Mental health
Adolescence is a critical and formative period in which individuals begin their transition from childhood to adulthood. Ensuring that adolescents are fully supported in all facets of life is critical for fostering this transition and laying the foundation for a healthy and productive remainder of their lives.
While there are many factors that significantly affect adolescence, mental health and well-being have often been overlooked. Mental health issues constitute a major burden of disease for adolescents globally. It is estimated that up to one in five adolescents will experience a mental disorder each year, self-harm is the third leading cause of death for adolescents and depression is among the leading causes of disability [i]. Despite this, adolescent mental health and well-being has often been overlooked in global health programming. Yet, in the Sustainable Development agenda, mental health is being more critically recognized as an important component of the global health agenda. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.4 [ii] aims to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment as well as promoting mental health and well-being. The inclusion of mental health in the Sustainable Development agenda is a crucial step toward reducing preventable deaths among adolescents.
For more information about ongoing efforts for measuring adolescents mental health conditions at the population level click here
