Why YOUR Teen needs Help with their Wellbeing?
Do you actually remember being a teenager? Wow, what a wild ride that was, right? Most people dread even looking at photos of themselves in their teen years. Sure there’s the pimples and the lankiness and the awkward physical aspects of our teenhood, but by far the biggest dread about reflecting on those years is that you might just open yourself up to the emotional rollercoaster that you thought you left behind. Essentially, if you weren't traumatised by puberty, teen angst and coming of age, then congratulations! You are a unicorn!
“if you weren't traumatised by puberty, teen angst and coming of age, then congratulations! You are a unicorn!”
For the rest of us, teenhood is a maze of navigating, friendship, our bodies, our identities, our sexuality, or relationships with others, our school life, home life, social life…the list goes on. How anyone ‘comes out the other end’ with a healthy sense of ourselves, fully functioning adults with jobs and all that is nothing short of a miracle. To be honest, I'd be reluctant to say any of us have fully clocked this life gig, I know I certainly haven't. And although my teen years did teach me a few lessons, I can share that it wasn't all sexual awakening (a-la ‘Almost Famous’) and coming into my imperfect awkwardness like Charlie in ‘Perks of Being a Wallflower’. Largely, it was a mixing bowl of experiences, I didn't always understand and a whole lot of struggle.
Sadly, I spent a lot of my teen years, hunkered in my room crying and wishing I would spontaneously disappear. I had depression and anxiety and continue to manage these conditions in my adulthood. I thought, for sure everyone was keeping a secret from me, the secret to happiness and I wanted the magic bullet to hit me and make me ‘better’.
I wish I was unique, the only teen to have this experience, but unfortunately, the rates of teen depression and anxiety are only increasing in a society that asks our teens to do and be more and more constantly. Beyond Blue found that over 75% of mental health issues occur before the age of 25 and that teens are less likely to seek professional help. In case you were asleep the last little while, the world has also changed for teens in recent years, making it even more difficult to navigate the world. The old adage from our grandparents saying “We had our troubles and we got over them” is no longer valid in today's modern society. Sure the pandemic was a huge contributing factor to a decline in the mental health of young people, but before that, there were the pressures of comparison through social media use, the increasing pressures at school, the decline in physical movement among teens, the disconnection from communities and parents, the list goes on. Sadly, modernisation has (for many reasons) undeniably led young people to a whole new world of struggles and is also pushing them to the brink of a mental health crisis.
I wish I had cheery news here, the bit where I tell you not to worry because I found the answer to eternal happiness. Sorry, despite years of engaging with young people and navigating the world of mental health as a wellbeing specialist in schools, I still don’t know the answers. What I do know is that there are helpful tools and strategies that work for teens specifically. Tools that transformed my life and that have allowed me to manage my own mental health and wellbeing needs across my lifetime. I’ve gathered these and placed them with gentle awareness in my unconscious toolbox. Now I’m ready to share them through the We Are Worthy Wellness offerings.
“Wellbeing a right, not a privilege that should be experienced by all people, despite our age, gender identification, cultural identification or our experience of mental illness.”
It’s important to say here, that I firmly believe wellbeing is for all. It’s a right, not a privilege that should be experienced by all people, despite our age, gender identification, cultural identification or our experience of mental illness. That is, you don't need to be a certain type of person to benefit from wellbeing tools. I often hear from parents, “but my teen doesn't have any problems with their mental health, so they don't need to do a workshop”. And I often think, well you don't wait for your car to break down before you get it serviced. On the flip side, many parents also say to me “I wish I had something like this in my youth, I would have been better equipped to deal with life's ups and downs”. Therefore shouldn't it be a central component of our health to build our wellbeing strategies, especially in our youth, just like getting a blood test? That’s why the offerings are fully inclusive for all young people. The teens I want to get on board are- all of them! I want every young person to know they are valuable, they have the right to be who they want, that they are perfectly imperfect, just like me, and that they are worthy. It is my firm belief that every single young person can benefit from access to wellbeing tools and strategies and it is my mission to provide them.
If you want your teen or school to get involved in a We Are Worthy Wellness offering, please:
Check out our upcoming events, or
Chat to your school Principal and teachers about our workshops in schools, or
Contact me directly to discuss how I can assist
Let’s revolutionise access to wellbeing tools and strategies for our teens together.
Resources: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/media/statistics