Untitled Quiz

Eight Types of Challenges for Adolescents

• Self-Esteem: A person's subjective evaluation of their own worth.
• Physical Appearance: Teenagers are highly self-conscious about their physical appearance, as it's often the first thing noticed by others.
• Group Belongingness: Adolescents feel a strong need to belong to a group and fit in.
• Relationships: Developing emotionally mature and rational thought and behavior is crucial for healthy relationships.
• Sexuality and Sexual Relationships: Hormones become active during adolescence, leading to a strong sexual drive.
• Academic Concerns: Other factors can distract adolescents from fulfilling academic obligations.
• Choosing the Right Career Path: Career choices significantly impact future paths and academic choices.
• Socio-Emotional Challenges: Both male and female adolescents experience psychological challenges during this period.

Major Challenges

• Family:

  • Quest for independence
  • High expectations
  • Making career choices
  • Relationship issues

• School:

  • Relationship issues

• Peers:

  • Peer pressure
  • Peer conflict

Pitfalls of Adolescents

• Using and Abusing Drugs: Often influenced by peer pressure, starting with alcohol and progressing to cigarettes.
• Being Addicted to Computer Games: Creating a virtual world to cope with feelings and emotions.
• Running Away from Home: A reaction from parents, a desire to escape unhappiness, or a way to get what they want.

Being Sexually Promiscuous

• Heightened sexual desire.
• Hormonal changes
• Many teenagers are affected by HIV (DOH, 2014)

Becoming a Teenage Parent

• Low education.
• Low income.
• Lacking rights.
• Intergenerational cycles of poverty and ill-health.

Depression

• High rates of depression are often linked to heightened adolescent emotional intensity.

Depression Symptoms (DSM-5)

• Depressed mood most of the day.
• Significantly diminished interest or pleasure.
• Significant weight loss/gain or appetite changes.
• Insomnia or hypersomnia (excessive sleep or lack of sleep).
• Psychomotor agitation or retardation.
• Fatigue or loss of energy.
• Feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt.
• Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness.
• Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.

Strategies to Cope

• Accepting feelings.
• Identifying vulnerabilities.
• Developing talents/interests.
• Building relationships with others.
• Seeking help when needed.

Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory

• Three Levels of Awareness:
  • Conscious: things we are aware of.
  • Subconscious/Preconscious: easily retrieved information.
  • Unconscious: repressed drives and instincts.
• Three Provinces of the Mind:
  • Id: present from birth, seeking immediate gratification.
  • Ego: responsible for dealing with reality.
  • Superego: internalized moral standards and ideals.

Freud's Defense Mechanisms

• Repression: Forcing negative feelings into the unconscious.
• Reaction Formation: Adopting opposite behaviors to unacceptable feelings.
• Displacement: Redirecting unacceptable urges to other people or objects.
• Regression: Reverting to earlier, safer behaviors.
• Projection: Attributing unwanted thoughts or feelings to others.
• Sublimation: Channeling negative urges into socially acceptable actions.

Brain

• Has unique systems like working memory.

Basic Understanding of the Brain and its Functions

• Hindbrain: Responsible for instinctive and autonomic behaviors.

  • Medulla: Controls vital functions like heart rate, respiration, and digestion.
    • Cerebellum: Regulates posture, balance, and coordination
    • Pons: Links medulla and other brain areas, regulating movement, sleep, and arousal.
    • Reticular Activating System: Controls attention, movement, sleep, wakefulness, and reflexes.

• Forebrain: Responsible for intellectual activity and consciousness.

  • Cerebrum: The "executive center" of the brain involved in language and thinking.
    • Thalamus: Relays sensory information.
    • Hypothalamus: Controls physiological functions (e.g., temperature, hunger, thirst).
    • Corpus Callosum: Connects two brain hemispheres.
    • Pituitary Gland: "Master gland" controlling the endocrine system.

Lateralization of the Brain

• Localization of specific brain functions to one side of the body.
• Left hemisphere: Controls logical and intellectual functions (e.g., language, reasoning).
• Right hemisphere: Handles creative, intuitive, and emotional functions (e.g., creativity, awareness, imagination).

Whole Brain Theory

• Identifies four thinking styles:
  • Analytical
  • Practical
  • Relational
  • Experimental

Mind Mapping

• Graphic method to explore ideas by enhancing brain activity visually and spatially.

Mental Health and Well-being in Middle & Late Adolescence

• Disorders and Concerns:
  • Depression
  • Suicide
  • Anxiety
  • Conduct disorders(behaviors that harm others)

What to Eat?

• Calcium and Vitamin B2 in Milk: Soothes anxiety/restlessness.
• Banana: Serotonin (happy hormone) & Potassium (reduces tension).
• Sweet Potato: Vitamin D supports nervous system activities.
• Cereals: Vitamin B Complex & fiber for digestion.
• Avocado: Potassium & Vitamin E for calming.
• Coffee and Chocolate: Can exacerbate stress.

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia Nervosa: Starving on purpose.
• Bulimia Nervosa: Binge eating followed by purging.

Strategies to Cope with Stress

• Problem-focused: Addressing problems directly.
• Emotion-focused: Dealing with emotions surrounding problems.

Problem-solving Skills

• Identify the problem
• Brainstorm solutions
• Evaluate pros and cons
• Choose the best option
• Create backup plans

Psychological Resilience - coping with stress

Cognitive, Emotional and Physical Symptoms of Stress

Describes various symptoms of mental distress