Adolescent Concerns

Adolescence is the most fascinating and crucial stage in the life of an individual. Adolescence covers 10 to 19 years of life. It is the period of rapid physical changes and deep emotional changes. Adolescents form significant proportion of the population of any nation, and the care of the adolescents should be of great concern for every pediatrician.

Why We Are Concerned About Adolescents?

Adolescence represents high risk period in human life cycle and requires special attention by everyone involved in health care. Importance should be given to the nutrition and physical growth. An adolescent is under lots of pressure from parents, teachers, peer
group and the society. Adolescence is viewed as a period of stress. About to 10 to 20 % of adolescents experience severe emotional reactivity. They show impulsive behavior and rebelliousness. Personality development is completed during adolescence. It is also the time for deciding the future career. Hence proper scientific guidance is necessary during adolescence to lead them towards successful adulthood.

Stress in Adolescents

Teenagers experience strong feelings of anxiety, confusion, pressure to succeed, financial uncertainty, and other fears while growing up. Stress is a normal universal human experience and proper management of stress in adolescents is highly essential for success in life.

Symptoms of stress

An adolescent under stress may present with emotional, behavioural or
psychosomatic symptoms. Deterioration in scholastic performance and lack of concentration in studies are common presentations of a student under stress. And hence, any adolescent presenting with forgetfulness and scholastic backwardness needs individualised evaluation to find out the underlying stress. Anxiety, depression and even deliberate self harm can occur in an adolescent under stress. Stress can lead an adolescent towards alcohol or other substance abuse.
Psychosomatic symptoms are quite common and it manifests in the form of somatoform disorders in adolescents. The common somatoform disorders seen in adolescents include pain disorder, somatoform autonomic dysfunction and conversion disorders.

How to prevent stress related problems in adolescents

Role of family members

Adolescence is a period of growth and change. So it is essential that parents are always willing to support them and guide them in the correct direction. Parents should give them all the love, care and affection they wish for. Recognize their good deeds and complement
them. Parents should also point out their mistakes and motivate them to excel in life. Express concern, but not criticism. Be a good role model and friend.

Responsibilities of Adolescents

Do the duties at home and at school in the best way. Peer group pressure is significant during this period. It is not just something to be used as an excuse when someone gets into trouble. Be assertive to avoid unwanted peer pressure, as well as negative influences by media. Peer group can have
tremendous influence on your life, so be friendly with positive people and be a positive person yourself. Try to be empathetic with parents and teachers. Improve the study skills and be a motivated student.

Management of Stress

Role of experts in Adolescent Guidance

Individualized detailed evaluation after establishing good rapport is essential to find out the underlying stress in adolescents. They need counseling to improve self esteem and motivation. Associated learning problems should be managed with individualised remedial training programmes. Family guidance is also an essential aspect of the
management of stress in adolescents. Life skills training helps adolescents to deal effectively with demands and challenges of everyday life.

Conclusion

Adolescence is the period of prime importance in the life of a person. Hence care of adolescents is the need of the hour. Its the duty of the parents, teachers and health professionals to guide adolescents towards excellence in life.