3018PSY, Behavior Change Skills: Analyzing Stress, Anxiety, Depression

This report, prepared for a Behavior Change Skills assignment, examines the impact of stress, anxiety, and depression on adolescents and young adults. It highlights the vulnerability of this age group to mental health challenges, often exacerbated by factors like brain development, abuse, and family difficulties. The report details the symptoms of depression and the negative effects on social and economic life, as well as societal participation. It emphasizes the potential benefits of managing stress and anxiety, including improved quality of life, better social interactions, and enhanced physical and mental health. The analysis further explores various factors for discouraging stress and anxiety, such as a healthy lifestyle, social support, and appropriate medical interventions, including therapy and medication. The conclusion underscores the importance of early intervention to improve the well-being of young individuals struggling with these conditions, and it provides references to support the findings and recommendations.

RUNNING HEAD: BEHAVIOR CHANGE 0
2020
Behavior Change
Student’s Details-

BEHAVIOR CHANGE 1
Behavior Change due to Stress, Anxiety and Depression
Stress, anxiety and depression can be harmful for the mental health of the people and
needs immediate treatment. These can be found in teenagers and young adults and can also be
found at the workplaces due to the excessive work pressures. This behavioral change need
intervention and can be treated through the therapy and the medications. Here, the essay will
discuss the observation of stress and anxiety in young children and the significant ways by which
the mental health of these children affected and the potential benefits of managing such behavior.
Stress, anxiety and depression in adolescents whose age range is from 10 to 19 years can
get affected by such behavior. The researchers suggest that adolescents are more vulnerable to
the stress and depression due to the changes into the brain. This age group suffers from stress and
other related disorders and this can disrupt their life (Steinberg, 2017). Also, the children of this
age group are observed to be vulnerable from this behavior due to the physical and sexual abuse
and also due to the family difficulties. Moreover, it can also be noted that depression can also be
triggered by the occurrence of event which can cause long term effect on their mental health. The
symptoms of depression can be seen from the fact that children feel prolonged sadness and often
feel uninterested in doing certain things and they feel tired and exhausted most of the time. They
are also observed to make less interaction with friends and family and have difficulty in sleeping
at night (Raes, Griffith, Van der Gucht, & Williams, 2014). The children suffering from
depression have physical symptoms and also have stomach. Moreover, such behavior can cause
negative effect on their social life as they might feel isolated and also this can adversely effect on
the mental health and thus needs proper medication.
Stress and anxiety can have severe consequences on the life of the individual and also can
affect the community. As per the National Alliance on Mental Illness states that 13 percentage of
youth aging 8 to 15 and also 21.4 percent of the children aging from 13 to 18 suffer from the
mental illness during some point of their life (Levine, 2017). The consequences of depression
can be significant as this can affect the social interaction of the person. By focusing on the young
children affected by stress and anxiety, this can be noted that children can have social impact on
their life as children lose their ability to make interactions with others and often, they feel
isolated from others and suffer from lack of confidence in front of others (Mental Health, 2020).

BEHAVIOR CHANGE 2
Further, there can be economic impact of such behaviors in which the people lose their
ability of making economic decisions. As per the study of WHO, anxiety disorders can bring the
cost to global economy which costs US$ 1 trillion each year (WHO, 2019). Also, the
unemployment rates are also affected by the prevalence of such disorders. The societal impact of
depression can be seen from the fact that the young children lose their ability to make active
participation in the society due to losing of the decision-making skills. The depression and
anxiety are seen as the primary agenda for the healthcare policy makers at the local, national and
international level (Jenkins, Baingana, Ahmad, McDaid, & Atun, 2011). The authorities make
the priority of such behavior in which World Health Organization (WHO) sets the standards and
research and development in this regard.
There can be certain potential benefits of managing the stress and anxiety in the young
age children. This can bring the quality of life in these children and often this can help them in
making their interactions better with the family and friends. Along with the social benefits,
managing of such behavior can be beneficial for the physical and mental health and improves as
the interventions can improve their sleep (Smith, 2014). The benefits can also include that it can
help children to be more mindful and focus on their studies which certainly create a better life for
them. Moreover, the reduction of the stress can lead to the healthy lifestyle of the children which
will provide protection from the various diseases.
Also, making compromise with the improvement and management of such behavior can
have an effect on the physical and mental health of the person. The inefficiency in the
management of the stress and anxiety can lead to panic attacks and headaches which create the
vulnerabilities for the diseases. Also, the depression can lead to the loss of interests in the
activities and can have effect on the physical health. If not managed in proper time, children can
suffer from the respiratory problems and can also suffer from the loss of interest in daily
activities which can make loss to the personal life (Davis & Hayes, 2011). This can also lead to
devastating effect on the physical and mental health.
There are various factors which can be considered for discouraging stress and anxiety in
the life of the young children and can also lead to improvement in their health. Children and
teenagers should move towards the healthy lifestyle and eat the healthy food by staying away
from addiction. Considering the social factors, the children should be advised to be mindful and

BEHAVIOR CHANGE 3
should make communication with the close relatives which can certainly make their life go in the
right direction (Wang, et al., 2014). Considering the physical environment, the children should
be given right environment which can persuade the employees which can make the children get
involved into the healthy habits which can make an improvement in the wellbeing.
Apart from this, children suffering from the stress and anxiety, have to be treated with the
proper medications which can regularly be given to the children to cope up with the situation.
The young can also be given therapies which can bring a positive change into their behavior.
Besides, changing the level of thinking and attitude can certainly make them thinking in a more
mindful way (Reilly, Buchanan, Vafides, Breakey, & Dykes, 2014). Also, doing relaxation and
indulging into the mindful things can bring positivity into the life and often can lead to the
improvement in their health.
To conclude, it can be said that the stress, anxiety and depression can cause serious effect
on the mental health of the young aged children. Also, the child’s life is affected by such
behavior and because of which serious intervention is needed which can bring quality of life
within the children. Here, the essay is based on the observation of the behavior of stress and
anxiety in children and also the consequences of such behavior. Also, the essay has discussed the
benefits of the management of stress and anxiety within the children and adverse effects of not
treating the prolonged depression.

BEHAVIOR CHANGE 4
References
Davis, D., & Hayes, J. (2011). What are the benefits of mindfulness? A practice review of
psychotherapy-related research. Psychotherapy, 48(2), 198.
Jenkins, R., Baingana, F., Ahmad, R., McDaid, D., & Atun, R. (2011). International and national
policy challenges in mental health. Mental Health in Family Medicine, 8(2), 101-114.
Levine, D. (2017, May 2). Are Some Age Groups More Prone to Depression Than Others?
Retrieved March 22, 2020, from US News: https://health.usnews.com/health-care/patient-
advice/articles/2017-05-02/are-some-age-groups-more-prone-to-depression-than-others
Mental Health. (2020, January 1). Social Impact of Stress. Retrieved March 22, 2020, from
Mental Health: https://www.mentalhelp.net/stress/social-impact/
Raes, F., Griffith, J., Van der Gucht, K., & Williams, J. (2014). School-based prevention and
reduction of depression in adolescents: A cluster-randomized controlled trial of a
mindfulness group program. Mindfulness, 5(5), 477-486.
Reilly, P., Buchanan, T., Vafides, C., Breakey, S., & Dykes, P. (2014). Auricular acupuncture to
relieve health care workers’ stress and anxiety: impact on caring. Dimensions of Critical
Care Nursing, 33(3), 151-159.
Smith, S. (2014). Mindfulness‐based stress reduction: An intervention to enhance the
effectiveness of nurses' coping with work‐related stress. International journal of nursing
knowledge, 25(2), 119-130.
Steinberg, L. (2017, January 1). Anxiety and Depression in Adolescence. Retrieved March 22,
2020, from Child Mind Institute: https://childmind.org/report/2017-childrens-mental-
health-report/anxiety-depression-adolescence/
Wang, C., Chan, C., Ho, R., Chan, J., Ng, S., & Chan , C. (2014). Managing stress and anxiety
through qigong exercise in healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of
randomized controlled trials. BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 14(1), 8.
WHO. (2019, May 1). Mental health in the workplace. Retrieved March 22, 2020, from WHO:
https://www.who.int/mental_health/in_the_workplace/en/

BEHAVIOR CHANGE 5