Understanding Mental Health Needs for Young Adults
Young adults tend to overlook their mental health needs and concerns. It’s easy to write off stress, anxiety, or depression as part of “being in your twenties” or just being young in general. While life can be stressful for young adults, it doesn’t mean that you should suffer through it.
Often, young adults are some of the best candidates for mental health needs, and it’s important to understand these needs and figure out how to treat them.
Many Young Adults Have High-Functioning Anxiety
Are you good at hiding how nervous you are, especially under pressure? Do you feel you’re always going out of your way to please everyone else? When you have alone time, do you spend it worrying about work or an upcoming task?
If any of these scenarios sound familiar, you may have high-functioning anxiety.
High-functioning anxiety is common, though many people may not even realize that they have it. If you successfully get through your days, exceed at work, and fulfill all of your responsibilities, you can’t have anxiety, right?
Many young adults have this mindset. While you may feel worried or anxious throughout the day, you still get through it. You likely overthink every little conversation that happens, constantly seek reassurance from your peers, and secretly worry that you’re doing everything wrong. But, because you still manage to succeed at work and get everything done, you assume that your anxiety is just a normal way of life.
Young Adult Depression Rates Are High
Along with anxiety, depression is a common mental illness amongst young adults. This stage of your life is difficult: you’re trying to excel in your career, maintain a social life, take care of yourself, and possibly find a long-term relationship or start a family.
While it’s exciting to fulfill these goals, it can also be draining and discouraging at times. As time goes on, you may become depressed without necessarily realizing it.
If you have trouble sleeping, start to avoid social situations, become more irritable, and find yourself wanting to close off from the rest of the world, you may be depressed. While depression is common in young adults, many overlook their symptoms and try to power through their lack of motivation. The more depression goes untreated, however, the more it can snowball and become harder to manage.
Chronic, Extreme Stress at Work or Home Isn’t Healthy
While stress isn’t necessarily a mental health issue itself, it can lead to long-term mental health effects. Young adults have some of the highest stress levels out of any age demographic, and there are some understandable reasons for it.
Young adults often spend much of their time worrying about money, their career, school, social obligations — and this stress can add up to something very unhealthy.
Stress is a normal and crucial part of our lives, and it’s not always a bad thing. It can help motivate us to work towards our goals. Short-term stressors aren’t typically a cause for concern. Many don’t realize that their stress isn’t in a short-term zone anymore; they’ve reached that dangerous area of long-term, chronic stress and don’t know how to fix it.
If you constantly worry about things that aren’t in your immediate control, you may be dealing with chronic stress. Against many young adults’ popular belief, it isn’t normal to feel the weight of the world on your shoulders at all times.
Seeking Young Adult Therapy For Your Mental Health Needs
Young adults experiencing stress and anxiety often struggle through the years, hoping that things will get easier as they get older. If you’re suffering from a mental illness, however, there’s a chance that things will only continue to get worse.
It doesn’t have to be this way, and you don’t have to struggle through your young adulthood. By seeking the help of a therapist or doctor, you can work through some of your issues and find a treatment that will work best for your needs.
Don’t continue to overlook your mental health needs—seek help today and start enjoying your youth instead of struggling through it.