The NHS is claiming that as many as one quarter of all 17 to 19 year-olds in England had a mental disorder in 2022. It was one in six in 2021.
According to the BBC:
Rates among teenage boys and girls were similar – but twice as high in female 17- to 24-year-olds compared with male.
And children affected were more likely to live in a household with money issues or using a food bank.
The findings are based on the views and experiences of 2,866 young people aged above six.
Their responses to an online survey, and those of younger children’s parents, in April 2022, were used to assess different aspects of mental health, including:
emotional problems
behaviour
relationships
concentration
The children and young people were then classified by how likely they were to have a mental disorder – unlikely, possible or probable -without being seen or diagnosed by a mental-health specialist.
The survey suggests a probable mental disorder among:
18% of seven- to 16-year-olds – five in every classroom
nearly 33% of female 17- to 24-year-olds, compared with 13% of male.
nearly 20% of male seven- to 16-year-olds, compared with 10% of female
Young people with a probable mental health disorder were more likely to say they had self-harmed, with 28% saying they had talked about it in the past four weeks and also more likely to live in a household where paying bills and putting food on the table was a challenge
