Stress in Adolescents - How Can Schools Help?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about one in four people worldwide experiences a mental-health problem such as depression or stress. In Vietnam, about 14.9% of the population has experienced a mental-health problem. In terms of disease burden, stress ranks second only to cardiovascular disease.
Stress-inducing problems are very common among adolescents; almost everyone goes through a stressful period, but without early solutions it can cause many harmful consequences for health, mind and even the future.
The state of mental health is at an alarming level and directly affects the development of society today. Worldwide, among 1.2 billion adolescents, an estimated 10 - 20% have mental-health problems. In Vietnam, the proportion of adolescents with mental-health problems is about 30%, especially during puberty, which is 1.5 to 2 times higher than the global rate. The rate of mental-health injury is high, about 8% to 29%.
According to a UNICEF report, at least 3 million adolescents in Vietnam have psychological and mental problems, but medical intervention and necessary support reach only about 20% of them.
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In 2023, the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City published a study on mental health. A survey of 465 students showed that 77.4% showed signs of psychological distress and 89.67% had engaged in at least one self-harming behaviour such as pulling out hair, hitting their own head or biting themselves. Most self-harming behaviours aimed to reduce feelings of emptiness or numbness.
Stress has many causes, but in general it stems from study pressure, financial problems, failure to adapt to the learning environment and other social relationships.
Community mental health is an alarming issue, and adolescents are among the groups most vulnerable to mental-health harm. Lack of knowledge about mental health, lack of stress-relief skills and lack of support resources are the reasons why adolescent mental-health problems are becoming increasingly serious. Therefore, mental-health support services for young people need special attention at universities.
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Psychological-counselling and mental-health advisory offices should be set up and put into real operation; topics on soft skills and life skills such as stress management, self-management and understanding EQ should be invested in for pupils and students from early on, in orientation sessions at the start of the school year. Periodic mental-health screening is also an effective way to intervene in time in alarming situations. In-depth talks with experts are also an opportunity for pupils and students to have their questions answered quickly.
Stress and depression are often confused, but the relationship between them is two-way. Stress can lead to depression and vice versa; they can even make each other worse.
In short, mental health directly affects quality of life and social relationships. In the long run, continuous stress will cause unforeseeable negative effects. Therefore, improving stress-management skills and providing psychological counselling should be invested in and improved early by schools.
The Institute of Applied Psychology - Education is proud to be a pioneer in psychological counselling and in training life skills and soft skills for pupils and students at all levels, providing services such as psychological counselling and cultivating necessary skills for pupils, students and working people. The trust and companionship of long-standing partners and schools inside and outside Ho Chi Minh City are proof of this. With the goal of building a high-quality workforce for the new economic era, the Institute hopes to continue promoting its assigned functions and tasks.