Problems of adolescents (Information overloading, substance abuse, suicidal tendencies, depression, sex abuse etc)

1. Suresh Babu G
PROBLEMS OF ADOLESCENTS
Suresh Babu G
Assistant Professor

2. Suresh Babu G
Problems of Adolescents
1. Loneliness:- It is an unpleasant feeling that causes
to feel empty, alone and unwanted result from
inadequate social relationships.
Causes
(a) Lack of social skill
(b) Lack of interest in other people
(c) Lack of empathy
(d) Lack of self-confidence
1. Developmental Problems of Adolescents

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(e) Failure to disclose information about themselves to
potential friends
(f) Pessimism about life in general
(g)External locus of control like shyness, anxiety, low
self-esteem, parental separation etc
Consequence of Loneliness
(a) Depression and suicide
(b) Increased stress level
(c) Decreased memory and learning
(d) Antisocial behavior
(e) Poor decision making
(f) Alcoholism and drug abuse

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Dealing with loneliness
 Provide personal guidance
 Assess the circumstances that lead to rejection
and assist them to change the situation
 Give social skill developing programmes
 Give opportunity to practice social skills and
boost self-confidence.
 Arrange proper co-curricular activities as to
express feelings.

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2. Peer Pressure in Adolescence
According to Kail, peer pressure is the influence
exerted by a peer group, encouraging
individuals to change their attitude, values or
behaviors in order to conform to group norms.
.

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There are two types of peer pressure
 Positive Peer Pressure : Social influence
exerted by peer for the development of desirable
attitude and behavior.
 Negative Peer Pressure : Social influence
exerted by peer for the development of
undesirable attitude and behavior

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Positive effects of peer pressure
• Mobilize teen’s energy, motivate for success and
encourage the teen to conform to healthy
behavior.
• To develop healthy friendships, self-identity, self
esteem, and self-reliance.
• Influences the development of moral value and
sense of justice.
• Lead to good habit formation like book reading,
exercising, etc
• Help for right choice in life.

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Negative effects of peer pressure
• Cultivation of bad habits such as doing drug,
smoking, shoplifting, cutting class, eve teasing,
underage drinking, etc
• Causes subsequent scholastic backwardness
and underachievement.
• Affiliation to political extremist and communal
fanatic groups.
• Membership in antisocial gang
• Making wrong academic and career choices
• Loss of individuality.

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Strategies for coping with peer
pressure
• Establish and maintain good communications
and healthy and positive relationships with the
adolescent
• Being genuinely interested in teen’s activities.
• Encourage independent thought and expression
• Nurture teen’s abilities and self-esteem
• Encourage positive relationship between
significant adults and teens

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• Encourage to have many different friends
• Support parent education programs for families
with teenagers
• Encourage individuality and independence
• Encourage friendships with positive role models.

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The joint family was largely replaced by different
forms of family such as nuclear family, single
parent family, adoptive family, blended family,
cohabiting family etc each contributing
unparalleled emotional and behavioral problems
in children and adolescents. They are:
• Behavioral Problems – aggression, bullying etc
• Emotional Problems – Distress etc
• Low mental health Status
3. Changing Family Structure and Adolescence

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• Delinquency
• Involvement in illegal activities
• Maladjustment
• Substance abuse
• Child abuse
• Sexual activeness
• Low academic performance
• Higher rates of depression
• Classroom indiscipline
• Attendance shortage

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It is a term popularized by Alvin Toffler in 1970 (
book Future Shock ) . It refers to the difficulty a
person can have understanding an issue and
making decisions that can be caused by the
presence of too much information.
4. Information overloading (nick named infobesity)

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Effects of information overloading on adolescents
1. Adversely affect the quality of information
2. Make Short term memory
3. Problems in learning and creative problem solving
4. Too much stimuli causes restless in students
5. Causes fatigue syndrome – loss of confidence ,loss
of focus in work etc

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6. It affect quick decision making
7. t causes anxiety and deteriorates overall mental
health of individuals
8. Cause for short term memory

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Solutions
• Filtering – attention on useful information
• Multitasking
• Queuing
• Escaping
• Prioritizing
• Satisfying
• Altering
• Shifting
• Time management training
• Bussiness writing training
• Information literacy training
• Chunking and mnemonics training
• Offer technology training

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Child sexual abuse is a form of child violence in
which an older person uses a child for sexual
situation.
Consequences of Sexual Abuse
• Depression
• Low self-esteem
• Mistrust of adults
• Feeling of anger and hostility
• Difficult in getting along with peers
5. Sexual Abuse of Children

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• Withdrawn behavior
• Sleep disturbances
• Regressed behavior
• Self-injurious behavior
• Fear
• Inappropriate sexual expression

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Dealing with sexual abuse
• Strengthen family relationship
• Extend support to the parent or caretaker of
single parent child
• Help the family of abused child
• Make genuine interference to prevent sexual
abuse from continuing
• Arrange for therapy if necessary
• Provide adequate education to children to
recognize inappropriate sexual advances.

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• Strengthening of school-home relationships
• Initiate Child-Help Desks in schools

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• The term substance abuse refers to repeated
use of a psychoactive substance (illegal drug)
that result in significant adverse effects and
maladaptive behavior.
Causes of Substance Abuse
• Insufficient parental supervision
• Lack of communication and interaction between
parents and children
• Family conflicts and breakage
• Parental alcoholism or drug use
6. Substance Abuse among Adolescents

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Consequences of Substance Abuse
• Loss of life – accidents, homicides and suicides
• Effect on physical health – risk of cancer, heart
disease etc
• Effect on mental development
• Effect on cognitive functioning – Altered
attention, distorted perception etc
• Psychological effect – diminishing of self-
esteem, personality distortions etc
• Low academic performance
• Effect on social behavior – antisocial
behavior

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Impact of Television on Adolescents
• Medical consequences – obesity, diabetes
• Physical hazards
• Television addiction
• Sleep disturbance and associated problems
• Effect on school achievement
• Viewing violence leads to immediate
distress and fear
7. Impact of Media, Internet and Mobile

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Impact of mobile phone and internet on
Adolescents
• Physical health and physical dangers
• Deterioration of mental health
• Effect of cognitive functioning
• Cyber crimes
• Low academic achievement
• Adverse effect on life cycle
• Internet addiction disorders

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Symptoms
• Sadness or hopelessness
• Anxiety, irritability, anger etc
• Tearfulness or frequent crying
• Withdrawal from friends and family
• Loss of interest in social activities
• Fatigue or lack of energy
• Thoughts of death or suicide
8. Depression among Adolescents

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Effect of Depression
• Bullying or harassment at school
• Running away
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Low self-esteem
• Internet addiction
• Violence
• Suicidal tendency

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Warning Signs for Adolescent Suicide
• Withdrawal from family and peers
• Loss of interest in previously pleasurable
activities
• Difficulty concentrating in schoolwork
• Neglect of personal appearance
• Obvious changes in personality
• Sadness and hopelessness
• Change in sleeping pattern
• Symptoms of clinical depression
9. Adolescent Suicide

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Causes of Adolescent Suicide
• Depression or feelings of loneliness or
helplessness
• Emotional neglect
• Alcoholism or drug addition
• A family history of abuse, suicide or violence
• Previous suicide attempts
• A recent loss such as a death, break-up, parents
divorce, illness or disability
• Stress over school, relationships, performance
expectation etc

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Preventing Adolescent Suicide
• Provide instant crisis intervention to help the
adolescent to cope with immediate crisis.
• Provide mental health education to solve
problems and cope with stress
• Organize school programmes to boost up self-
esteem of young children
• Identify high risk adolescents and offer guidance
and counseling
• Give emotional support to the victim
• Give free environment for talk about him and his
feelings

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Developmental Problems of
Adolescents in India
Some of the outstanding problems of Indian
adolescents are the following:
• Perplexity with regard to somatic variation –
Lack of scientific information about sex hygiene
and physiology make them to satisfied with
crude and perverted knowledge about sex-
related matters.

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• Problems related with intensification of sex-
consciousness : Adolescents are curious to
know about sex related topics and seeking
answer to their innumerable doubts in sexual
matters.
• Childhood – Adulthood conflict : The poor
adolescent is caught between the role of the
child and the adult, which push him into
confusion and tension.

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• Adjustment difficulties with parents : The
conflict between parental norms of behavior and
peer norms leads to friction.
• Adjustment difficulties with the community :
Difficulty in adjusting their capacity to the
demands of the community.

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• Adjustment difficulties with
school discipline
• Financial Problem : Instead of
begging money from parents
they resort illegal means to get
money.
• Problem of freedom and liberty
• Classroom conflict :
Adjustment problem with
teachers and classroom
atmosphere

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• Health adjustment problem
• Heterosexual adjustment problems
• Occupational problems

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Thanks