Young Adults with Mental Illness

Introduction

Mental illness is among the most prevalent health problem among young adults. Common mental disorders among young adults include depression, alcohol use disorders, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders. Factors associated with a high prevalence of mental illness among young adults include love changes, changes in work life, relationship issues, financial stability, frequent residential change, getting and raising children, among other issues (Gustavson et al., 2018). According to Jurewicz (2015), mental health problems are allied to work problems, poor educational achievement, and interpersonal problems. People with mental illness experience many challenges such as increased suicide rates, loss of employment, relationship problems, and other unmet needs such as poor or lack of housing, poor nutrition, and poor access to healthcare and treatment (Gustavson et al., 2018). This paper will analyze the health problem of mental illness among young adults in West Virginia, and the associated impacts such as the risk of suicide, nutritional needs, and homelessness.Young Adults with Mental Illness

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Objective Data

West Virginia has a population of about 1.9 million people and statistics indicates approximately 5.5% of adults within West Virginia have serious mental health disorders such as major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder (CDC, 2016). The rate of mental illness among young adults in West Virginia is particularly high. Mental illness can lead to suicide, which is the second leading cause of death within the US for young adults. The prevalence of mental illness is significantly higher in West Virginia when compared to other states within the US. The prevalence of mental health disorders is significantly higher among young adults than the other age groups, and also higher among females when compared to males.Young Adults with Mental Illness

According to the CDC (2016), the prevalence of mental disorders is significantly among young adults with less than high school education, when compared to young adults with higher education. In West Virginia, the prevalence of mental illness is significantly lower among graduates. This is supported by many studies that indicate that the prevalence of mental illness is higher among people with low education levels when compared to the other education groups (Auerbach et al., 2018). This means that the level of education is attributable to the status of mental health. Moreover, in West Virginia, the prevalence of mental health disorders is significantly higher in households with income lower than $15,000 (CDC, 2016). This indicates that young adults with lower incomes are more susceptible to mental illness. Lack of adequate income to cater for the basic needs and other personal needs may end up causing stress and anxiety, significantly contributing to poor mental health. Moreover, poor mental health is higher among unemployed young adults and young adults with high poverty levels.

The statistics indicate that the prevalence of mental illness among young adults is significantly high in West Virginia. Poor mental health is associated with other problems such as increased suicide risk, poor nutrition, poor access to healthcare, and increased risk of homelessness (Gustavson et al., 2018). Therefore, there is a need to address the high prevalence of mental illness among young adults.

Subjective Data

Mental illness is a key health concern among young adults. Young adults are specifically susceptible to mental illness because this phase is characterized by heightened emotions and turmoil. This is the period the majority of the young adults are transitioning to college, work-life, moving into new locations, and getting into stable relationships. This is also the period some young adults get more responsibilities such as having children, among other financial responsibilities (Häggman-Laitila et al., 2019). Some of these changes along with challenges that come with the changes, as well as the added responsibilities may act as triggers to poor mental health. For example, young adults in their early twenties are leaving their parents’ houses for the first time to either start being independent or attend college. Young adults are under elevated pressure to succeed financially, academically, and socially. Some of them move back to their parents’ homes after college, while others move from support systems and families to start new jobs. All these changes, however exciting may come with a lot of stress, and in turn, the stress can trigger mental health disorders (Chadda, 2018). As aforementioned, some common mental disorders among young adults include bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, addictions, and schizophrenia.Young Adults with Mental Illness

The prevalence of mental illness among young adults has been on the rise. Therefore, the mental needs of this age group need to be addressed since mental illness is allied to lower educational achievement, residential instability, unemployment, as well as poor access to healthcare services. Even though the prevalence of mental health disorders is high among young adults, the issue has not been adequately addressed.

This indicates the need to implement health promotion activities aimed to address mental illness among young adults. Examples of the health promotion activities that could be effective in preventing mental illness among young adults include creating supportive environments at the workplace and colleges, strengthening community action for example through media campaigns, and developing personal skills to promote resilience among this population group (Compton & Shim, 2020). In colleges, community health nurses can implement intervention programs aimed to promote mental health well-being through shared techniques like social skills training, motivational interviewing, or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The goals of such interventions can help young adults to acquire emotional and social skills, and also gain resilience to facilitate positive development and promote emotional well-being. Additionally, young adults in colleges, various workplaces, and even within the community setting need to be educated about various mental disorders and educated on how to acquire coping skills and social support to help them handle the stress that comes with this age (Compton & Shim, 2020). For example, community health nurses can hold seminars in colleges, workplaces, and community settings such as churches and target young adults. The seminars can include educating young adults about the importance of interacting with peers and maintaining an active social life, the importance of participating in community activities and other social activities, how to maintain positive relationships, seeking mental help when necessary, coping skills, and boosting self-esteem.

Health Promotion Needs Assessment

Health promotion needs among young adults include depression, anxiety, suicide risk, nutritional needs, and housing needs. People with mental illness are normally likely to have depression, anxiety, stress, among other mental health needs that need to be addressed. Addressing the areas of mental illness and suicide, along with more general `emotional health’ is important. Additionally, it is important to address nutritional and homelessness needs that people with mental illness often face (Winiarski et al., 2020). For example, people with mental illness may not have the ability to take healthy foods, while some may neglect good nutrition due to symptoms such as lack of appetite and lack of interest and energy to prepare food. Similarly, it is common to find that a high number of people with mental illness are homeless. The key solution is to address the mental illness, the causes, as well as the needs that characterize people with mental disorders. Continued surveillance of poor mental health among young adults can help in identifying the unmet mental health and social needs and thus help in guiding the preventative and treatment interventions.

Healthy People 2020 consists of an objective to increase the number of adults with good mental health. Healthy People 2020 goals also aim to promote mental health through prevention, screening, as well as, provision of treatment among youths and adults with poor mental health, including reducing the suicide rate by 10%. Therefore, a project aimed to reduce the prevalence of mental illness and suicide rates among young adults is in tandem with Healthy People 2020 goals.Young Adults with Mental Illness

The theory of chronic sorrow will be used to guide the project research, health promotion plan, implementation, and evaluation. Chronic sorrow theory addresses the persistent gap between reality and hopes. Chronic sorrow is a pervasive, periodic, permanent, and progressive cycle of sadness. It is a normal response to individuals with mental illness. The chronic sorrow theory emphasizes the significance of coping and having social support when faced with mishaps (Glenn, 2015). Chronic sorrow characterized by poor mental health may thus be a response to life problems such as lack of income or relationship problems as the denial of reality. Coping is defined as constructive/adaptive behaviors categorized into emotion-focused, appraisal focused, and problem-focused. Some people tend to utilize appraisal and problem-focused strategies when handling life challenges that groups such as young adults encounter (Glenn, 2015). The most helpful and effective coping behavior is the problem-focused strategy that involves seeking social support from others. Accordingly, the provision of social support to young adults facing life challenges and mental disorders can help to prevent and improve mental illness in this population group.

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 Interventions

Interventions that target the prevention of mental health disorders among young adults should consist of promotive and preventative strategies. An example of an intervention effective in promoting mental health among young adults includes holding educative sessions in colleges, workplaces, and community settings where the participants are trained about coping skills and social skills. Social and coping skills have been shown to be effective in preventing mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, among other disorders (Das et al., 2016). During the seminars, the participants can be educated on the importance of self-care through healthy eating and exercises; taking with others by sharing personal problems, feelings, and issues with people such as friends, parents, counselors or religious leaders; avoiding alcohol and drugs; engaging in hobbies and favorite activities; taking a break and recognizing when one needs help. Such coping skills can make young adults resilient and provide them with ways to deal with life difficulties that young adults normally face. Additionally, the participants can be trained about social skills such as the importance of interacting with peers and friends to avoid isolation and social withdrawal that could lead to mental disorders such as depression. According to Edraki et al (2018), coping strategies can reduce depression, stress, and, anxiety. Therefore, training in coping skills can educate young adults about coping strategies. Learning how to successfully cope with a problem can increase positive behaviors and improve self-efficacy; increasing self-efficacy can decrease the psychological well-being of young adults. Education approach is a form of primary prevention because it occurs before the manifestation of a health problem and aims to decrease or eliminate casual risk factors, prevent disease onset, and hence decrease the prevalence of the disease (Diez-Canseco et al., 2018).Young Adults with Mental Illness

The second intervention is conducting a screening program targeting young adults to screen if they have or at risk of mental disorders. For example, screening activities can be conducted in colleges, community settings, and workplaces and target young adults. Young adults identified to have mental illnesses or to be at risk of mental illness can then be provided with the appropriate treatments or education to prevent the deterioration of their mental health (Diez-Canseco et al., 2018). Screening is an example of secondary prevention because it takes place at a latent stage of a health problem to reduce the incidence and prevalence of the health problem.

The theory of chronic sorrow can be useful in guiding young adults on how to handle the sorrows, sadness, and stress that come with life challenges. Therefore, the theory of chronic sorrow can be particularly effective in equipping young adults with coping skills and social skills on how to handle stresses and life challenges common in this age group.

Evaluation

The implementation of health interventions normally generates either positive or negative outcomes. The outcomes can be realized after the evaluation of impacts and effects produced after the implementation of a certain intervention (Clarke et al., 2019). Therefore, the evaluation of interventions is the key to examining the efficacy and effectiveness of an intervention to evaluate if the expected outcomes were achieved. The expected outcome of the proposed interventions is to reduce the prevalence of mental illness among young adults with mental illness. It is also expected that the common issues in mental illness such as poor nutrition and increased rate of suicide in this population group would reduce. Other expected outcomes include improved coping skills and increased resilience among young adults. Clarke et al. (2019) further provide that impact evaluation ought to be continuous, periodic, systemic, and summative.

To measure the impact of the expected outcomes after the project is implemented, the prevalence of mental illness in the target group will be assessed. A reduced rate of mental illness among young adults will indicate the efficacy of the implemented interventions (Dye et al., 2019). Additionally, after the training, it will be important to examine the level of knowledge among the participants regarding coping skills and social skills. The participants will be given questionnaires after the training so that their level of knowledge regarding the “training content” is assessed.Young Adults with Mental Illness

Conclusion

Mental illness is very common among young adults due to various challenges such as love changes, changes in work life, relationship issues, financial stability, frequent residential change, getting, and raising children. Moreover, young adults with mental problems tend to neglect dietary needs, hygiene and are also at high risk of suicide. This, therefore, indicates the significance of addressing mental illness among young adults. Healthy People 2020 aims to reduce the number of adults with mental disorders and also reduce the suicide rate by 10%.  Health promotion needs among young adults include depression, anxiety, suicide risk, nutritional needs, and housing needs as this population group is likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, stress, among other mental health needs that need to be addressed. Such health needs can be addressed using interventions such as educating young adults about various coping skills to enable them to handle and deal with life challenges. Additionally, screening programs can be carried out to identify people at risk of mental illness or those already with mental illness to facilitate prompt treatment. Finally, evaluation of the implemented program will help to determine the impact and outcomes of the implemented interventions.

References

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