Studies have shown that mental disorders are often developed during adolescence, and it has been suggested that the early identification of these problems, as well as initiating intervention, can help reduce the impact it will subsequently have on the child's emotional, social, and academic functions. However, statistics also show that there are very few teachers and parents who are actually qualified to assess a teenager's mental health. More often than not, mental health issues are overshadowed by behavior that is considered as part of adolescent development making assessment more complicated.
In these cases, the main role of the parent or teacher is to ensure that they are able to properly identify the signs of mental health issues, as well as risk factors that could be pointing to an underlying problem. If unable to deal with the issues themselves, these adults must encourage the adolescent to seek professional help. In a school setting, counselors may also help to assess mental health risk. Health professionals such as psychologists, psychiatrists, or even general practitioners are considered to be well-equipped to help teenagers with mental health problems and provide them with the appropriate treatment.
Experts say that it could be difficult to pinpoint the symptoms of mental illness at this stage since adolescence behave differently. Their behavior may indicate an associated risk to mental illness, but that does not mean that they already have a mental disorder. The importance of looking out for signs of anxiety or depression has been stressed many times in the past because these usually lead to more complicated conditions as the child grows older. Reduced social behavior, poor school attendance, reduced concentration, dark moods, irrational behavior, pessimistic thinking, irritability, unfounded anger, restlessness, stomach problems, and even a loss of interest are all signs that could indicate an underlying mental issue for teenagers. What concerns medical professionals the most is that these characteristics overlap with attitudes that are associated to rebelling teenagers.
