Mental Illness Pandemic
I believe the reasons why there are high rates of mental illness among young
adults are mostly related to environmental and behavioural influences. Some of the
environmental factors that can be influencing the high rates of mental illness include
stress related to school, work, sleep, eating habits, social media, and the covid-19
pandemic. The covid-19 pandemic had a strong impact on people’s lives and it still does
in a way. A lot of students including myself had to face things we never thought we’d
ever have to deal with, such as having our last years of high school ruined because we
couldn’t go to school anymore due to quarantines, not having a graduation, not having a
prom, and not getting to spend our final year with our friends before moving on to
post-secondary school. These things and the trauma everyone had to face still have an
effect on people’s mental health, despite everything being mostly back to normal now.
Lastly, many behaviours that we do or don’t do can impact our mental health. For
example, eating healthy can positively impact mental health, whereas not eating healthy
can negatively impact it.
The reasons I listed mostly fall under three main categories: environmental
factors, behavioural factors, and biological factors. Any disruption in these three things
can strongly impact mental health. According to the textbook, teenagers and young
adults usually get 6 or less hours of sleep, even though their brain and body needs at
least 7-8 on average to function properly. During the lecture about sleep and the videos
we watched we learned that lack of sleep can lead to many problems, including
depression and anxiety, so if young adults are constantly lacking sleep then it could be
what is influencing high rates of mental illness among this age group. Moreover,
environmental and behavioural influences can change our brains physically as shown in
the brain hacks video. For example, one’s amygdala can be larger in size if they regularly
experience negative emotions due to depression and/or anxiety, but engaging in positive
coping mechanisms such as meditation, exercise, listening to uplifting music, etc on a
daily basis can help to shrink the size of the amygdala. Therefore, the three main
categories all influence one another, which is why a disruption in any or all of them can
negatively affect one’s mental health.
References:
● James W. Kalat, Biological Psychology, 13th Edition, Cengage.
● Kopinska, Agnieszka. “Wakefulness and Sleep.” Biological Basis of Behaviour. 23
July, 2024, York University, Toronto, ON. Lecture.
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqONk48l5vY&ab_channel=TED-Ed
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SwUqo0fQr0&t=46s&ab_channel=Kokoro_C
edar
I believe the reasons why there are high rates of mental illness among young
adults are mostly related to environmental and behavioural influences. Some of the
environmental factors that can be influencing the high rates of mental illness include
stress related to school, work, sleep, eating habits, social media, and the covid-19
pandemic. The covid-19 pandemic had a strong impact on people’s lives and it still does
in a way. A lot of students including myself had to face things we never thought we’d
ever have to deal with, such as having our last years of high school ruined because we
couldn’t go to school anymore due to quarantines, not having a graduation, not having a
prom, and not getting to spend our final year with our friends before moving on to
post-secondary school. These things and the trauma everyone had to face still have an
effect on people’s mental health, despite everything being mostly back to normal now.
Lastly, many behaviours that we do or don’t do can impact our mental health. For
example, eating healthy can positively impact mental health, whereas not eating healthy
can negatively impact it.
The reasons I listed mostly fall under three main categories: environmental
factors, behavioural factors, and biological factors. Any disruption in these three things
can strongly impact mental health. According to the textbook, teenagers and young
adults usually get 6 or less hours of sleep, even though their brain and body needs at
least 7-8 on average to function properly. During the lecture about sleep and the videos
we watched we learned that lack of sleep can lead to many problems, including
depression and anxiety, so if young adults are constantly lacking sleep then it could be
what is influencing high rates of mental illness among this age group. Moreover,
environmental and behavioural influences can change our brains physically as shown in
the brain hacks video. For example, one’s amygdala can be larger in size if they regularly
experience negative emotions due to depression and/or anxiety, but engaging in positive
coping mechanisms such as meditation, exercise, listening to uplifting music, etc on a
daily basis can help to shrink the size of the amygdala. Therefore, the three main
categories all influence one another, which is why a disruption in any or all of them can
negatively affect one’s mental health.
References:
● James W. Kalat, Biological Psychology, 13th Edition, Cengage.
● Kopinska, Agnieszka. “Wakefulness and Sleep.” Biological Basis of Behaviour. 23
July, 2024, York University, Toronto, ON. Lecture.
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqONk48l5vY&ab_channel=TED-Ed
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SwUqo0fQr0&t=46s&ab_channel=Kokoro_C
edar
