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Anxiety conditions and nervous
breakdowns
occur more often at adolescence than at any other time. These should be treated
as a definite illness and expert psychiatric advice sought. They may be simply a
response to an acutely tense situation, the result of accumulated psychic
tension, or the prelude to a more serious psychological illness. It is worse
than useless to tell the individual to pull himself together or get a grip on
himself, or to ignore his symptoms altogether. Just rest, tonics and a change of
environment may be all that is required, but this form of treatment is
merely palliative and more fundamental psychiatric treatment may often be
necessary.
Obviously the adolescent needs encouragement and stimulation at this age, but he
should not have too much strain or stress to face. He needs a secure, helpful
home environment and contacts that are satisfying outside his home. His parents
must be ready to assist him but not to interfere with him, and to encourage him
but not to drive him. Clearly during this rather difficult period he is not
ready to go out to face the world alone as he is so frequently expected to do at
fourteen, and continued education, or at least some form of apprenticeship, is
really essential for satisfactory all-round development. At the same time
adolescent education must fulfill adolescent needs, and the curriculum must be
one to appeal and not to stultify growth whether mental or physical or
emotional.
The journey from babyhood to adolescence is a long one. The route goes uphill
and downhill, and by rough and smooth places, but it is an interesting one, full
of adventures and challenging experiences. It is our job as parents and teachers
to make the road neither too difficult nor too easy, but to try to equip the
child with a healthy body, an alert mind and a courageous spirit to pursue the
journey happily and successfully. |