Teens seem indestructible but have real health needs — and services to help them

By Texas Health & Human Services Commission

Teenagers are not indestructible. This statement may contradict the belief of teens themselves, but it’s well supported by statistics on substance abuse, depression, eating disorders, obesity and other mental and physical health issues.

Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and binge eating have tripled since the early 1980s, with young women among the most severely affected. And suicide is the third leading cause of death among adolescents, trailing only accidents and homicide.

Translation: in real life, adolescence is a time not only of exhilarating new experiences but also risk. Helping young people — and the adults who love them — manage that risk is the mission of the Texas Department of State Health Services’ Adolescent Health Program.

The program helps close the gap between perception and reality with services, information and other resources to support adolescents’ health and well being — many listed on the program’s website at www.dshs.state.tx.us/adolescent.

Some of those online services include a special Parents section featuring basic advice on topics such as rules and discipline, having The Talk about sex, parent-teacher conferences and balancing respect for privacy with appropriate attention to behavior.

The Parents section also includes links to newsletters, personality assessments and other free resources from the National Parenting Center as well as facts to help recognize eating disorders and other common problems

Other program resources are more technical and are directed toward teachers, health care providers, social workers, dietitians and community organizations that serve young people.

For example, even experienced healthcare providers can enhance their ability to treat adolescent patients with professionally developed tools including tips for interviewing adolescents, adolescent development tables, health history forms, and suggested physical health questions tailored to meet young people’s unique mental and physical health needs.

The Adolescent Health Program also provides a curriculum for teachers and counselors in middle and high schools. The curriculum helps teens identify peers who may be considering suicide and explains how concerned friends and teachers can assess the risk of self-harm.

Finally, the Digits and Related Sites sections provide contact information for dozens of adolescent health-oriented organizations that deal with topics ranging from teen births and school dropout rates to nutrition, the Texas Health Steps program, crisis and runaway counseling, eating disorders, substance abuse, bullying, pregnancy prevention and much more.

Most of these resources are free, and many of the websites include downloadable materials that can be used right away for presentations, grant proposals, counseling or other purposes — even friend-to-friend discussions between teens themselves.

Can these resources make adolescence a completely safe and stress-free period? Nope. Growth and risk are, for the most part, inseparable. But they can help steer young people around some of the most common pitfalls between them and a successful launch into adulthood.