Greater attention needs to be paid to the mental well-being of everyone, especially adolescents, as one in seven adolescents have mental health conditions.
Speakers said this at a roundtable discussion on adolescent mental health at development organisation D.Net's premises in Dhaka on Monday.
Dnet, in collaboration with UNICEF, organised the discussion titled "Adolescent Mental Health; Challenges and Possible Solutions to Ensure Mental Well-being of Adolescents."
They presented that mental health conditions account for 13% of the global burden of disease and injury in people aged 10-19 years. Evidence shows that 1 in 7 adolescents have mental health conditions, and anxiety and depression account for 40% of adolescent mental health conditions. Half of all mental health conditions start by 14 years of age and 3/4th by their mid-20s.
Study shows that globally anxiety disorders affect 3.6% of 10-14-year-olds and 4.6% of 15-19-year- olds. Depression affects 1.1% of teenagers aged 10-14 years and 2.8% of those aged 15-19 years (Who, 2021). According to the WHO Global Health Estimate 2000-2019, in older teens (15-19 years), suicide is the fourth highest cause of mortality.
In Bangladesh, according to a community-based survey done in 2009, the incidence of mental illnesses among children is 18.4% (Gausia et al., 2009). Another survey done by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) published in 2021 shows that the prevalence of mental disorders among children aged 7 to 17 years was found 17.3%. Among total diagnosis of mental disorders Depressive Disorder 24.8%, Somatic Symptom Disorder 15.9%, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 13.9%, Neurodevelopmental Disorders 10.5%, Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders 4.7%, Conduct Disorder 4.7%, Bipolar and Related Disorders 3.7%, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) 3.1%, Conversion Disorder
They said mental health is not just about not having a mental disorder. It's important to pay attention to the mental well-being of everyone, especially adolescents. During adolescence, people go through a lot of changes—physically, emotionally, psychologically, and socially. These changes can make adolescents vulnerable to mental health issues due to things like their living conditions, stigma, prejudice, exclusion, or a lack of support and services. This can lead to different disorders like emotional, behavioral, eating disorders, and self-harm.
The roundtable meeting brought together esteemed experts from government, non-government organizations, development partners, and academia to address the critical issue of adolescent mental health. The event aimed to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among key stakeholders in this field.
Co-Founder and Executive Director of Dnet M. Shahadat Hossain delivered the welcome speech, setting the tone for the discussion. In his speech M. Shahadat Hossain said, “Dnet has always been passionate about adolescent mental health. In continuation of this today the roundtable meeting was organized by Dnet with the support of UNICEF. Dnet will continue to conduct such activities in the future as well.”
Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed, Associate Professor at the Child Adolescent & Family Psychiatry Department, National Institute of Mental Health, has delivered the keynote speech on Adolescent Mental Health, offering valuable insights and expertise. In addition he said, “At least 1 in 7 adolescents worldwide has a mental health problem.”
Dr. Md. Shamsul Hoque, Program Manager, MNC&AH, DGHS has said that DGHS has initiated 3 approaches for providing adolescent mental health services which are: School-based activity, facility level and community level.
Dr. Md. Shahidul Islam, Program Manager, NCDC, DGHS has focused on the essential service package that was last updated in 2016, and a new operation plan for mental health and disabilities.
Assistant Professor of National Institute of Mental Health. Sadia Afrin said Bangladesh still has a 98.3% service gap, which is still a big challenge in adolescent mental health care.
UNICEF Bangladesh's Maternal and Adolescent Health Department Health Specialist, Dr. Jannatul Ferdous said, there is no substitute for community preparedness, implementation research, action research for success in adolescent mental health activities.
Ismat Jahan, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA) said that in 43 higher secondary schools in Dhaka, teachers have been trained in supportive counseling for the development of the mental health of teenagers. He also said that the Ministry of Women and Children has formed organizations for teenagers and the organizations are working automatically.
SAJIDA Foundation’s representative Rubina Jahan has said “When we are arranging various programs it is very important to design according to the needs of the target group.”
Monira Rahman, Innovation for Wellbeing Foundation & MHFA Bangladesh, emphasized the need to focus on resource allocation for better implementation of programs.
Dr. Sabrina Rafi said, first of all, to improve the mental health of adolescents, they need to be empowered. Positive parenting should be given more importance.
Dr. S. M. Yasir Arafat, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Enam Medical College and Research Fellow of Dnet, moderated the roundtable discussion.