Disability and Mental Health; Struggling in Silence?

By Sohani Singh

The word ‘disability’ is often used in correlation to physical disabilities, or, at least, the ones which are visible to the naked eye. A major aspect of disability that tends to be ignored, but is equally rampant in both western and eastern societies, is mental health, even more so after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Health Organisation, “because of demographic changes, there has been a 13% rise in mental health conditions and substance use disorders in the last decade (to 2017). Mental health conditions now cause 1 in 5 years lived with disability. Around 20% of the world’s children and adolescents have a mental health condition, with suicide the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds.” (Source).

These glaring statistics highlight the fact that a significant number of adolescents struggle with their mental health and well-being, a number that only seems to be on the rise with every passing day. There are various reasons that explain such an increase, ranging from demographic changes and negative family environments, to child mistreatment and neglect. Many scholars also increasingly blame the rise of social media usage. Importantly, it is abundantly clear that mental health disabilities affect people in their adolescent years as well as their adulthood alike and these adolescents struggling in silence need to be helped.

Debates about treatment must take accessibility into account, and how it varies globally. A way to think about this is dividing countries between high and low income, where the latter results in a shortage of mental health professionals, and fewer diagnoses of the population overall. “Around 75% of people with mental disorders in developing countries never receive any treatment. On average, countries spend only 1.7% of their health budgets on mental health. But there is a significant gap between high- and low-income countries.” (Source).

Furthermore, across the board, societal stigma also reduces the number of teenagers confident enough to reach out for help. Indeed, they do not want to be classified as mentally ill and in severe cases be ostracized from their communities. “The most common mental health disorders teenagers experience are anxiety and depression. One in twelve (8%) experience anxiety and one in twenty (5%) depression. Some have both at the same time. One in three teenagers with these conditions (and their families) do not seek or access any professional help.” (Source). In fact, in most instances, adolescents themselves do not realize that they are struggling with a mental health concern of some sort due to the lack of education surrounding the topic and the causality with which words like anxiety, depression, etc. are thrown around in conversations on an everyday basis.

With the onset of COVID-19, depression and anxiety among kids as well as adolescents has been on the rise; “Social isolation through the pandemic, stress in school, conflict at home with parents who are also highly stressed creates a powder keg in the house. Everyone has been dealing with an emotional experience during COVID,” according Becky Lois, a Clinical Psychologist (Source). Therefore, it is of great importance that mental health disorders are treated throughout different stages of growth and development to avoid problems later on. Prevention is the best cure, and solutions are rooted in the cooperation between schools and caregivers. Indeed, educational institutions conducting quarterly mental health awareness workshops hosted by professionals, which could educate parents, in most cases their primary guardians, about the early symptoms of mental health disabilities in children. This enables them to monitor their child properly and help them with potentials signs of distress. For adolescents, schools should have onsite mental health professionals that students can consult regularly. This way, any mental health concern a student might have can be dealt with complete confidentiality. The process to seek help either via school or university should be quick and efficient as many times due to the sheer red tapism in seeking appointments, etc. adolescents are often left in a lurch. Lastly, as peers, it should also be our endeavour to create progressive and inclusive environments for those who are struggling silently, to let them know that they aren’t alone and can voice their concerns at any point in time without being shunned, judged or negated.

(The image above depicts an instance of someone who has been on the waitlist for 3 months for a diagnosis regarding a mental health issue.)