Adolescent mental health

Raihan used to narrate the whole school day at dinner, from the cricket match to the chemistry teacher’s moustache. Now, in the months before his O levels, he eats with one earphone in and goes back to his room. His parents tell each other it is a phase. Some nights his mother stands outside his door, hand raised, and does not knock.

An illustration drawn from common experience. The people are invented; the pattern is not.

Understanding adolescent mental health

Some distance from parents is a normal part of growing up. But young people experience depression and anxiety too, and often show them differently from adults: through irritability, anger, physical complaints or falling grades rather than visible sadness. Exam pressure, bullying, life online, changes at home, questions of identity and difficult experiences can all play a part. Some young people hurt themselves to cope with feelings they cannot yet put into words.

How common it is

One in seven people aged 10 to 19 in the world lives with a mental health condition, WHO estimates, and half of all mental health conditions begin by the age of 18, according to WHO’s work on child and adolescent mental health. Many go unrecognised and untreated.

In Bangladesh, a peer-reviewed study of news reports, by researchers linked to the Aachol Foundation, counted 984 student suicides in 2022 and 2023, likely an undercount; 72.5% of them were aged 13 to 19. The foundation’s count for 2025, reported by The Daily Star, records at least 403 student suicides, up from 310 in 2024.

Signs worth noticing

• Withdrawing from friends, family or activities they used to enjoy
• Changes in sleep, eating or energy
• Falling school performance, or refusing to go to school
• Irritability, anger or tearfulness that lasts for weeks
• Signs of self-harm, or talk of hopelessness or of not wanting to be here

How care helps

Dr. Tajreen sees children and adolescents as well as adults. An assessment listens to the young person and, with their agreement, to the family. Care may include individual therapy, work with the family, practical support around school and, where it helps, medication, discussed carefully with the young person and their parents.

What getting better can look like

For a family like Raihan’s, the first step is often the knock on the door, and a conversation that does not try to fix everything at once. Talking to a professional need not put a label on a child. It gives the family a shared language for what is happening.

Common questions about adolescent mental health

How can I tell if my teenager is depressed or just moody?

Some distance from parents is a normal part of growing up. Young people with depression or anxiety often show it through irritability, anger, physical complaints, falling grades or withdrawing from friends, rather than visible sadness, and the change lasts for weeks. Signs of self-harm, or talk of hopelessness, are a reason to seek help without waiting.

Will seeing a psychiatrist put a label on my child?

Talking to a professional need not put a label on a child. An assessment listens to the young person and, with their agreement, to the family, and often gives everyone a shared language for what is happening. Any treatment, including medication where it helps, is discussed carefully with the young person and their parents.

When to see a psychiatrist

Trust your sense that something has changed. If you are worried about your child’s immediate safety, do not wait.

Care here is personal: built around your history, your health and what you want to change, and reviewed with you as it goes.

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999 or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.

Sources

• World Health Organization, “Mental health of adolescents” fact sheet, September 2025
• World Health Organization, “Child and adolescent mental and brain health”
• Himel et al., Health Science Reports, 2024
• Aachol Foundation, reported in The Daily Star, 1 March 2026