Psychiatrists speak in dramatic terms as they describe the explosive growth in demand for mental health services among young people.
< p> “It’s terrible and unbelievable,” says Dr. Lade Smith. Depression, anxiety and eating disorders have “increased significantly,” she said. “It has grown enormously, particularly in the last three or four years since the pandemic.”
The UK as a whole is in the grip of a mental health crisis that has reached such proportions that it is now having an economic impact. Ministers have made tackling the problem and helping people get back to work a priority.
However, the alarming prevalence of mental health problems among young people suggests the problem is deep-rooted and could leave long-term economic scars. .
“If you don't treat a child, he won't finish his final exams. If they don't finish school, they won't go to university,” Smith says. “If they don't go to university, they're less likely to get a job that pays a lot of money for the tax coffers.”
Experts like Smith say more support is needed in schools to tackle the problem before children drop out of education.
The pandemic has worsened the children's mental health crisis, but the problem didn't start there.
“Over the last 10 to 15 years, we have had an increase in the percentage of people needing mental health services,” says Smith, who specializes in treating young people.
< p>The reasons are complex and varied, she says, but include the long-term economic impact of the financial crisis, which has left families in dire straits, and the devastating effects of the pandemic and lockdown, which have increased loneliness and isolation.
She also cites expensive and unsafe housing as factors, as well as the possibility that social media will feed users a cycle of negative posts.
Treating such a large number of people is difficult, and there are not enough doctors to meet the need. need. Almost a fifth of consultant posts in the specialty are vacant, according to Smith, who is also president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
NHS figures tell a similar story. Last year, 1.2 million people were on waiting lists for community mental health services.
England's Children's Commissioner found that more than a quarter of a million children and young people referred to mental health services in 2022-23 were still waiting for help at the end of that period.
This is not the case. simply a crisis for individual patients or for the health service as a whole. Poor mental health is now so widespread that it is becoming a drag on the economy.
“The number of young people out of work due to ill health has doubled over the past decade. People aged 20 are now more likely than people aged 40 to be unemployed due to poor health. This is truly astounding,” says Louise Murphy, an economist at the Resolution Foundation.
“This is very different from what we saw 25 years ago, when there was a very simple trend: the older you get, the more likely you are to the more likely you are to be unemployed.”
Worsening mental health is a key factor behind this trend.
Missing the early stages of a career can have lifelong consequences on earnings, known to economists as “scars.” In fact, people never catch up, having missed these important opportunities early on.
Politicians are worried and looking for solutions. However, at the moment it looks like the situation can only get worse.
An increasing number of schoolchildren are suffering from mental illness, meaning that unless something dramatically changes, a new generation of young people will likely struggle as they drop out of school and – if they are healthy enough – look for work.
More than one in five pupils aged eight to 16 have a “probable mental disorder”, according to National Health Service (NHS) surveys. That's up from one in eight before the pandemic.
In addition, another 12% are considered to have a “possible disorder.”
This figure rises to almost a quarter among older teenagers aged 17 to 19. In this group, almost one in three young women is thought to have a probable disorder.
Half of mental illness begins at an early age. of 14, Smith says, with 75% starting by age 24. Early treatment can completely cure about a quarter of cases. Waiting risks leaving sufferers with chronic illness and relapses.
Tackling this mental health crisis – and the unemployment that comes with it – has become a priority for the government.
Employers are desperately short of staff, with more than 900,000 vacancies open at the start of the year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Hiring and retaining more people with mental disabilities will benefit both employees and companies.
Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, last month unveiled plans to force 150,000 people with mild mental illnesses to find work.
“As a culture, we seem to have forgotten that work is good for mental health,” he said in remarks that drew some criticism.
“Though I am grateful for today’s much more open approach to mental health.” health, there is a danger that things have gone too far. There is now a real risk when we label the normal ups and downs of human life as medical conditions that actually act as a deterrent for people and ultimately lead to higher benefit bills.”
The Government has announced several programs aimed at helping people with mental health problems find employment.
Tony Wilson, director of the Institute for Employment Research, talks about some initiatives such as tailored employment and support in primary care. The initiative brought good results.
The program sends job counselors to help hospital patients apply for jobs alongside their regular treatment, to break the cycle of poor mental health and unemployment.
“Integrating employment counseling with mental health conversations and mental health support is really important,” says Wilson. “It produces really significant results, and those results bring real benefits to individuals and the Treasury, because the alternative is usually people being out of work for a very long time.”
The scheme requires both the Department Work and Pensions and the Department of Health to work together.
Smith believes collaboration like this is key to tackling the mental health crisis among young people. The NHS needs to work with the education system to help identify and tackle problems early.
More specialist support in schools is key, says Smith. On-site assessments of students provide “brief, abrupt help [so they can] get better and get back to their lives.”
Murphy's research found that four out of five 18- to 24-year-olds are not attend school. work due to ill health does not have any qualifications other than GCSE.
The situation can become self-reinforcing. Not having a job means no additional experience or on-the-job training, making it difficult to advance in your career. No work is isolated or harmful to mental health.
“Work is good for your health,” says Smith, “if it's meaningful and rewarding, you know what your role is, and you can be productive.”
Financially, it also helps fund a better image life that can improve your health: say, paying for a gym membership or a relaxing holiday.
Smith says: “If you want UK Plc to succeed, you have to have children who become teenagers and functioning adults.”
A government spokesman said the £2.5 billion Back to Work plan helps people with mental health problems by “removing barriers to work and enabling 384,000 more people to benefit from NHS talk therapy.”
They added that the government is “continuing to build mental health support groups in schools and colleges by investing pounds.” 8 million people in 24 initial support centers and expansion of talk therapy services.”
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