To ask why there are so many kids with mental health problems?

Mental health amongst teenagers was a huge issue way before covid.

There needs to be a huge re balance in this country. Get rid of all the shitty food which is doing no one's body any favours physically and mentally.Give parents the ability to spend more time with their kids instead of working all hours of the bloody day just to keep a roof over their heads. Social media needs better regulation- stop kids constantly scrolling the bollocks that is on ticktock, instrgram and Facebook. It's a waste of time that could be put to something more productive like talking to real people. My kids are young but honestly my daughter is 10 next year and I'm terrified.

In no particular order

Stress and pressure in schools
Social media and the internet
Pornification of society
Fragmentation of society
Consumerism
Poverty
Ultra processed food
Micro plastics everywhere
Failing economies
Fucked up environment
Overpopulation
Covid and possible future pandemics
Endless, endless sensory stimulation (let's face it, we weren't made to exist in a bright, noisy world that never switches off)

Makes you wonder how there are any mentally healthy people left really.

Research has proven that teens, who used to have the most robust mental health, now have the worst.

Social media is the proven cause.

On the contrary.

Some schools over punish.

Every single little thing is received as a negative. 3 negatives and it's a detention.

That could be something simple like forgetting a pen and pupils living in poverty (which is increasing) can't afford to just replace stuff. Some don't have parents who will.
Teachers have been plugging the gaps in stationary needs for many years of underfunding but they now cannot afford to themselves (and should never have had to) sue to CoL crisis - years if pay freezes and nowhere near inflation rises which won't even be discussed. Hell - they won't even say what school budgets are next year.

So much has changed in society and we haven't caught up in so many ways. People are becoming disenfranchised and I agree with noble it's not just children but equally adults.

Human emotion cannot evolve as quickly as technological advances.

This alongside all the factors i mentioned above.

Not sure which schools you know that don’t says no to children!

Permissive and over protective parenting. I’m in my late thirties and cannot believe how children are treated. My local secondary school has a breakfast club as many parents were unwilling to let them walk by themselves. Tiny catchment area of around 2.5 miles, extremely low crime area, quiet roads with good pedestrian crossings and extremely busy at school opening and closing. I assumed it mostly used by students with learning disabilities, however, my friend who manages it says they are cared for by LD unit. It must so overwhelming for them when they’re eventually let out.

Between the ages of 14 and 18, whilst not at school or on enforced family outings, my brother spent his whole time in his bedroom, emerging only for meal times and to use the bathroom. He only spoke to family members when they spoke directly to him, and then he said as little as possible. Likewise at school. He had no friends. This was before the days of the internet, so he basically communicated with no one.

Our parents dismissed this as "a phase".

Today it would undoubtedly be classed as the depression that my brother came to realise that it was, in his later life.

I'm 37 but I come form a different culture where it was totally normal for both parents to work for for children to be in full time childcare almost from birth. I think I was in nursery from 6m onwards. I have no mental health issues (that I'm aware of 😂) and am very close with my parents. As are all those I grew up with. The childcare theory is rubbish.

I think we as society have not yet figured out when mental health issues start and what is normal.

Mental struggles used to be completely denied, not spoken about, you just had to toughen up and that's it. A few years later awareness increased and you'd be completely horrified at how much previous generations have been dismissed with their issues and werent treated when they should have been.

I think that now many people are trying to do better by recognising someones struggles and support then in getting help. But we have gone from one extreme to another...from doing nothing to taking every small mountain absolutely seriously that needs medical intervention. There is no real middle ground and it's probably going to be the next thing society needs to become aware of: what are the normal ups and downs of life.

Personally I don't believe today's teens have it harder than previous generations. There was no social media, but there were other issues that affected many generations.

Im not completely convinced yet that hormonal changes in teens are just something they need to get on with though. We are just recognising what menopause can do to women and why should we dismiss what's going on for teens, who have absolutely no life experience.

They have studied childcare impact on children for decades - I don't think it's that

We have as a whole changed how children are brought up

• "you can be anything you want"
• independence is delayed as part of risk management
• no punishment, lack of boundaries / this affects schools in particular
• social media

I suspect it's a mixture of everything , it clearly was getting worse before lockdown but it still contributed

I think there's a lot of contributing factors but also it's better recognised now. I was an anxious child but this was never picked up and I didnt know what anxiety was let alone recognise it in myself.

I think it's a mix of factors. We are more aware of mental health issues, and maybe where it would have been ignored before people pay more attention, but also there's an increasing trend in pathologising every less than ideal feeling or behaviour. No one feels anxious any more, they all have anxiety.

Covid*

Children being in full time childcare from a very early age and having very long days away from their primary carer.

Any evidence for this? I mean I know there isn't but keen to hear why you think this is contributing to the uptick.

I think a plethora of reasons OP, most of which have been touched upon already.

Social media and more widely the Internet, having access 24/7 to world news is suffocating and distressing in many ways especially at an age where perhaps you can't view it in the same way as as an adult.

Covid and lockdown.

More awareness mixed with a lack of earlier intervention.

Change in families/society and the effects of.

I do think somewhere along the line we have lost sight of the fact that everyone's mental health goes up and down day to day even hour to hour and there are a range of 'normal' human reactions to certain things ie feeling anxious before doing something new. Mental illness is of course different, and there's nothing wrong with supporting people struggling with stuff at all but some like labels for things when they're not required.

I think.social.media and 24 HR news coverage ,whilst vivid and lockdown wss awful.,children in generations gone by have lived through wars ,great depressions etc ,but they didn't have constantly rammed down their throats all.day every day .

I'm late 40s and I was diagnosed with mental health disorders when I was 13 (still suffering now). Nothing to do with social media, more to do with bullying, finding a family member dead and abuse. There's so many factors that contribute towards children suffering at a young age, hopefully why you're hearing about it more is because parents are teaching their children to vocalise how they're feeling. To squash children's worries, fears or mood is really unhealthy. Hopefully as soon as a parent realises their children are struggling help can be sort after. Yes the mental health system is diabolical (I'm still in it at my age) but it's the very least we can do for them.

I obviously wasn’t diagnosed as a teen, but have since been and it’s quickly became obvious how long the issues had been present

@Createausername1970 Then there is weed. Lots of people tell me it's fine, won't hurt etc., But I am not convinced a growing, developing and maturing brain needs it. Unfortunately it's everywhere, it's very common and more kids smoke it than perhaps parents realise.

I agree. Mostly it's fine but it screws up a lot of young people.

This.

Yep. I agree. I find some of the responses on Mumsnet mental. Like on a recent thread that a 15-year-old can't be left alone overnight to feed a cat. What?! 😂

More resilience and more fresh air. Those are my personal (very unscientific) views on how to combat teen mental health.

Also, to blame lockdowns and Covid on everything is ridiculous. It's not like teens were asked to go into open combat. Most were glad to stay off school anyway (my teen loved it 😂) and plus they all socialise on the phones. No one stoppe them from doing that.

When I was I school it was far, far less pressured than what my kids experienced. Loads of schools and parents are really pushy and even if you aren't in a super pushy environment ever kid these days is going to be more aware of what happens if you fail at school etc.

There is more homework and far more exam stress too, Kids are also expected to do more activities but not able to wander around their neighborhoods unsupervised.

I had a lot more freedom and a lot less stress than my kids have had and that's with me doing my upmost to give them a rounded and happy childhood. I was unaware of a lot of the issues that kids are made aware of now.

There was plenty of bullying and sexual abuse in the 'good' old days too. If you think that victims were immune from mental health issues then you would be naïve. It was there but you weren't meant to talk about it.

I don't think social media helps either.

Loads and loads of people with adhd/autism etc were undiagnosed. There was a stigma about it.

Look at which groups are at the highest risk of suicide? Your 'average' person committing subside is a middle aged divorced male builder - no one talks about 'lack of resilience' then.