One in five adolescents experience mental health challenges—emotional, mental, or behavioral—in any given year, Shagufta said, a figure confirmed by the U.S. Center for Disease Control.
Salience Health, which offers mental health treatments, has locations in Frisco, Allen, Dallas, McKinney and Plano, according to its website. A new location is planned to open in Southlake at the end of August.
Put in perspective
There are two primary diagnoses seen in adolescents—anxiety and depression—Shagufta said.
Shagufta said a significant contributing factor to this mental health crisis is that many social interactions now occur on virtual platforms and some young people struggle to develop social skills in that setting.
Additionally, adolescence is a pivotal development period where many begin to find their identity, Shagufta said.
“They often are very zealous and idealistic and creative and they have a lot of purpose but if that transition doesn't happen as smoothly as we would like then it lends to a lot of confusion,” Shagufta said.
For many these feelings were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Shagufta said.
What parents should know
Addressing mental health needs can be a challenge itself, Shagufta said. For many, there is a disconnect between children and their parents.
“Parents sometimes forget they were children once upon a time,” Shagufta said. “This makes it difficult for them to understand how important certain things might be for [their children].”
In addition, many children often have difficulty verbalizing their feelings.
Shagufta said signs an elementary student is facing mental health challenges include not wanting to go to school, inability to sleep and a desire to co-sleep.
Older children may show behavioral changes such as bouts of anger and being argumentative. Shagufta said behavioral changes often resemble power struggles.
The stigma of mental health has decreased among young people, Shagufta said, but she advocates for a better understanding of mental wellness rather than mental illness.
She said one approach is to have more conversations around what mental wellness looks like to children. Shagufta suggested talking to children about anxieties they might be facing or changes their body will undergo as they grow that could affect their body image.
To have effective conversations, Shagufta said parents must encourage honest dialogue, which begins with the relationship parents have cultivated with their children during formative years.
Additionally, she recommends parents be a guide rather than just an authority figure. She also said parents should acknowledge children, even high school aged children, are still maturing emotionally.
"We look at teenagers, we look at their verbal capacity and we treat them like adults because they have the language of an adult but their emotional needs are very premature at that time,” Shagufta said. “When a teenager throws a tantrum, we punish them. If a toddler throws a tantrum, we don't."
