How peer pressure affects the mental health of students? Psychologist shares key points

Facing peer pressure is almost an inevitable part of our lives. You can see that every person irrespective of age, gender & occupation is facing some degree of peer pressure. Peer pressure impacts the mental health of an individual irrespective of its quality. 

Healthy adults can easily regulate peer pressure, but students find it difficult due to proximity and duration of exposure to the pressure when they are on a quest to find their "self." Charu Prabhakar, RCI registered Clinical Psychologist, Lissun, has shared some important points on how peer pressure can impact the mental health of students. 

How does peer pressure impact the mental health of students?

Interferes with self-concept formulation: During student life, the self-concept is not concrete and fully formed, making it susceptible to be influenced and moulded under peer pressure, this impacts how one perceives and thinks about a situation to how one reacts and deals with it. For example- A student, started indulging in risk-taking behaviours due to peer pressure, and eventually, it became part of their life.

Difficulty in learning how to do boundary setting and how to modulate it: When the self-concept is not concrete, one is always unsure how much to regulate pressure and when to say no. This creates confusion about boundary setting which can lead to unpredictable boundaries or fragile boundaries, or very strict boundaries impacting interpersonal relationships. 

Anxiety and low self-confidence: Fear of missing out (FOMO): We all have fear of missing out, but this is at its peak during student life as during that period one is struggling within themselves to build their identity. This makes students feel that they cannot afford to miss anything. This leads to anxiety and a low level of self-confidence as one keeps on second-guessing decisions.

Mood disturbances and experiencing adjustment issues: Peer pressure also severely impacts emotional stability, which can be witnessed maybe as mood swings, crying spells, an irritable mood, frequent anger outbursts, or withdrawal. As a student fights innumerable battles within and without, this leads to adjustment difficulties with peers, family, and academic demands.

(Disclaimer: The above points have been shared by Charu Prabhakar, RCI registered Clinical Psychologist, Lissun. Republic World does not take any responsibility for its correctness.)