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

[Newmama29]

I’ve been scrolling through some threads recently & I find people are talking a lot about their kids/teenagers having mental health problems. Why is this so prominent now? I, myself, was only a teenager 10 years ago so I am baffled as to how many people claim their teens have mental health problems. Is it just that we talk about it more or is society causing this?

I think we are thankfully a lot more aware and able to pick up on things sooner. Sadly the support services aren’t keeping up with the awareness at the moment though.

in hindsight I can now see how much I struggled through my teenage years but it wasn’t discussed so I just kept on struggling!

Christ.

Social media

The statistics don’t support that. There is a definite increase.

It’s all the shit food

I think it's a lot to do with social media.
Not living up to online expectations. Online bullying.
You used to get this at school then get a break from it at home. Now irptbis relentless.

Social media

@Sirzy did you have a mental health condition though or were you just struggling with normal teen stuff? I’m not asking to be rude, I’m genuinely interested in this & the sociological change in mental health. I would say I had some tough times growing up, but I wouldn’t have diagnosed myself with depression & anxiety.

My unqualified view is that COVID, and the isolation that resulted, tipped lots of vulnerable children over the edge.

Both of those things. Exactly.

Various aspects of modern life, including Social Media and access to info via the WWW are factors too but change was always with us.

Yes social media. Constant comparisons to lives that others are supposedly leading. Also covid/lockdown resulted in isolation and increased social media use.

It's not his fault

My dd did her dissertation on how social media impacts mental health. In her research she had 1500 unistudents who responded to her survey (from several universities her friends spread it around) 100% said they had felt negatively influenced by social media.

10 years ago it was not as prevalent these days its with us everywhere.

😂 good for you @Newmama29

Lock down had a massive negative effect on young people's mental health. You may have only been a teenager 10 years ago, but you did not experience being kept apart from your friends at a time when peer friendships are so important. For a lot of young people, school is a lifeline,with that affected it is no wonder their mental health is affected. Add this to possibly experiencing the loss of family members due to Covid and the effects of in some cases being in lockdown with abusive family members and it is no wonder children and young people's mental health is at an all-time low.

Personally I think it's because kids aren't taught resilience any more. It used to be normal to expect children to sit with bad feelings from a young age. Now parents mither over them assuring them they don't want to have to do anything they don't want to do, don't have to be bored, don't have tobe polite.

I think the circuits that lay down the ability to handle horrible feelings aren't being used at appropriate developmental stages and when puberty hits and kids meet the unforgiving real world that doesn't care if you are mummy and daddy's most D-est C they're stuffed.

Even DC, cmon. Imagine our parents calling us this 🤣

Social media and the pandemic/ lockdown will not have helped.

But also a lot of MH issues were either not reported/ dismissed in young people for decades. So it is hard to get reasonable comparative stats.

I had major MH issues as a teen... And that that was back in the last century. I was not the only one by any means, but there was an 'its a phase' or 'they're being dramatic' or 'pull yourself together' and 'grow a thicker skin' attitude from both teachers, parents and medical professionals back then.

Oh come on op try harder. Baffled?

Just say what you mean if you're gonna be really prejudiced at least have the guts to say it. What you seem to mean is have we gone all soft and focused too much on emotions and feelings in the modern day. With all these people 'claiming' to have mental health issues.

I think social media has a lot to answer for!

Not to mention bullying via anonymous messaging accounts, messages being sent portraying to be from someone else, or kids being excluded from chat groups.

There are many more factors nowadays that can lower the self esteem of youngsters.

We have had the police involved at our school on several occasions when vile anonymous messages have been sent, or sexting!

On the plus side people are more aware of MH issues so can spot signs and intervene.

I really want to reiterate that I am not trying to be rude at all by this thread. I am interested in hearing other people’s opinions & experiences that are behind this topic. I’m not passing any judgement.

Covid really done a number on everyone’s mental health so I can understand how teenagers are so strongly affected by this. Really makes you wonder how many people are going to be more affected by the after effects of the pandemic than Covid alone.

I think Covid and social media are two huge triggers.

Teens didn't get the skills in socialising that we did in a critical time of their life which has impacted on their development (for some of them).

What with AI and influencers, they aspire to things that aren't real which can l make them feel 'less than'.

Someone has said it is just getting picked up more and it is. But it is also more prevalent. It has gone from 1 in 10 in 2013 to 1 in 4 in 2023.

There is also something about some teenagers not being willing to sit with uncomfortable feelings. Teenage girls especially go through huge hormonal changes and sometimes present in front of me for treatment, but they are actually experiencing your 'more normal ups and downs' of teenage hood rather than a clinical condition.

Social media, crappy diets, lack of sports/exercise, parents who don’t parent so kids go looking for validation/guidance from their peers. Self-diagnosing.

But also on the other hand, more attention, more understanding of what children could be going through.

It was be nice if some actually answered the OP rather than pffft at her.

I think it's that dc don't play out properly anymore/teens don't hang out. Lack of fresh air, getting up to mischief and belonging to a group of kids/teens. We were up to so much mischief and had so much fun. Now they sit around on xboxs all day - or go out to take photos. I genuinely believe they would be happier drinking white lightning and messing about on a park bench somewhere.

Teens are supposed to rebel, to create their own identity, to go against their parents.. teens nowadays (inc mine) go for bike rides and paddleboarding days out with their parents. I'd have dropped dead with embarrassment to hang out with my parents.. whereas my teens actively want to hang out with me! I've gone wrong somewhere!

Thank you @kitsuneghost, seems to be the norm on MN these days that people are more snidey than usual.

The Internet