in lasting scars, including
post-traumatic stress disorder.
Leave no one behind
However Guterres pointed out that “a great deal of mental
health conditions are both preventable and treatable, especially if
we start looking after our mental health at an early age.”
Despite the commitments of the 2030 Sustainable Development
Agenda of leaving no one behind, “those struggling with mental health problems”
he regretted, “are still being marginalized”.
WHO pointed to “growing evidence that promoting and
protecting adolescent mental health benefits not just
adolescents’ health, in the short- and the long-term, but also economies and
society as whole, with healthy young adults able to make greater contributions
to the workforce, their families and communities”.
WHO recommended investing in: greater integration of mental
health into broader health and social care systems, under the umbrella of
universal health coverage; mental health resilience-building through parents
and teachers; and psycho-social provision in schools and community spaces,
especially in hardship contexts such as conflict and natural disaster settings.
“If we change our attitude to mental
health – we change the world,” Guterres assured, urging, “It is time to
acton mental health.” (Source: UN)
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