How the approach to youth mental health is adapting

Updated on October 10, 2019

Thankfully, we currently live in an era where we are open to the possibility of providing the younger generation with professional standards of help, particularly when it comes to mental health. While many children have visited psychologists, even in infancy, it has become more acceptable to put children and teens forward for psychiatric help. This is important for tackling mental health complexities in later life and acknowledging problems before they become bigger. It has also seen developments and improvements along the way. 

Sooner rather than later

It cannot be emphasized enough just how important it is to deal with psychiatric conditions sooner rather than later. While it’s true that it’s important for children to be children, if issues develop, they need to be addressed. It has been found that the sooner protocol was put in place for issues such as eating disorders, the more positive the outcome was. 

Individual approach for addiction

The teenage years follow closely ahead those of infancy that the idea of teenage addiction is a thought that makes many recoil. Seeking treatment, however, should never be seen as taboo. It’s so important that addiction and substance abuse issues are dealt with effectively that a more individual approach is necessary. Centers such as Ignite Teen Treatment use this individualistic approach to ensure that each patient receives a tailored treatment. Realistically, there is no one-size-fits-all application for treating addiction. This is why a personal approach works so well. 

Virtual reality 

While internet addiction is a concern for the younger generations, the methods for improving psychiatric conditions have moved into the realm of internet technology. E-health is a vastly improving and growing sector, and its benefits are becoming increasingly apparent. If there is a complaint, however, it’s that E-health has not been trialed enough on the younger generation. Virtual reality, or VR, has been found to be incredibly effective at aiding and improving mental health disorders in adults, for example. If these therapies were more widely accessible to younger adults or children, there could perhaps be a broader scope for improving mental health conditions for younger members of society. 

Wider study samples

In order for the approach and understanding of youth mental health to grow further, it is understood that wider sample sizes need to be taken. The results are still clear in most cases; intervention should be immediate and CBT has been found to be particularly effective, particularly when supervised by a psychologist. However, in order for this research to develop further, it’s understood that the sample sizes need to larger and the type of children and young people surveyed need to be more diverse. This is particularly pertinent as it has been suggested that maybe those on the autistic spectrum are far less likely to be diagnosed accurately. 

The improvement in the approach to young people’s mental health has seen vast improvements in the availability of support for those who need it. However, on top of the established understanding that faster intervention is needed and that individual support works best, new and exciting treatment methods need to be more widely applied. 

The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.