Mental health is dealing with our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It also includes how we handle our stress and make sensible choices during challenging times. It's vital for everyone at every stage of life, from a child to an adult.

Science has identified many factors for mental health problems including:

• Biological factors, such as genes or heredity
• Life experiences, such as trauma

Almost more than half of the world is addicted to the internet where children, and teenagers in specific. Being online and staying connected with people through social media has become the new norm and even though it can be taken as a positive sign that we are progressing in digitization on par with other developed countries, it also comes with its own negative effects!

This over-dependence on technology has brought up many concerns among parents that digital technologies and social media have exacerbated the mental health of today’s kids. It is leading to disturbance in their sleeping pattern, confining them indoors leading to depression at one point, enabling cyber-bullying and making ways for morphing too easy. In fact we can also state that there’s nothing that you won’t find online these days, including even ideas for crime and taking bad decisions regarding one’s life!

It's high time to adopt an approach that mitigates the negative impact these digital technologies have on children and young adults as they seem to consume most of the time of these people on daily basis. We have come to a stage where if someone doesn’t have a social media account, they are actually looked down and thought they are so narrow-minded! We as a society have the responsibility to empower today’s youth to the benefits of using technologies and make them understand the harmful effect it could have on our mental health. Digital industry should also be encouraged and monitored to produce only appropriate and young adult accessible content.

Researchers have identified some of the most common warning signs in teens and adolescents who suffer from mental health issues including:

• Extreme mood swings
• Drug or alcohol use
• Severe changes in sleeping habits, personality traits, and behaviour
• Less span of concentration
• Attempting to harm one’s self or thinking about it
• Sudden weight loss or weight gain
• Feeling withdrawn or sad
• Signs of addictive behaviour in regard to the internet

If you observe any of these signs in your loved ones or known child, don’t wait to seek medical help as you may actually be saving them from getting worse. Creating boundaries and setting up screen time is of paramount importance so as to avoid future mental health complications.