“Mental health issues don’t define who you are. They are something you experience. You walk in the rain and you feel the rain, but, importantly, YOU ARE NOT THE RAIN.”  ~Matt Haig

Adolescence ~ a developmental bridge connecting childhood to legal adulthood, is full of perkiness, dreams, expectations, excitement, and ambition. These years can also be flooded with challenges, such as peer pressure, interactions in interpersonal and social contexts, a sense of responsibility or lack thereof, and conflicts or stresses within. Adolescence is a time when there is consistently a worry about the future and misdoings of the past rebels [read guilt].

During this phase, a teenager may experience various issues such as:

• Mood swings
• Anxiety disorders
• Feeling low or tired
• Mental Stress
• Lack of concentration
• Eating disorders
• Substance abuse
• Acne, pimples
• Body odor
• Weight issues
• Migraines etc.

Going by the prevalent studies, approximately 32% of adolescents suffer from some form of anxiety, phobia or panic disorder. Consequent to a fast-paced modern lifestyle, coupled with overexposure to social media and constant pressure to perform well, often these young kids become listless, apathetic and irritable. They find everything boring and annoying. If not well addressed in time, this can lead to poor self-image, depression, addictions or even self-injury.

“One doesn’t have to be positive all the time. It’s perfectly okay to feel sad, angry, annoyed, frustrated, scared and anxious. Having feelings doesn’t make one a negative person. It only makes you human,” says Lori Deschene from Tiny Buddha.

What mental health needs today is more sunlight, more candour, and more unashamed or uninhibited conversation.

“I can confidently assert, from great experience, that the vast superiority of the homoeopathic system over all other conceivable methods of treatment is nowhere displayed in a more triumphant light than in mental and emotional diseases of long-standing.”  ~Dr Hahnemann, father and founder of Homoeopathy.

A balanced mind-body connection forms the very pivot of the Homoeopathic approach. These issues can be resolved most gently with Homoeopathic remedies like Argentum nitricum, Arsenicum album, Gelsemium, Ignatia Amara, Kali phosphoricum, Lycopodium, Natrum muriaticum, Nux Vomica, Aconite, Causticum, Phosphorous, Pulsatilla, Platina, etc., the list is exhaustive.

Rightly selected constitutional Homoeopathic remedy facilitates the body’s natural ability to restore itself to health and well-being by stimulating inbuilt healing mechanisms and balancing the hyper-excited rebellious teenage hormones.

These remedies precisely act at the level of mind and body together, to offset emotional disruptions such as anxiety, anger, insecurity, obsessive traits, jealousy, paranoia, depression, neurosis, etc.

When you feel well, you heal well! 

With homoeopathic sweet pills, our teenagers can feel more focused, calm, relaxed, empathetic and regulated in their emotions and behavior without the use of habit-forming “Happy pills” and/or tranquillisers.

Here’s a very recent case I came across:

A hosteler from a college approached me online during the COVID-19 lockdown, after a stint at a local hospital. She was taken there in an inebriated state with irrelevant and incoherent talking, impaired sense of judgement and abnormal behavior, making weird gestures. She was experiencing all kinds of illusions, delusions and hallucinations, possibly due to some substance abuse. She was admitted/treated for Acute Psychosis and discharged after a couple of days with a long list of prescriptions. 

She gave a treatment history of being on psychiatric medication since after a schizophrenia episode in 2017.

“But now, I am absolutely unwilling to go back to the psychiatrist who would give me high doses of medication again, which would totally destroy my body and mind as it has done in the last 3 years. I really, really need help. Is there anything like an online consultation through video call or something which can be done?” she questioned over email.

During a subsequent online consultation, I found her extremely restless, agitated, insecure and scared while talking. She complained of feeling anxious and lonely at all times. She could still see people or hear voices around when there were none. At times, she perceived herself as not a girl but a Boy! She constantly felt as if someone was going to harm her, or her phone was hacked, or that her parents were dead, or everybody around her was plotting/planning against her.

“Every friend I was ever attached to has left me. My parents would be dead soon, and I’d be left all alone”, she said.

She would suddenly go into a sad and depressive state. 

I started her on what we call in Homoeopathy, a “tailor-made” medicine, taking into account her change of place to a hostel, adjustment issues in a new surrounding, consequent loneliness, perhaps a lack of purpose during lockdown leading to substance abuse, various phobias and insecurities. The prescription was topped up with a solution for her PCOD and irregular periods as well.

She’s been on medication for nearly four months. Her psychiatric list-of-medication is diminishing. The last I heard from her was –

“Ma’am, mental issues toh ab khatam ho gaye hain. I’ve started back with my music.” [She is a musician].

She still might not be in a so-called “perfect” state of mental health, and perhaps require a little more time to get stronger… but is positively inching towards a perfect cure!

My sole purpose in narrating this case here is to reach out to those in need and make them aware of a possible Homoeopathic intervention, hand in hand with a psychological/psychiatric treatment in such cases.

Homoeopathy is a safe, economical and scientific way to treat these issues in your teenager in the gentlest possible way with no side effects. The holistic treatment, combined with a tad bit of counselling, can help our teenagers excel and enjoy these precious years in the best of Health and Happiness.

Life is like a piano; the white keys represent happiness, while the black ones show sadness. But as you go through life’s journey, remember that the black keys also create music… 

Welcome this New Year with Positive Mental Health for your loved ones.