Why Mental Disorder In Adolescents Is On The Increase 

The inability of the brain to prune itself of unnecessary connections may be the cause of the wide range of mental health disorders  during adolescence.
This was one of the findings from an international collaboration of researchers in the United Kingdom, China and Germany and published in Science Daily in April, 2023.
According to the researchers, the findings may further help explain why people are often affected by more than one mental health disorder and this may in future help to identify  those in greatest risk.
The research noted that one in seven adolescents (aged 10- 19 years old) worldwide experiences mental health disorders, according to World Health Organisation (WHO).
It added that depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders such as Attention Defieit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are among the leading causes of illness and disability in young people and adolescents and they will commonly have more than one mental health disorder.
It also noted that, many mental heath problems emerge during adolescence with depression and anxiety as “internalising’ symptoms including low mood and worrying, while ADHD manifests as “externalising” symptoms.
The lead researcher from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, Professor Barbara Sahakian noted that, young people often experience multiple mental health disorders beginning in adolescence and continuing into adult life.
She further stated that, there’s a common brain mechanism that could explain the onset of these mental health disorders during the critical time of brain development.
Here in Rivers State, Nigeria, the situation is not different. According to Nkpobu, Kennedy and Alex-Hart, Balafama  of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital(UPTH), Nigeria, in their work, “Pattern of Depression Illness among School Age Children Presenting at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital”, published in Open Journal of Depression last year, noted that, depression is more commonly in adolescents and is the fourth leading cause of illness and disability among adolescents aged 10- 19 years.
In their study of children 10-19 years, seen at UPTH which included 1,096 children with various childhood mental illnesses within the period under review, “out of 238 patients (21.7 percent) aged 10-19 years, treated for depression within the period under review, 129 (54.20 percent) were males and 109(45.80 percent) were females with male to female ratio of 1.18.1.The 15-19 years age group had a higher prevalence of depression 195(81.93 percent) compared to 109(45.80 percent) of those aged between 10-14 years. 136(57.14 percent) patients had severe depression while 49(36.03 percent) had psychotic depression”.
They found out that severe depression was the commonest form of depression among adolescents seen in UPTH, therefore, preventive measures should be instituted in primary and secondary schools in Rivers State to reduce its prevalence.
Furthermore, in a study published recently on Nature Medicine, the researchers noted that they  identified a characteristic pattern of brain activity among adolescents which they termed the ‘neuropsychopathological factor’ or NP factor.
The team examined data from 1,750 adolescents aged 14 years from the IMAGEN cohort, a European research project that examined how biological, psychological and environmental factors during adolescence may influence brain development and mental health.
In particular, they examined imaging data from brain scans taken while participants took part in cognitive tasks, looking for patterns of brain connectivity and how different regions of the brain communicate with each other.
They found out that adolescents who experienced mental health problems regardless of the type of symptoms, showed similar patterns of brain activity.
These patterns, the NP factor were largely apparent in the frontal lobes,the area of the brain that is responsible for executive function.
The researchers confirmed their findings by replicating them in 1,799 participants from ABCD Study in the United States of America, a long-term study of brain development and child health.
They also found out that problems with pruning may particularly affect the frontal lobes, since these regions are the last brain areas to complete development in adolescents and young adults.
A medical doctor, Dr Tanye Jia, from the Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shangai, China and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, United Kingdom, noted that as we grow up, our brains make more and more connections. This is a normal part of our development, adding that, “but too many connections risk making the brain inefficient. Though synaptic pruning helps to ensure that brain activity does not get drowned in ‘white noise’.
“Our research suggests that when this important pruning process is disrupted, it affects how brain regions talk to each other. As this impact is seen mostly in the frontal lobes,this then has implications for mental health “,he said.
The researcher noted that the discovery of the NP factor could help identify those young people at greatest risk of compounding mental health problems.
Also, another  medical doctor from Fundan University in Shangai, China and the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, Professor Jiafeng Feng, noted too that, “we know that many mental health disorders begin in adolescence and that individuals who develop one disorder are at increased risk of developing other disorders too. By examined brain activity and looking for the NP factor, we might be able to detect those at greatest risk sooner, offering us more opportunity to intervene and reduce this risk”, he stated.
Researchers have recently learned that the brain is more “plastic” and moldable as previously thought.
Synaptic pruning is the body’s way of maintaining more efficient  brain function.
The number of synapses in a human’s brain reaches its peak at about five years.As the brain develops and becomemore mature, connections between neurons do not form quickly. After a period of rapid development during the first five years, synapses begin to be removed and this process is known as pruning. If pruning does not happen correctly, there can be a lot of long term consequences in terms of brain wiring and behavioural problems.

By: Ibinabo Ogolo