Researchers Found In what Age Mental Diseases Begin

Knowing what age mental illness usually begins is a very important information for psychologists. When it is known that when a disorder usually begins, early precautions and early interventions can be carried out at the right time. This improves the patient's long - term well - being compared to a situation when therapy begins years after a disorder begins.

To ensure strong appreciation for the need to integrate information from as many patients as possible. That's why Solmi and his colleagues, conducted a met-analysis of 192 studies that questioned the beginning of mental disorders. A met-analysis is a statistical analysis that integrates the results of many different scientific studies. It has the advantage of having greater size of the sample, increasing statistical power and making the analysis less likely to be influenced by the characteristics of individual studies.

In general, the study includes data from more than 700,000 patients diagnosed with a mental disorder. Besides the age of showing for various disorders, scientists also analyzed the percentage of people who developed a mental disorder before the age of 14, 18 and 25.

Mental disorders often began earlier than expected

The authors found that the zenith of the appearance of mental disorders was 14.5 years old. About 34.6% of patients showed a disorder before the age of 14, 48.4% before the age of 18 and 62.5% before the age of 25. This indicates that for nearly 50% of patients, mental disorders start before they reach adulthood, stressing the importance of early intervention and precautions on mental - health issues in teenagers.

In a second step, scientists also analyzed the early age for various forms of mental disorders. Here are some of the findings:

neurosurgeon Disorders: 5.5
Anxiety and Rabbits: 5.5 years old
Obsessive-compulsive disorder: 14.5
Eating Disorders: 15.5 years old
Stress Disorders: 15.5
Dependence: 19.5
Skizophrenia: 20.5 years old
Personal Disorders - 20.5 Years Old
Depression and other forms of mood disorders: 20.5 years old

There were no significant differences between male and female patients regarding the age of the beginning.

If there is one thing that the study makes clear, it is that mental - health issues in teens should be treated seriously. People often have the idea that most mental - health conditions begin in adulthood, and only developmental disorders start in childhood. When teenagers show or even show mental health problems, parents sometimes think that they will be “raised” or “is just a phase”. The study shows that such ideas are wrong, and teen mental problems should be addressed because at almost 50%, disorders start at this stage of life.

Source Layer: Psychology Today