A major independent review into the mental health of children and young people has found a genuine rise in mental distress, rejecting the suggestion that today’s young people are simply a snowflake generation, according to the review’s chair and charities responding to its publication on Friday. Professor Peter Fonagy, the clinical psychologist at University College London who chaired the review, told broadcasters ahead of publication that anxiety, depression, self-harm and eating disorders are among the most common problems, and that it is harder to be young now, given economic and employment uncertainty coupled with the pressures of social media, an environment he described as very toxic. The review was commissioned nine months earlier after the then health secretary suggested young people were being over-diagnosed and written off. Fonagy was concerned the debate around ADHD and autism would obscure the wider issue of mental health, and chose to speak before publication to make the point that the distress itself is real, whatever arguments continue about diagnosis. His perspective is partly personal: he experienced suicidal thoughts as a teenager after moving to London from Hungary without his parents, and credits therapy from a local service with saving his life. The published findings say mental distress has increased significantly over the last three decades, particularly among children and young people, with anxiety and depression becoming more common. Uncertainty around housing, employment and finances, greater educational pressures, social media and loneliness together contribute to a substantial increase in mental health problems and self-harm. The current system leaves people facing long waits rather than help early, before mental health deteriorates further. Charities responding to the review say support is not keeping up with need. Based on the Children’s Commissioner’s finding that 29 percent of children had referrals closed before treatment, one coalition estimated around 1.1 million children and young people could be referred but not receive treatment between now and the end of this Parliament. Figures cited in the debate suggest one in six children aged five to sixteen is likely to have a mental health problem, with young women aged seventeen to twenty-two most at risk, and prevalence among sixteen to twenty-four-year-olds reaching 25.8 percent in 2023-24, the highest of any age group. The mental health charity Mind, whose chief executive sat on the review’s steering group, called for a same-day open-access model in the forthcoming mental health strategy, in which people who reach out get an immediate, meaningful response rather than a waiting list or an opaque pathway, beginning with a conversation with a professional who takes time to understand the person’s needs, which might lead to clinical care, peer support, or help with housing or employment. The government, meanwhile, announced new mental-health support for children and schools alongside the review, including a central recommendation that diagnosis should no longer be the only route to getting help, a change Fonagy argues is essential, while stressing that diagnosis itself remains essential and must be protected. Plans also include stronger oversight of ADHD and autism assessments, working toward Care Quality Commission regulation of all diagnostic assessments including private providers. The health secretary said the findings demonstrated the need for earlier intervention, particularly to help young people remain in education and employment. The review will now feed into policy across NHS services, benefits and support for young people not in education, employment or training.
Related reading: Trust Built Over Years Becomes a Clinic's Strongest Tool in Pennsylvania Measles Outbreak · WHO Data Show Life Expectancy at 73.3 Years as Chronic Disease Dominates · Forsyth County Holds Stigma-Focused Behavioral Health Symposium
1 Comment