It’s normal for any young person to have phases of selective eating or specific requirements about how and where they eat their food. But research suggests that autistic young people may experience eating difficulties more often or more persistently than young people who are not autistic.
Autistic young people often experience food aversion, especially related to a food’s texture, taste, or other senses. While food aversion isn’t always a problem, it can lead to malnutrition and other health problems, especially when entire food groups are avoided.
School avoidance can have a big impact on young people’s well-being and futures, but change is possible. Sometimes, schools can adapt parts of their programs to address the issues that are making a young person anxious. Some young people require professional support to address anxiety disorders that may underlie school refusal.
When young people experience sexual harassment, it can affect how they perceive themselves, their appearance, and their bodies. It may cause them to place more of their self-value on their appearance or their body shape and weight. They may become increasingly dissatisfied with their bodies or ashamed of the way they look.
Using positive language helps young people with mental health disorders to feel included in society and understand their self-worth. It also makes it easier to access treatment and to reach out to other people for support. At the same time, it affects the way society views people with mental illness, challenging stigma and discrimination in its many forms.
In a family, parents are usually expected to fulfil their children’s basic physical and emotional needs. This means providing them with food, shelter, and warmth, as well as care, affection, and attention. It involves intervening in difficult situations, protecting them from harm, and providing emotional support when they feel distressed.
Emerging adulthood – the transition from childhood or adolescence to adulthood – is often a challenging and unstable time. Young people may be undergoing physical, psychological, and social changes and exploring their identity and place in their communities.
When we think of eating disorders, we usually associate them with Western perceptions of an ‘ideal’ body. For a feminine body, Western ideals typically promote
Adehonia – the loss or reduced ability to experience pleasure – can affect young people for a variety of reasons. It may be precipitated by loss or grief, times of stress, or other distressing situations.
When young people are living with unprocessed trauma, it can affect every part of their self. Young people have described feeling like everything is dark,
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental health disorder that affects the way a young person sees themselves and interacts with the world around them. Young people with BPD often have an unstable or incoherent sense of self, patterns of unstable relationships, and intense emotional reactions. They may experience chronic feelings of emptiness and a fear of abandonment by others.
Dissociative experiences often happen when someone is exposed to a traumatic event. When someone experiences trauma, they may be overwhelmed by stress and detach, in some way, from their experience, emotions, and/or body. People who have experienced acute trauma often describe dissociating from their bodies and watching something happen to themselves.
Despite the mental health epidemic among adolescents and young adults, only a minority access treatment. Barriers to treatment are often institutional: in many places, specialist services do not exist, or spaces are lacking with long waiting lists. But many young people don’t seek help for mental health problems in the first place. Studies suggest that only 18-34% of young people with mental health disorders try to access professional support.
