Teenagers in both the UK and US are in the grip of a mental health crisis, according to the latest figures. Rates of depression and anxiety amongst young people have increased by 70 percent in the last 25 years, provoking fears that the West is facing an epidemic it is ill-equipped to deal with, and even more reluctant to acknowledge. In the UK, the number of young people visiting emergency departments with a psychiatric condition has doubled since 2009, along with admissions for eating disorders such an anorexia nervosa and bulimia.





In the US, the statistics are also bleak – rates of severe depression amongst young people have increased markedly in the past few years, yet 76% of sufferers are left with either insufficient treatment or none at all. Substance abuse problems, which often go hand in hand with mental illness, have also seen an increase, with 5.13 young Americans reportedly suffering from a substance abuse or alcohol problem. Both of these issues are more severe amongst minority groups, such as the LGBTQ community and Alaskan Natives.

The fallout from depression, anxiety and the behavioral issues that such conditions often bring can be devastating. It can make forming and sustaining friendships and other relationships incredibly difficult, as well as putting a strain on family life. It can cause insomnia and affect concentration, having a devastating effect on academic performance which can have lifelong ramifications.

And the consequences can be even worse – teenage suicides in England and Wales have risen by 67% since 2010, with similarly horrifying figures in the US – the proportion of under 19s treated at children’s hospitals for suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts has doubled since 2008. It’s no wonder, then, that children’s charities and education chiefs are imploring governments to start taking teenage depression seriously.

The biggest question, perhaps, is why? A growing number of experts feel that the rise of social media is partly to blame for the crisis in teenage mental health. Long gone are the days when teenagers could come home from school, block out the world and relax with their families – on average, children now receive their first electronic device at age 12, and 91 percent of teenagers have regular access to the internet via mobile phones or tablets.





Although there is some research to suggest that social media can have a positive effect on children, studies such as that carried out by the University of Pittsburgh found a proportional link between social media use and the reporting of body image and eating concerns. A further study from the UCLA Brain Mapping Center found that ‘likes’ on social media stimulated the brain’s reward circuitry.v

In short, the more a photo was liked by others, the more the subjects liked it themselves, leading them to crave the peer group acceptance that the ‘likes’ signified. The downside of this, of course, is that when the ‘likes’ don’t come, it can lead to anxiety, self-doubt, and distress.

There is also surprising research which suggests that young people, along with the elderly, are suffering from an epidemic of loneliness. Although social media can make us feel like we’re interacting with lots of people, it is no substitute for face-to-face interaction and intimate human relationships. Figures released by the counseling service Relate reveal that teenagers in London are the ‘loneliest generation yet’, with 62% claiming they struggle with the issue.

Jeff Rothweiler, a clinical psychologist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Missouri, explains that some solitude is normal and healthy in adolescence: “Partly, it’s about pulling back from certain people in their lives, from parents and family of origin, in order to establish a better sense of identity”. However, he cautions, if loneliness and isolating behavior persist for two weeks or longer, it may be a sign that something more serious is going on.

Whatever the cause of the issue, it is one which Western society can no longer afford to ignore. Despite three children in every classroom suffering from a diagnosable mental health problem, the apparatus in place to help them is woefully insufficient. The NHS ombudsman in the UK warned in March that vulnerable patients are suffering the consequences of “serious failings” within the system, which often fails to properly diagnose or treat mental health issues or discharges patients from hospitals too soon.

In the US, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that one in five children from ages three to 17 has a mental, behavioral or emotional disorder, only 20 percent are ever diagnosed and receive any treatment at all. Mental health campaigner Natasha Devon has cautioned that many schools do not have adequate funding for dedicated Personal, Social, Health, and Economics teachers, meaning that many young people are unable to receive adequate education about mental health, body image, and what their options are should they begin to struggle.





Even if the issues surrounding mental health and education are resolved, however, it is becoming clear that such a strategy would need to form part of a new, holistic approach to the issue of teenage mental health, with parents, teachers, and doctors gave the education to recognize issues when they arise, the awareness to take them seriously, and the resources to tackle them.

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