Many students are affected by mental health diseases like depression, stress, trauma and anxiety.
Red flags have been raised by the many suicide cases among young adults. Managing these issues has been a challenge since most of them are aloof and in their own world.
Young people are committing suicide, having sugar daddies and mummies, engaging in lesbianism and gayism, crime, drugs and substance use and the list goes on.
This trend is at astonishingly high and still going up. What is pushing the young people to their early graves? What is destroying their mental health?
- Social media and peer pressure
Most youths are struggling with group conformity.
They want to belong to the trends. The latest tik tok challenges. They want to engage e in everything now and now. The internet and social media pushes them to instant gratification. It must be now. What happens then when they don’t get the likes and the fame they wanted overnight? What happens when they are trolled one? Abused and cyber bullied?
The thirst for like, subscriptions, friends, overnight celebrity status is pushing many young people down the drain.
What they have forgotten is that the good use of social media and the internet was intended to communicate to friends far and wide, get information fast. All others are just additional bonuses.
The rise of reality shows makes it even worse since the young minds compare their looks and lifestyles to clearly scripted plots!
They end up disillusioned.
- Pornography and substance abuse
Lastly, the internet offers a lot of free and easy sex through pornography. Research has shown that porn addicts suffer the same damage to the brain as their counterparts that abuse cocaine!
The brain becomes so disillusioned that simple tasks like memory become struggle for the youths.
Most boys feel guilty and used after accessing such sites. The feeling is mutual with drug abusers. Slowly the guilt is replaced with an urge to partake of more of the substance. As addiction kicks in, the body changes and hormones homeostasis is destabilized. The nervous system is affected. Psychomotor coordination fails. Judgment is impaired. Hallucinations kick in. poor self-esteem. The ever present desire to just go for more and more, addiction is like a manual car, once you ignite the engine and engage the engine and first gear, the driver has no other option but to listen to the engine needs and noises.
Similarly, the moment we engage in these addictives, we as individuals, lose our control as the body’s desire rule us. We become enslaved. The voices in our heads grow louder by the day. Scream for help please, its always near than you think.
- Life’s challenges
As young people we suffer rejections, loss of our loved ones, trauma, sicknesses, failed tests, identity crises and so much that life throws at us. Such if unchecked, can lead us down the drain.
Find a confidant to talk to. Find a way to express yourself and what you feel instead of stifling it all in.
Write your fears down on a piece of paper then tear it down. A reminder of how temporary they are. Talk passively to yourself. Most importantly pray and believe in God.
In this world we will have trouble, but be encouraged Christ has overcome it for us.
In conclusion, the broad issues discussed above do underscore the importance of guidance and counseling offices in schools whose mandate will but not limited to: Identify learners with mental health issues.
The signs include:
- Delinquency
- Moodlessness
- Truancy
- Loss of interest in hitherto very interesting subjects and interests
- Lack or lots of sleep
- Drug and substance abuse
- Sudden drop in grades
- Depression among others.
By Mike Ochieng
The writer is a team builder/lay preacher/education psychologist and a teacher.
He is the founder of Gorba Total Wellness Services.
mikeochieng11@gmail.com
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