Z - Z Gen & Mental Health #AtoZ #MentalHealthAwareness

Generation Z — the group of young people born roughly between 1995 and 2015, who are currently between 4 and 24 years old. Today, one in three teens between the ages of 13 and 18 has an anxiety disorder.

Members of Generation Z are the most likely of all generations to report poor mental health. Psychologists believe what stresses today’s young people out could be a product of what their parents experienced while they were very young. Youngsters today are less hedonistic, better behaved and more lonely than ever before. Z'ers having grown up with a smartphone has led them to expect information and entertainment on-demand, instantly, and in phone-sized bites.

The American Psychological Association found that almost one-third of teens say they feel sad or depressed and overwhelmed due to stress. A report by the Association finds the rate of adolescents reporting symptoms of major depression increased 52 percent between 2005 and 2017 — from 8.7 percent to 13.2 percent — among youth from the ages of 12 and 17.

The increase was even higher — 63 percent from 2009 to 2017 — among young adults between the ages of 18 and 25. Depressive symptoms among “Generation Z” – teenagers born at the turn of the millennium – are around two-thirds higher than the “millennial generation” born in the early nineties.

They are also more likely to self-harm, suffer from poor body image, skip sleep and be overweight

School and the pressure to get good grades appears to be the leading source of stress for many young people. Work, finances and health-related concerns all stressed out more Gen Z adults than adults overall, the report says. Money was the most common source of stress, affecting 81% of Gen Z adults and 64% of adults overall.

Research has shown that a strong social network can help mitigate the effects of stress and improve mental health overall. Social media doesn’t seem to be helping, either — while about half said it was a source of support, another 45% said social media made them feel judged, and 38% said it made them feel bad about themselves.

Just like our bodies develop a biological immunity through exposure to threats, our psychological system can also develop immunity through exposure. In today’s over-protected Generation Z when parents fight too many battles for their kids, it doesn’t allow children to develop the coping skills they need to deal with adversity.

Teenagers from poorer households tended to report a wider range of behavioural problems than those from rich households, but concerns about mental health seemed to affect both groups equally.

While Generation Z might be more likely to report poor mental health, they’re also more likely than older generations to be aware of their mental health and seek out help when necessary.

DISCLAIMER: All the information being provided her has been sourced from the internet and books and some also via personal experiences. It has no medical authentication per se so suggestions if followed must be done in consultation with a trained mental health professional.

References:

https://www.voanews.com/a/mental-health-epidemic-hits-generation-z/4835910.html

https://www.ishn.com/articles/109656-generation-z-is-stressed-out-its-causing-mental-health-problems

This post is a part of April Blogging from A To Z Challenge

You can find all my posts here. 

Y - Yoga for Mental Health #AtoZ #MentalHealthAwareness

The eight limbed path of yoga includes: Yama (moral codes), niyama (self-discipline), asana (postures), pranyama (breath practices promoting life force), pratyahara (sensory transcendence), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), samadhi (state of bliss). “Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind” - Patanjali Sutras

Yoga originated in India several thousand years ago as a system of physical and spiritual practices. It was formalized in the second century BC in the form of the Yoga Sutras, attributed to the scholar Pantanjali. The word roots of yoga mean “to join” in Sanskrit.

Joining mind and body, and individual and collective selves is the essence of this ancient South Asian practice.

Yoga has minimal side effects and is cost-effective in comparison with pharmacological treatments and psychotherapy. Yoga’s added benefit is that it improves physical fitness and encourages self-reliance.


Yoga has been shown to enhance quality of life in people who are healthy and ill. A review study found that yoga is as effective or better than exercise at improving a variety of mental and physical health measures such as stress, quality of life, mood states, heart rate variability, pulmonary function and so on.

From a yogic perspective, the breath is a bridge between mind and body. Slow diaphragmatic breathing is common to almost all forms of yoga. The key to quieting the mind is slowing and deepening the breath. Practicing yoga helps to regain mental stability, calmness, and tranquility, primarily because of this kind of breathing.


Practitioners are able to connect internally through this stillness and silence. Virtually all yogic practices, including asana (postures), pranyam (life force practices), dhyana (meditation), encourage quietness and listening within. Being kinder and gentler to oneself and others is part of the practice on and off the mat.


More than any other aspect of yoga, researchers have investigated how it affects individuals with mental health conditions. The results are overwhelmingly encouraging, suggesting that yoga helps improve mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, among others.


With one in four people affected by mental health disorders at some point in their lives, many people are viewing yoga and mental health retreats as effective strategies as an effective strategy that can help protect and restore the mental health of individuals throughout the world.

Yoga has been shown to increase the level of gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, a chemical in the brain that helps to regulate nerve activity. This is especially relevant to people who have anxiety disorders in which GABA activity is low.


However, patients with mental disorders should not try yoga on their own but only after consulting their psychiatrist and psychotherapist. For minor everyday anxiety, simple yogic breathing techniques might be worth a try as a self-care strategy.

DISCLAIMER: All the information being provided her has been sourced from the internet and books and some also via personal experiences. It has no medical authentication per se so suggestions if followed must be done in consultation with a trained mental health professional.

References:

https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/5-ways-yoga-is-good-for-your-mental-health

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/yoga-for-anxiety-and-depression

This post is a part of April Blogging from A To Z Challenge

You can find all my posts here. 

X- Expressing Mental Health #AtoZ #MentalHealthAwareness

Artwork and psychiatric disorders are often linked. Accomplished artists with psychiatric disorders express themselves and their emotional distress through their works, and art therapists use the visual arts to help clients understand their problems and cope with them.

Several notable artists with psychiatric disorders have expressed their thoughts and moods in their artwork. Mark Rothko, Edvard Munch, and Bernard Buffet stated that their artwork reflected their depressed mood. Art historians and writers have interpreted the paintings of some artists (including Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Jackson Pollock) as showing evidence of a psychiatric disorder.

Psychotherapy clients are often at a loss to describe how they feel. The discipline of art therapy is devoted to helping individuals express themselves without the need for language or logic; their lack of artistic skill or training is no barrier to self-expression.

Artists, psychologists, and sociologists have weighed in on this topic for more than 200 years, without a resolution. Benjamin Rush, the “Father of American Psychiatry”, thought a connection between mental illness and artistic creativity was likely. The Italian criminologist and psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso,theorized that artistic genius was also a form of mental illness.

Art Therapy

The first documentation of art as therapy was in the mid-19th century, in Scotland when asylum inmates were given art materials and encouraged to draw and paint. Since then, art therapy has evolved into a professional discipline with study at the Masters level leading to certification.

Art therapy is used with hospitalized patients with severe and persistent mental illness, inpatients with depression and anxiety disorders, and outpatients with any emotional disorder. Some addiction recovery programs use art therapy, as do programs for autistic children, incarcerated prisoners, and multi-lingual programs where verbal exchange between clients is limited.

Anyone who feels overwhelmed or pressured by the hectic world we live in should try art therapy. Creating art will give you a chance to slow down and explore any issues you may be having. 

Art therapy improves the mental health of people who are dealing with addictions, anxiety, attention disorders, grief and loss, dementia, depression, eating disorders, physical illness, PTSD, trauma, relationship issues and much more.

Since the focus is on the process and not the final product, art therapy is not about becoming a great artist but about finding meaning and connection in your life. All you need for it is a willingness to experiment.

Mental Health Benefits of Art Therapy Activities

Art therapy can be used as a complement to traditional mental health treatment.  The aims are:

• ·         Self-discovery
• ·         Self-esteem
• ·         Emotional release
• ·         Stress relief

DISCLAIMER: All the information being provided her has been sourced from the internet and books and some also via personal experiences. It has no medical authentication per se so suggestions if followed must be done in consultation with a trained mental health professional.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2736519/

https://www.rtor.org/2018/07/10/benefits-of-art-therapy/

This post is a part of April Blogging from A To Z Challenge

You can find all my posts here.