Teen mental health in the 80s and 90s

[GladysGeorgina]

I work as a pastoral and safeguarding lead in a high school. I was at high school myself in the mid eighties and very early 90s.
I work with so many students who are struggling with their mental health. I also have personal experience with my teenage dc. The AMA thread last night from a school housemistress talked about the wave of mh issues within her school, particularly self harm.
I look back to my time in high school and I just wasn’t aware of peers experiencing mh issues. It just wasn’t something we talked about or knew anything about. I remember one girl who used to have what I now know to be probably panic attacks and she was collected from school when this happened.
I’m not naive enough to think teens at this time didn’t experience mh problems but what happened to these children? Were there really fewer issues like I remember? School refusal also wasn’t something I remember happening.
I guess what I’m asking is am I remembering correctly? Did anyone work in a high school at this time and can remember what teen mh was generally like? Did anyone experience mh issues during this period and what was it like for you?
I feel like I face such alot of significant need at school and it troubles me. Was the need just “hidden” in the 80s and 90s or have things really got so much worse for our young people? I’m not a journalist or reporter by the way. Genuinely trying to make some kind of sense of what I see every working day.

Life was more conducive to mental health then. No social media, not too much introspection and being bombarded with ‘it’s ok not to be ok’, no social justice warriors, the focus of my life was whichever rat faced boy I fancied and whether I had enough Dream Matte Mousse to take me through the week

This.

I suffered with my mental health in my teens in the 90s, but it was largely ignored. I made a suicide attempt and it was just ignored and never spoken about again.

There were definitely a lot of teens with problems be abuse I can remember, but it wasn't spoken about that much.

I can't imagine being a teenager in todays world, the Internet and social media, mobile phones and so on must make things so much worse for lots if they're already struggling.

My mental health was horrific in the 90s when I was at high school

I had 'glandular fever' which meant missing months of school when in reality I was going through a significant depressive episode that was never identified
-it would probably be classed as school refusal now

I started getting absolutely wasted at 14 and was labelled a problem -no one ever looked at why though

I remember feeling so very tired of life for many years, always the outsider looking in on everyone else's life and feeing very isolated -I guess social media magnifies this for today's teens

Looking at my own DD's experience of high school yes there are more pupils shouting about their mental health -but the ones I worry about are the quiet ones, the ones that fly under the radar, the ones that don't shout out and get lost amongst lots of noise

I was in secondary school in the 90s. I remember a particularly horrendous year where 5 teenagers committed suicide (all unrelated and at different times through the year). They were a few years older than me but my brother knew a couple of them. It may not have been spoken about but it was definitely happening.

Mental health difficulties were fairly prevalent amongst young people in the 80s and 90s, but there was less recognition and more stigma than there is now.

I developed clinical depression in my teens (exacerbated by cPTSD, PMDD and undiagnosed neurodivergence); my GP just suggested a vitamin supplement and no follow up, and I didn't get a diagnosis or any support until after I turned 18.

At university (early 1990s) I was self-harming, had a couple of suicide attempts and ended up being admitted to hospital in my final year.

So I was.primary school 90's and secondary in the 00's.

There just wasn't the volume of MH issues then. They did exist but not with such prevalence.

I mean we lived and did the "emo" craze and self harm was "fashionable" and star tattoos. But on the whole we all "grew out of it" and it passed, my chemical romance released their last album and it all faded away. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I still know many of my school friends, and they are all fine no major issues in the collective.

Honestly I blame social media and over diagnosis now. People can't be sad or down, they must be depressed. People can't be nervous or stressed, it must be anxiety.

Social media and the constant rat race of life has breed many of these issues.

I’m not sure why people think life was somehow more conducive to mental health ‘back then.’

Girls (in particular) were sexually abused in plain sight. They were called slags and sluts. They got pregnant at 13, 14, 15 by men in their twenties and they were seen as the perpetrators: streetwise, hard faced girls.

Corporal punishment of children was acceptable and encouraged.

Bullying will never go away entirely but it was utterly horrendous at one point and teachers wouldn’t do a thing about it. Or they’d join in. Overt racism was fine. Violence and sexual assault at school was one of those things. If you were entitled to free school meals everyone knew about it thanks to the laminated card you had.

Safeguarding was barely heard of. I disappeared for months in Year 11. No one noticed. It’s funny now but looking back it really wasn’t.

Heroin chic was a thing and I do think it contributed to EDs. In contrast, there seems to be more made now of being positive about your body.

It really wasn’t a cosy time families all sat round the table.

Mid 90’s to early 00’s for secondary. There was a massive self injury issue in my school. So many of the girls self injured. I’d guess 15% in my year and the year below.

There were a few with serious eating disorders (anorexia/bulimia) and a spate of almost fashionable eating disorders girls who didn’t actually have full blown eating disorders.

A lot of girls on antidepressants. Naff all support at school. I was probably one of the illest (BMI went down to 12) and the school support I got consisted of a therapist telling me to play with payer clips.

From what I’ve heard since (through health professionals) this was abnormally high compared to other schools in the area and was later targeted for trial extra support in these areas. All girl’s Grammar school and we were constantly told we were the best, and we were the lawyers and doctors of tomorrow.

My brother didn’t seem to have any friends in his mixed unrelated school with EDs or SI issues.

I turned 13 in 1999, so I'm at the younger end of your spectrum but there were SO many mental health issues at my school. Anorexia and bulimia were rife - I'd say at least 2-3 girls in each year were in treatment and that's just the ones who were getting help. There was also a lot of self harm - I remember girls in my class cutting themselves and burning themselves with lighters. The year I started, one of the 6th form took an overdose and died, and I can recall at least two more suicides shortly after leaving and a couple more when former pupils were in their 20s.

This is in a much lauded all-girls private school too. The teachers didn't care as long as you were getting As and A*s.

This was all before Social Media really took off, so I don't think you can blame that. I think it was just the overwhelming pressure to be perfect from teachers, peers and parents that drove so many people to the brink.

I experienced something really traumatic when I was 17. It has had a huge impact on my life. I started therapy a year ago, almost 25 years after it happened.

No one thought there was anything anyone could do. Counselling, therapy, CBT, hell, even anti depressants just weren't on offer. So I got on with it. I look back now and can't really believe it. But, I know, deep down, nobody was denying my experience, they just didn't have anything to offer.

That's my experience, in 1996.

I’m not sure why people think life was somehow more conducive to mental health ‘back then.’

@Tiredallofthetime if you didn't meet people with MH problems, who were abused and/or in poverty then you would think life was good then.

You just reminded me about some of the people I met who came out. The luckiest only had to hide it from their parents until they were 16, while others were basically kicked out of their home at 18.

00s teen, loads of people i know had anorexia, one girl killed herself after uni, another pulled all her eyelashes out.

Cutting was also really prevelant amongst me peers

But @Reugny thats true of anyone at any time, surely … not wishing to sound overly contentious but whole lot of teens struggle with their mental health, many don’t, and if you meet the ones who don’t now, you would think life is good. Perhaps not this very moment as things generally are a bit shit but again that’s not true of everybody.

You are right about gay people though - the homophobia was unbelievable really.

Secondary school in the 90s. I self harmed for years. There were a lot of eating disorders and even more disordered eating. Someone was smearing shit on the toilet walls. At uni someone on my course killed themself. My sister's flatmate attempted the same.
The problems were all there, they just weren't talked about. I don't doubt numbers have risen, but thankfully so has an openess with talking about mental health.

I remember my BF parents divorced and she was definitely very down and depressed between the ages of 13 and 16

I am not sure anyone talked to her about it. I don't know that this was helpful in the long run as her own marriage collapsed in her 40s.

Lots of my friends were prescribed prozac in the 90's. I believe I had mental health issues too but no one recognised them and it wasn't part of our education so I was unable to recognise it myself. I came from a family who talked in scathing terms about people who depressed or on medication. I also remember there were school refusers. One of my friends ended up living in a bedsit.

90s - several kids with eating disorders. Self-harm was not uncommon. Kids who through our eyes were obviously depressed were just labelled as miserable. Talking about how you felt wasn't a thing (for me and my friends anyway), not to friends, not to parents and certainly not to anyone in school. I don't know who at school I would even have spoken to. Bullying was common and that was largely ignored too, which caused a lot of mental health issues to the victims.

Because there was no social media. ‘Mindfulness’ was incorporated into every day life - you caught a bus and stared out the window or chatted for half an hour rather than doom scrolling on your phone. In the evenings you had to occupy yourself without the internet and activities were more calming - I did a lot of reading for example. No texting, much more face to face interaction. Beauty standards weren’t as high - make up and hair straighteners, but that was it. No fake tan/nails/lashes and duck lips unless you were a WAG. Kids didn’t worry about global warming or conflicts, it was ‘adults stuff’ unless you were a very precocious type. No ‘gender identity’ wankery, no PC brigade sterilising everything.

There was less introspection, less obsessing over and pathologising perfectly normal negative feelings. Exam stress wasn’t ‘anxiety’, feeling sad about something wasn’t ‘depression’ etc.

I also think a certain element of ‘get on with it’ is good for you. I know when I’m worried or sad about something, getting dressed and getting on with my day rather than lying in bed ruminating makes me feel 10 times better. Now we’re encouraged to ruminate, you can’t tell anyone to just get on with things because it’s ‘minimising’. We’ve tipped the scales now and obsess over mental health so much that it’s having a damaging effect by encouraging people to dwell on their feelings.

I remember a lot of Mh issues in the late 90s when I was 16-18

Eg
My sister attempted suicide multiple times

I remember people saying people were a bit mad or off and then being off school long periods and coming back in and being vague about it

I remember peoples parents attempting suicide and self harm

I knew many teen girls self harming / covering arms and plasters at clubs school and guides

Anorexia was rife! And bulimia. I had bulimia. Easily knew 20 girls anorexic or bulimic (more common than obesity then). Diets and restriction was very big !

Very white area so didn't know any racism type issues. Didn't know anyone talking about sexual assault etc

I agree with @MissyB1 It was taboo - you did not talk about it.

I think there was just as much bullying, physical and sexual abuse, eating disorders, anxiety and general misery, but you were expected to 'shut up and put up'.

Anorexia in the 80s was often treated by coercive/force feeding. Physical abuse of children was 'good parenting' in some circles.

Parents often had their own emotional problems and miseries to cope with, as well as frequent domestic and alcohol abuse - their children were expected to sort out their own problems without asking for help.

It wasn't better. I remember a child with learning difficulties who came from a difficult background being dragged out from under a table whilst being repeatedly hit by the Head teacher.

Generally I think we are doing better at helping people when they need help with their mental health.

I do believe we are pathologising some normal human misery though.

Teens used alcohol a lot more then too, some of them probably as a way of coping with mental health issues.

Nobody cared. My parents were quite abusive (and let my younger brother be when he got bigger than me) and I do remember one PE teacher asking me about the bruises on my legs once. I wouldn't have dared say what was going on as the consequences at home would have been terrible so I just said I bruised easily and that was accepted at face value.

I was depressed throughout my teens - and being bullied at primary left me with social anxiety which I still have. No one ever thought to ask if we were OK and it took them months to spot one of my friends had anorexia.

TO be fair, most of my parents generation were children during the war - my mother spent her early childhood in London during the Blitz and my father was evacuated. I think they just felt we were incredibly lucky not to have to put up with anything like (or to be like the poor starving children in Africa who would have been so grateful for my dinner) that and we were expected to pull ourselves together and not be so selfish.

My way of dealing with it was to get my head down, the best grades I could to get away from home first uni and then working. The breakdown, when it happened, was after DC were born and I couldn't comprehend how anyone could treat a child the way I had been brought up.

I was at secondary school in the 80s and I do think the MH issues were there - it’s just that no-one cared tbh. It was a harsh environment.

I think there is another factor in play here for those of us that are slightly older too - I was a teenager late 70’s early 80’s. My parents m had been children themselves in London during WWII and had grown up through air raids/been evacuated and then in one case then lived in foster/children’s homes until they were old enough to leave home at 15. My surviving grandparents had obviously lived thorough the war themselves as adults and experienced/seen a lot of suffering through that. Therefore my family had absolutely no sympathy or time for any complaining or upset over what they saw as minor things or just part of growing up like being bullied, feeling down or anxiety - I was able to attend school, living in a home and had clothes etc so it was very much a case of being told by them to be grateful for that and that you just got on with it, irrespective of how you felt. So that is basically what I did, I found ways to cope - I hid away when really low, did self-harm and not-eat as a coping method but made sure my parents never found out, I avoided the bullies when I could or just tolerated it when I couldn’t avoid it and eventually lashed out and floored one particular girl who never went near me again after that. None of which would be seen as a ‘healthy’ way of dealing with it nowadays but we did just get on with it because you had to and that is I think what the difference is nowadays. There was no help/support there - you didn’t expect help so you either got on with it or you didn’t - those that didn’t get on with it were mentioned briefly in hushed tones and then not referred to again for example one of my friends Mum, who had “always struggled with her nerves”, killed herself, so my friend went to live with her grandparents and it was never really mentioned by anyone again and my friend certainly got no support over it. A lot of adults in the 70’s/early 80’s had grown up themselves as children in a very difficult, distressing and uncertain times during the war, by parents that had much bigger things to worry about than their children being happy and they had literally had no choice but to just get on with it - therefore that is what they taught and expected us to do I think.