A Teenager's Pandemic
How Mental Health Issues are Related to Attachment Styles
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v12i4.5284Keywords:
Attachment Styles, Mental Health Issues, Adolescents, RelationshipsAbstract
The paper aimed to discover the relationship between mental health and help-seeking behaviors. Importantly, attachment styles demonstrate the significance of social expectations, and the feelings of stigma that often arise in conversations about mental health. Despite more teenagers experiencing mental health issues, less are showing courage to seek out professional help. Moreover, even when adolescents do reach out for help, it is to their peers rather than professionals. Attachment styles, as classically defined by Ainsworth and Bowlby affect the ways in which people interact in a relationship, thereby influencing the help-seeking behavior. These different styles further affect how people form relationships and how they respond to situations. People with healthier attachment style (secure) are more likely to seek help, while people with less healthier attachment styles (anxious, avoidant, fearful) are less likely to seek help when struggling with mental health issues. Mental health issues, especially with teenagers, are huge factors that influence suicide rates and well-being of the citizens. It is necessary that more research is done regarding help-seeking behaviors and its relation to attachment styles. Further research into such topics would be able to help those in struggle by finding ways to encourage them to seek out professional help.
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