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Youth Mental Health Crisis Soars: 1 in 5 Seek Care
11 Dec
Summary
- One in five young Britons now use specialist mental health services.
- Child mental health care access has quadrupled in two decades.
- Girls are now twice as likely as boys to access services.
Recent research from the University of Edinburgh indicates a significant surge in young people requiring specialist mental health care across Britain. By the age of 18, one in five individuals now access these services, a fourfold increase over the past two decades. This trend, which began accelerating around 2010, predates the Covid-19 pandemic, although lockdowns did contribute to a decline in youth mental well-being.
The study, which tracked individuals born between 1991 and 2005, found that the proportion using NHS child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) before turning 18 rose from under 6% to over 20%. While early in the 2000s, boys and girls accessed services similarly, by 2022, nearly twice as many girls as boys were seeking help.
Experts suggest factors like poor sleep, economic pressures, reduced youth services, and social media contribute to declining mental health. The Manchester University study highlighted discrimination, academic pressure, and increased social media use as reasons for poorer mental health among girls. Mental Health UK stressed the urgency of early intervention to prevent lifelong challenges, noting that many severely unwell young people wait too long for care or are rejected by services.
