1 in 4 girls aged 17 - 19 in England have a mental illness

[jellyfrizz]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46295719

"Dr Bernadka Dubicka, of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the numbers of young women with problems was "alarming".

She said body image pressures, exam stress and the negative effects of social media may all affect girls disproportionately, while they were also more likely to be victims of abuse and sexual assault.

"We can only speculate. We still do not fully understand this - all we know is that we see more girls in our clinics."

Shocking.

There's a Policy Exchange event in progress this evening that has some fascinating discussion about the mental health of young girls and women. The live stream finishes soon and should be posted on YouTube soon.

Thanks arranfan, I'll look out for it. Have they come up with anything that is going to help?

Just saw this covered on channel 4 news. They’re including autism in the list of mental health issues. It’s not. Bit odd.

I actually suspect it’s higher glad some attempt is being made to look into it though. MH and it’s treatment is a national scandal in this country

I presume this figure does not include the girls who are being given affirmative therapy to transition.

Haidt & Lukianoff's Coddling of the American Mind talks about mental health crisis for teen girls (also boys, but less so) in the U.S. They argue that it coincided with the arrival of smartphones for constant checking of social media.

The basic argument can be followed here:

Repeal I would agree with you. Everything I have read or had experience of would suggest closer to one third. Most of my experience is just observational, from Secondary schools and uni students.

ImPreCis yep I agree with your figure and how you arrived at it!