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Career Planning

Career Planning may surface at a later stage of adolescence, however, forms a vital part of one’s development. Career has become an important part in every individual’s life, and many times becomes integral to one’s sense of confidence, happiness and contentment in life. Hence, planning a career and making a move towards it in the right direction, is as important an aspect, as any other aspect of life in the adolescent period. Starting early allows the opportunity to set specific goals and work toward completing those goals with a vision and a purpose. This also enhances one’s confidence and personality. There may be several things for adolescents to consider when planning their career path, such as: Parents play an important role in supporting their adolescents with encouragement and information as they begin their career and life journeys. Evidence supports that when adolescents are in the midst of choosing a career path, it is their parents who have the greatest influence. ...

Role of Family during Rehabilitation of Relatives Suffering from Mental Illness

Dependence on substances has adverse effects on all facets of life. Addiction to substances such as alcohol and tobacco has detrimental effects on both psychosocial and physical health, which in turn can lead to major mental health concerns and even mental disorders. Further consequences may include difficulty in decision making, quitting a job, severing ties with close relatives and family members, etc. which leads to long-term repercussions. A habit of abusing substance(s) links intensely to all spheres of a person’s life. This is one reason why dependence on substance(s) can be hard to overcome without assistance. While undergoing treatment, in order to quit the habit and to quit for keeps, an alcoholic or an addict must make holistic changes to his/her lifestyle, which includes but is not limited to avoiding or successfully coping with conditions which may result in a relapse, building around oneself an atmosphere which is best suited for performing professional task...

The Pros and Cons of Career Counselling

Career Counselling can be helpful in the following ways:   Helps in Identifying an individual's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats Helps in choosing the most appropriate career path H elps in recovering from loss of job during the mid-career phase and while looking for a new job H elps in validation of decisions if an individual chooses to tread a career path which is not too popular or which is not in demand. H elps an individual seek unbiased advice about his/her career options, which he/she won't get from his/her kith or kin. Following are a few disadvantages of Career Counselling: Ambiguity related to decision making may affect career prospects: After being counseled, an individual may choose science with computers as his/her stream to pursue studies, but may end up as a complete misfit for the job which he/she has landed after graduation. Multiple career choices being available has also made it harder for students to zero in on ...

Importance of Educating Adolescents about Mental Well-being in Schools

Importance of Educating Adolescents about Mental Well-being in Schools X was only ten when he started feeling miserable all the time. He felt disconnected from other children and empty. He suffered alone and even switched schools, but that did not help. It was only when he was 14 that he told his mother what was going on. He was diagnosed with major depression and anxiety and was able to receive treatment. His story reveals the difficulty which young people experience when it comes to speaking out about their mental health issues. As problems related to psychological well-being often crop up during the early teenage and adolescence years, it is obvious that mental health education must begin during this age. Also, as teenagers spend most of their time in schools, it is palpable that mental health education must begin in schools. Many stigmas & misconceptions related to adolescent mental well being still exist in our society. The breaking down of stigma ...

How to Find out if Your Adolescent Offspring is Using Drugs or Alcohol

How to Find out if Your Adolescent Offspring is Using Drugs or Alcohol Focus on their eyes.  After your adolescent child comes back home from a get together, pay attention to the adolescent’s eyes. If the eyes are red and heavy-lidded, with constricted pupils, it is a sign of the adolescent having used marijuana. If the pupils of the eyes are dilated, and if he or she is finding it hard to focus, he/she has most probably been drinking alcohol.  Sniff it out:  Engage in a head to head discussion with your adolescent. If the adolescent has been drinking alcohol or smoking, a foul smell shall emanate from her/his breath, hair, hands and clothes. An atypical stench coming out of his/her room (like tobacco smoke), use of incense sticks or air fresheners to disguise other smells, it’s important to find out what’s going on. Frequent Mood Fluctuations:  If your teenager is noisy, loathsome & panic-stricken at some times & gauche, tired & withdrawn...

Why being an adolescent is hard nowadays ?

Why being an adolescent is hard nowadays ? Adolescence is a phase of life which is saturated with energy, hope, life, joy, beauty, and passion.  Today, it is easy to judge the generation of teenagers as being oversensitive, having feelings of entitlement, and being mollycoddled and pampered too much.  What we fail to understand is the dynamics of their bio-psycho-social factors as they are faced with challenges, that determine their reactions and responses.   It's imperative to understand and being considerate of the common teenage issues that can have an effect on an individual's lifestyle, behavior, emotional, and psycho-social well-being. Some of these are: Continuous revelation & exposure : While accessing the internet, adolescents gain access to a perennial flow of knowledge and information. Though teenagers can opt out of using it, it would be like telling them to remain confined in a room during their high school days, which is not pragmatic to s...

Advice for parents for them to monitor their kid’s/Adolescent’s Social Media usage.

Advice for Parents for them to monitor their Kid’s/Adolescent’s social media usage. Social media has become a Pre-dominant attribute of teenagers’ lives. Although parents may expect their young ones to spend their time in reality, the fact that social media shall is here and shall continue to prevail, remains.  Appreciatively, there are a few measures that parents can take to ensure that their children remain safe when they use social media. Here are a few steps that will help you protect your teen from the detrimental facets of social networking sites:   Define the fundamental regulations for usage of gadgets which the teens must adhere to:   Before you give your kids access to a computer, phone and social media accounts, set some   rules related to the content your adolescents can view.    Enable strict privacy settings wherever applicable: All the devices our kids use should have   strict privacy se...