Psychological distress rises among teenage girls

The Mental Health Authority of Ghana has recorded rising psy­chological distress cases among teenage girls in the country.

The rise, according to the authority, is linked to academic pressure, family issues, gender-based violence, and isolation.

This was disclosed by Victoria Nae­ma Abdulai, the founder of the One Project Africa Foundation (OPAF), a non-profit organisation focused on empowering women and girls.

Ms Abdulai said this at a men­tal health awareness session organised by the foundation for students of the Accra Girls Senior High School in Accra.

It was held under the theme “Empowering Her Mind, Voice and Power: Fostering a Resil­ient Tomorrow for the Girl Child through Mental Wellness,” which was aimed at building self-aware­ness, promote emotional healing, and encourage resilience among young girls.

She stated that mental health was not a luxury but the foundation on which every girl’s future should be built

Ms Abdulai said despite the rising need, mental health remains one of the most misunderstood and neglect­ed issues in our society.

She said without mental wellness, young girls will continue to struggle silently with learning, dreaming, and relating to others, warning that the lack of attention to girls’ mental health is costing society their poten­tial.

She urged students to embrace their emotions and seek help when struggling. “You are not weak for having emo­tions. You are human. Seeking help does not make you a failure, it makes you courageous.”

Touching on what the foundation does, Ms Abdulai said the foundation teaches girls how to pass exams but not how to process pain, obey instruc­tions but not how to handle rejection. We are obsessed with excellence but ignore the exhaustion.”

A Mental health practitioner and addiction specialist, Esther Kyewaah Opoku, on her part stated that mental health was not separate from general well-being but central to it. “With­out your mental health, you are not healthy,” she said.

She mentioned that adolescence is a fragile period, with the brain still developing until age 25.

She disclosed that one in seven adolescent girls in Ghana has a mental disorder, with 26 per cent experienc­ing depression, 29.8 per cent emotion­al distress, and 14.8 per cent suffer trauma or behavioural issues.

She also blamed these conditions on peer pressure, bullying, sexual abuse, and toxic comparisons driven by social media. “We are sitting on a time bomb,” she said, urging early inter­vention and compassion.

According to her, adolescence is a critical stage of mental and emotional development, during which the exec­utive brain, or forebrain, continues to form until age 25.

“This period is filled with vulnerabil­ities that, if unmanaged, can lead to lifelong challenges,” she said.

Ms Opoku therefore called for compassion, peer support, and con­tinuous education on mental health to break the cycle of silence and stigma, particularly among young girls, saying “nobody should feel alone or hope­less.”

 By Stephanie Birikorang