Is the sad teenager depressed? Again: does the restless teenager have an attention deficit disorder? Does the rebellious teenager suffer from oppositional defiant disorder? The ease with which adolescent behavior is increasingly labeled with psychiatric diagnoses deeply disturbs me.
We live in a society that has extended the medical-psychiatric model far beyond its natural boundaries, pathologizing every form of human suffering. In this scenario, how much of “adolescent distress” is truly pathological and how much is instead the normal response to a rapidly changing world?
The Thin Line Between Normality and Pathology
There is no doubt that in recent years epidemiological studies have recorded an increase in internalized behaviors among adolescents. Anxiety, depression, social isolation: real phenomena that deserve attention. But the risk of rapidly transforming these signals into psychiatric diagnoses is concrete and worrying.
The process that experts call “social psychiatrization” represents a profound cultural change: we have begun to read any form of discomfort through the lens of pathology, losing sight of the context in which this discomfort develops. Adolescents, in this perspective, are no longer young people in difficulty but “clinical cases” to be treated.
The consequence? A iatrogenic psychopathologization (i.e. caused by the intervention itself) of adolescent malaise. Simply put: we transform people who might not be sick into sick people, with all the consequences that this entails for their developing identity and for their future.
Many sources point to an increase in mental health crises among young people:
In 2024, over 16 million Italians have experienced medium and severe psychological disorders, with a 6% increase compared to 2022.
An analysis by Unicusano has highlighted that the number of young people with psychological disorders in Italy exceeds 700.000, with anxiety and depression among the most common problems.
Almost half (49,4%) of young Italians between 18 and 25 have suffered from anxiety and depression in the years following the pandemic.
40% of Gen Z women reported feeling depressed often.
54% of young people in the Generation Z he stated that he had experienced episodes of stress such that he was unable to carry out daily activities.
45% of teenagers feel a sense of uncertainty, which turns into anxiety for 32%.
A study found that one in three young people between the ages of 18 and 24 suffers from symptoms indicative of mental health problems, such as anxiety disorders or depression, up from one in four in the 2000s.
Globally, 1 in 7 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 lives with a diagnosed mental disorder.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 19 in Western Europe, after road accidents.
The forgotten social factors
What is often ignored in this rush to diagnosis are the social factors that contribute to youth malaise. A hyper-competitive world, uncertainty about the future, the relational precariousness, the social media pressure, the climate crisis: How much do these elements weigh on the psychological well-being of our adolescents?
Concern about the apparent increase in mental health problems in adolescents and young people has intensified considerably in recent years, and it has become common to refer to a “mental health crisis” in this age group.
It is not a question of denying the existence of authentic psychiatric disorders among young people, but of avoiding what we might call a “diagnostic shortcut”: it is easier to label adolescents as depressed or anxious than to address the social, educational and relational complexities that could fuel their discomfort.
Adolescents, a comprehensive response is needed
What does all this mean for professionals, parents and educators? First of all, the need for a broader and more complex look at youth distress. The studies published in Roles of the Psychologist they invite us to consider the entire context in which the adolescent lives and develops, avoiding easy labels.
Secondly, we need to develop comprehensive responses that are not limited to clinical-psychiatric intervention. If the malaise has social roots, the solutions must also be partly social: adequate youth policies, spaces for expression and participation, supportive educational communities.
Last but not least, we must recover a vision of adolescence as a naturally turbulent, contradictory, sometimes painful but not pathological phase. The ability to tolerate uncertainty and ambiguity is part of the growth process, both for young people and for the adults who accompany them.
Adolescents, the courage of complexity
We live in an age that loves quick fixes, clear-cut categories, and pharmacological responses. But the complexity of the adolescent experience escapes these simplifications.
We need the courage to support this complexity, to resist the temptation to quickly “fix” what we perceive as “broken”. Because perhaps, in many cases, it is not a question of teens to be repaired but of an adult world that struggles to understand and accept their legitimate concerns.
It is not a comfortable position, I know. It is more reassuring to think that there is a clear diagnosis and a codified treatment. But the diagnostic shortcut risks making us lose sight of the main road: the one that leads to an authentic understanding of the world of adolescents, with all its shadows and lights.
