Perhaps the reason why mental disorders are common in young adults today is because they are overlooked by either their parents or the school system. People are so quick to normalize things because it’s very difficult to accept reality, that when a child has a problem the behavior is seen as typical or perhaps a problem of adjustment, etc.
Another reason could be the fault of the psychological system. In other words, many children are misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all. Very mild symptoms of say ADHD, high functioning autism, or depression may be seen as normal and overlooked by a psychologist/psychiatrist. Only in adulthood, once the behaviors have advanced, will the individual be diagnosed.

Also, some disorders are not evident until early adulthood, particularly 18 years old. For example, schizophrenia isn’t noticeable until this age.

What about those who go to college or abuse drugs? Perhaps substance abuse has something to do with the onset of young adult mental illnesses, such as drug induced schizophrenia or depression. College-life can be extremely difficult for some. Usually students report symptoms of suicide here and depression. Maybe the “work-load” is too much or the transitioning period.

It really is a complicated situation and rather sad because something could be wrong with the way we diagnose individuals, the attention we pay to people and the possibility of a mental illness, or the timing of when individuals can meet DSM criterion, or the way teachers view mental illness in the schools, and the mental health education of parents and teachers.

The question for me is: what can we do to decrease the amount of young adults with mental illness today and is this possible?