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Communication and mental health are closely tied and influence one another. Varying case-to-case, communication can cause mental health problems, communication can affect the managing of mental health problems, or communication, or the lack thereof, can be the direct effect of the mental illness itself. Humans shape their own self-perceptions and identity based on how others interact with them, meaning that communication plays a large role in mental wellbeing. An individual's social skills and their effectiveness are directly tied to mental health. Poor social skills have been linked to mental health problems of all kinds, from substance abuse, to eating disorders to depression and anxiety.

Communication with children and mental health
Because mental illness is increasingly seen in children, it is vital that communication tactics about mental health are enacted with speaking to them on the topic. To decrease a child's risk of developing a lifelong mental illness, safe, nurturing, and supportive communication and relationships are required. By engaging in productive communication with children and adolescents, it can also decrease the potential severity of a mental illness by encouraging adolescents to communicate about how they feel so that they can receive treatment at an earlier age. The less time that it takes to receive treatment after the onset of the disorder, the more manageable the disorder is likely to be over the individual's lifetime.

Communication with mentally ill children and adolescents
Research has found that mothers of depressed children report less communication than mothers of non-depressed children. Additionally, the little communication that does exist between mothers and depressed children often has negative expressed emotions, resulting in hostile and frustrating communication interactions. This tone accompanied by parental concern for the depressed child/adolescent results in the child becoming very confused by the mixed messages they are receiving and often heightens their depression symptoms.

In families of depressed children, it has been found that is often communication characterized by parental over-involvement, hostility and criticism. This in turn results in low levels of "spontaneous positive communication," heightening the child's depression symptoms by making them feel helpless and starting a vicious cycle where positive communication becomes more and more rare and symptoms only get worse. This is also known as "family expressed emotion," or the "pattern of criticism, overinvolvement, overprotectiveness, excessive attention, and emotional reactivity" by parents towards their children. This has been shown to put these children at high risk for mental health issues.

Social influences on adolescents' mental health
Many mental illnesses present themselves in adolescence. This is because puberty is about the time of life that people begin to seek social connections outside of their dependent contacts, or family members. This results in a very complex and drastic change in a young adult's life, and its success is determined by how well the individual is able to achieve this increasing network of social connections. The less social communication an adolescent engages in, the more susceptible they are to mental illness due to humans' biological need for communication engagement. Steps can be taken to prevent mental illness as a product of poor social competence by furthering and encouraging interpersonal relationships in childhood. Additionally, the amount of social support and positive communication that an individual suffering from psychosis receives is directly correlated with the severity of their symptoms and the likelihood of relapse.

Effects of online behavior on adolescents' mental health
Social media can greatly increase adolescents' risk of mental health and toxic behaviors. This area of study is very new; however, cyber-bullying and the ability to isolate oneself from their face-to-face environment can induce very negative communicative behavior that is likely to have a large effect on mental health.

Depression
The Framingham Heart Study discovered that depression could be contagious and spread through social networks in both adolescents and adults. It found that by being directly linked to a depressed person, it would increase the likelihood of becoming. depressed by 95%.

Depression has a direct effect on the communication itself as well. Indicators such as decreased laughter in speech, lower pitch in speaking voice, a tendency for anger or hostility and slow speech can be communication symptoms of depression.

The relationship between depression and communication skills works both ways. In some instances, depression may even be a result of an individual's poor social skills. When an individual cannot appropriately and effectively communicate and develop interpersonal relationships, it can further, and even trigger, the development of depression.

Anxiety
Individuals with anxiety can often suffer from communication difficulties. Similar to communication skills and depression, either anxiety or poor communication skills may each cause the other. Some barriers people with anxiety encounter include: trouble focusing, trouble listening, stuttering, overthinking, and lack of continuity in conversation.

Communication strategies for discussing mental health
When speaking to someone with mental health issues, it is important to be self-aware of word choice. Recommendations for communicating with these individuals include focusing on behaviors being exhibited instead of traits, avoiding condescending attitudes, recognition of feelings and getting to the point in conversation by using direct phrases.

Communication about mental health in media
Media plays a very important role in the way that the public understands mental health issues and those who are affected by it. Research shows that the media has a direct and strong influence on perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs and this influence on mental health attitudes is no different.

News media
News media portrayals of the mentally ill are often categorized by negative communication due to the consistent association with violent crimes. News coverage of mass shootings carried out by people with mental illness has shown to strengthen mental health stereotypes and lead to a public desire for social separation from mentally ill people for the belief that they are dangerous. However, interventions have taken place in many journalism outlets to provide training against the stigma of mental health that have shown to be successful.

Advertisement
A criticism of advertising and mental health is that medical ads frequently frame depression and mental illnesses as "disorders" that can simply be cured. Additionally, in these ads, women are predominantly shown as the mentally ill, strengthening the negative stereotypes surrounding mental health by communicating to men that mental health problems make you weak or feminine. These ads also communicate information that leads the public to be misinformed on the prevalence of depression.

Fictional entertainment media
In publicly broadcasted television shows, characters suffering from mental illness are 10 times more likely to commit a violent crime compared to non-mentally ill characters and even mentally ill people in society. These characters also communicate negatively and imply a low quality of life and overall negative impact on their communities.

13 Reasons Why
Entertainment media has tried to reduce negative stereotypes of mental health, the most popular being the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. The series focuses on a high school girl who commits suicide and the fallout from her decision to take her own life. Despite the program's attempts to shed a realistic light on the effects of bullying and mental health, there has been harsh criticism that the series romanticizes suicide and depression and is harmful to viewers' mental health. The show, "which never touches on the subject of mental illness, and which presents Hannah’s suicide as both an addictive scavenger hunt and an act that gives her the glory, respect, and adoration that she was denied in real life," was intended to start a conversation about mental health, bullying and suicide, but many critics, professionals, and schools have warned viewers with existing mental health problems that the series might push people "over the edge."

Selena Gomez serves as a producer for the show.