Prior to 2020, the rising levels of mental illnesses being diagnosed in children and young people was already alarming. Now, it is an emergency that must be urgently addressed if we want to give the COVID generation a future.
In 2017, one in ten 5-10-year olds had a probable mental disorder. In 2020, that figure became one in seven. That’s around three children in every classroom who are trying to work, concentrate and live with symptoms of mental illness.
Many see children as being inherently resilient. ‘They will just bounce back’ is a common refrain, but the evidence collected by MQ Mental Health Research doesn’t bear that out. In fact, 75% of life-long mental health conditions develop in childhood.
It is evident that the COVID generation will need more support in order to truly thrive, but adding more subjects to the national curriculum isn't enough to ensure we can 'build back better'.
Throughout the pandemic, the Mental Health Foundation and Swansea University have been monitoring the effects of the pandemic on the wellbeing of British teenagers. The most recent findings are 14% of teenagers said their own mental health is ‘poor’, whilst 57% were pessimistic about the future; saying that it would be ‘a lot’ or ‘a little’ worse for people their age.
The charity Mind recently surveyed young people who were impacted by mental illness and found that 96% said that their illness had affected their schoolwork at some point. 48% said that they had been disciplined at school for behaviour that was due to their mental health.
Figures like these are important to know and understand. Without a clear picture of our current situation, we cannot understand the scale of the problem. However, documenting the decline of a generations mental health is not enough. We have to find solutions.
Documenting the decline of a generations mental health is not enough. We have to find solutions.
Through research, it is possible to better understand, treat and ultimately prevent mental illnesses from taking hold. However mental health research has long been the ‘poor relation’ of healthcare science.
Investment into research for physical health conditions such as cancer, and even COVID, have produced some remarkable results that prolong and save countless lives. When it comes to mental health however, years of underinvestment and lack of funding have left us behind. Just as we rightly concentrated resources into finding a prevention for COVID, now is the time for us to focus on preventing the next epidemic our children face: mental illness.
Not all demographics are affected equally by mental illness. Groups who are already vulnerable are bearing the brunt of the mental health crisis: Children living in economic uncertainty or unsafe homes, ethnic minorities who experience discrimination and racism and people who have lost their support structures due to lockdowns and isolation have all had their mental health impacted more than the general population.
In an All-Party Parliamentary Group paper published earlier this year, 41 academics and experts called on the UK government to provide more funding for mental health research, as well as making several other recommendations to the government to help support children and young people.
Professor Ann John from Swansea University, a co-author of the paper, said “The Government needs to deliver targeted support to those most at risk of developing a mental health problem due to their economic circumstances.
But, more than that, the Government must address the factors that can cause young people to develop mental health problems in the first place. This means delivering an equitable welfare system, guaranteeing good work, education and training opportunities, housing safety and security, ensuring that teenagers have the basics to live comfortably through the pandemic and beyond - and ultimately lifting young people out of the impoverished conditions that cause so much distress.”
Just £9 per person affected is spent on research into mental health.
In its review of the funding landscape for mental health research, MQ discovered that just £9 per person affected is spent on research into mental health. In comparison, the spend on research for cancer is £228 per person. Whilst no one would ever suggest that society should spend less on the study of physical illnesses, this shouldn’t be at the expense of mental illnesses which urgently need to catch up.
The already colossal burden of mental illness has just got greater, and the fissures of mental health inequalities are widening. Increasing services alone is not enough, without expanding our knowledge and understanding of the wide range of conditions and how best to treat them, we cannot make progress.
It is absolutely vital that the UK Government prioritizes spending on mental health research. In particular for children and young people and minoritized groups.
