Adolescent Anxiety

 

As a nonagenarian, my own adolescence is far away; the adolescence of my children [all now in their sixties] seems pretty distant; that of my grandchildren, is much closer but was not closely observed by me as I have lived a distance away from them, though I did hear the occasional tantrum and witness dramatic despair which soon seemed to pass. SO I haven't observed familial teenage sadness myself but I seem to constantly read about it or hear of it on the radio. And we do know that adolescence is a huge transitional period for children when emotions are in a semi-permanent state of flux. But it seems there is an epidemic now, according, at least, to journalists of negative mental health outcomes. And I am stunned to read current statistics which show, for instance, that in 2023, the numbers of children and young people referred to mental health services reached a record high. NHS England record a shocking 20.8% of women aged 17-19 with an eating disorder while rates of hospital admission for girls and young women for self harm, have risen dramatically. [Adolescent boys’ numbers have risen slightly less dramatically.]

And then there is loneliness. Historically, people’s social networks shrink with age. Mine certainly have, in common with the majority of those in their eighties but, abnormally, the number of children reporting feelings of loneliness at school have more than doubled between 2012 and 2018, while Britons between 16 and 29 are more than twice as likely to report feeling lonely ‘often’ or ‘always’ as those above 70. Real and continuing loneliness can obviously be a worrying prelude to depression, mental health problems and the possibility of suicide. Unbearable thought! Is it chiefly that adolescent despair is talked about more in public and in print than in former times? Certainly public discussions about emotional states and problems ARE more common [I tend to think of it as the Americanisation of the public debate; some would say “the normalisation” of the concept.]

Looking back historically, the much stronger belief in society, in God and Church and religion may well have been a strong indicator of societal belonging as well as providing the expectation that Divine help was reliably near. Modern society is highly
individualised and atomised now, and religion much less widely followed, especially in Britain, than formerly. The wider consideration of other contributors to loneliness gives us poverty and economic insecurity; zero hour contracts; short term as opposed to one year plus, or permanent, jobs; the disappearance of youth clubs and community youth outreach; libraries and municipal swimming pools. Life in a deeply unequal world beset by austerity, has consequences particularly for the vulnerable.

Ian Russell: campaigner.

Which is where, no doubt, social media make an entrance. Teens spend several hours a day on their smartphones, often communicating with friends; their I-phones are their dearest possessions providing instant connection to TikTok et al. But the providers of the online world do not have the positive social connection of their users as their main raison d’etre; they are there to beat competitors and make money. And what can, and often does, happen is that social media use can isolate people from the flesh-and-blood community around them; can lead individuals to unhealthy places [witness the utter sadness of Molly Russell helped to commit suicide at 14 after viewing thousands of posts promoting suicide and self-harm]; can encourage anti-social behaviour by providing a willing audience for self-hype and undisciplined abuse directed at others. 

Molly Russell’s father, Ian, has become a campaigner for internet safety, calling for tech firms to be held legally responsible for exposing children to harmful content. And the Online Safety Bill of October 2023, establishes that social media companies have a statuary duty to ban illegal content aimed at children. These are hopeful signs of wider protective action afoot.