For Phase 3, we wrote an argumentative research essay about a topic of our choosing. Here is my research essay:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                      Inside a Teens Mind

 

        Throughout our lives, we’re expected to act a specific way by our family. To act a certain way, behave a certain way, follow their rules, and listen to their expectations. Not knowing what effect this has on teens, parents think that teens are just over-dramatic and extra. When in reality, we’re dealing with problems of our own without letting others know. Teens already go through enough in school; having to repeat the same cycle of being or trying to be this honor student to please their families is already enough for them to handle. This demonstrates how teens set high standards for themselves, but it’s not for them; it’s for their family. But, there’s more to it; a teen could’ve gone through a traumatic experience or live in a toxic environment and pretend their life is picture-perfect. To their families, they don’t do anything, so they shouldn’t be tired or mad or never have time to do anything. When in reality, teens are trying to stabilize their lives, making their minds calm to handle their families and society. Mental health in teens needs to be normalized and not them using it as an excuse. Their mental health is more important than school, cleaning, or helping around the house. To sum up, everything that has been discussed, I will be further analyzing why families, and society in general, aren’t taking teens seriously when it comes to their mental health and why families aren’t considerate of how a teen feels pushing themselves in every aspect of their life. The many mental struggles that teens face are usually deemed unreal or insignificant by the adult world. Since the mental health of teens is not taken seriously, this paper aims to argue that teens have both real and severe struggles and that their mental health should be taken more seriously by the society at large.

 

Mental health is something that should always be taken seriously, regardless of who deals with it. For teens, they have to tackle school, work, chores, and their mental health. Now, granted, many adults have mental health issues and deal with more than teens, but imagine when you’re constantly being told what to do and when to do it. Teens are typically labeled as lazy, never wanting to help. They’re able to hang out with friends but can’t help with their chores. Many teens use school, their friends, and any excuse to get away from their homes. The majority of teens’ mental health is low due to them being home, the environment or just their family constantly belittling them. This article, “Common stressful life events and difficulties are associated with mental health symptoms and substance use in young adolescents,”(Low 2012) mentions how teens who encounter problems mentally use coping skills such as drugs and alcohol to distract them. Teens get stressed out with many things in their lives, not knowing how to deal with any of it, often turning to drugs and alcohol, hoping that it’ll help them cope with their issues. While reading this article, I realized that the more stressors a teen encounters with their life, dysfunction, economic hardship, stressful social dynamics, and many others, the more likely it is that a teen will turn to substance abuse. What teens don’t realize is that with the amount of drugs and alcohol they consume, they’re damaging their minds and bodies, causing them and their mental issues to worsen over time. However, teens use it as an escape from reality, which their families don’t understand. Their families think that them doing drugs and drinking alcohol is just them being teens. Not understanding why they act the way they are, teens get blamed for just trying to stay alive.

 

With teens struggling with their lives, it often leads to certain behaviors and actions. For one, some teens act as if nothing scares them like they’re able to do whatever they want without anyone stopping them. Most people think that it’s just their personality, the way they are. In reality, it’s this facade that teens put up to don’t have to think about any of their mental issues. Thinking about their problems causes them to feel specific ways about themselves. Those particular ways of thinking about themselves often lead teens to suicidal thoughts, and eventually, some teens listen to those thoughts. “Teen Psychological, Social, and Emotional Wellbeing: Moving Upstream with Evidence‐Informed Policies” (Dougherty 2020) informs readers how the majority of teens, ages 13-18, use drugs and who are also suicidal. Using drugs, they let these thoughts into their minds, starting to take control of them, allowing them to get inside their heads and canceling out everyone around them. Not knowing the effect drugs have on a young person’s body, especially someone struggling with mental health issues, teens let these drugs take over their lives. The life that they can longer deal with, the life that is too stressful for them to handle. Since their families don’t give them time to themselves, they just push teens past their limit without realizing how much it hurts. Turning to drugs often leads to teen suicide, simply because they cannot talk to someone or just be themselves.

 

Families aren’t the only reason why a teen would resort to drugs and alcohol. School and work is another reason why many teens suffer from mental health issues. Since teens bottle up all of their emotions, it makes it difficult for them just to relax. Constantly feeling anxious and stressed out, they never fully know how to cope with everything. In this video, “Brainstorming: Teens Take on Mental Health in School,” the narrator, Kareem Weekandasy, states how suicide is the third leading cause of death for ages 10-24, school-aged children to young adults. Suicide is caused by many factors, stress, anxiety, depression, and so many other factors. 1 in 5 teens suffers from depression at any point in their lives, not knowing how to deal with or talk to others. Along with depression, stress, anxiety, and other mental issues can have robust control over your life. Since it is all too much for teens to handle, the one thing that helps them escape from everything is drugs, but that ultimately drives them to suicide. Something that can be preventable if they didn’t have to worry so much about their life because they’re afraid of disappointing their families or don’t want to be someone who uses their mental health as an excuse.

 

For most teens struggling with mental issues, it can be difficult to act like they’re fine. When really, it can be hard for them to disconnect from the world. For example, an average teen who attends school, participates in extracurricular activities, and works spend an average of 20-24 hours constantly living that life. Most teens spend 12 hours practicing for the sport they play without taking a break. This article, “What’s Bugging Your teen?” (McVey 2016), analyzes the effects that mental health can have on a teen’s body. Adolescence is a critical period for brain development since it is the time of significant growth and development inside a teen’s mind. Teens still depend on their brains to make certain decisions and solve problems more than adults do. The article explains how sometimes, the teen’s brain gets too stressed out, causing it to change and develop around the stress that the teen endures. Each stressor that’s in a teen’s life determines the change that happens to their brain. While this may be helpful to some teens, for other teens, it can damage their brains, influencing their brains to make bad decisions based on their lives.

 

To conclude, the majority of teens struggle with mental health issues. While some can get the help and support they deserve, others aren’t, making it such abysmal for them to cope with their problems while dealing with their life. Teens’ mental health should be taken more seriously, and overall, they shouldn’t be seen as a joke or an excuse to their family or society. Constantly trying to be the best they can be and prove their worthiness to those around can be stressful for teens. Without them realizing it, they’re damaging their brains and bodies and hurting themselves negatively. Teens behave a certain way so their families and society won’t label them as lazy or unhelpful by their families and society. This can make teens feel bad about themselves, but they do everything they can to hide their emotions, and their families don’t even realize it. A teen’s mental health shouldn’t be affected by the things and the people they love.