Accusations that the young are a snowflake generation are wrong, the head of an independent review into mental health, ADHD and autism has told the BBC. Prof Peter Fonagy said in an exclusive interview that there had been a real rise in mental distress among children and young people, with anxiety, depression, self-harm and eating disorders the most common.
Because it’s been accepted and tolerated for too long, too many people have heard sob stories about how hard the millennials have it, and haven’t challenged that!
He said it was "harder to be young" now given the economic and employment uncertainty young people face, coupled with the challenges presented by social media.
His review was ordered nine months ago by Wes Streeting after the then-health secretary claimed in an interview that young people were over-diagnosed and "written off".
And so all those who owe their very positions to the ‘need’ for cosseting professions to suckle at the taxpayer teat immediately scrambled to try to disprove it.
It is likely to feed into government policies on everything from NHS services and benefits to support for young people who are not in education, employment or training. Fonagy said he chose to speak to the BBC ahead of the publication, which is expected later this week, because he was concerned the debate around ADHD and autism would "obscure" the wider issue of mental health.
He said it will conclude that the rise in mental health problems since the 1990s was real, with about one in four 16 to 24-year-olds now struggling.
'Struggling' with what exactly, compared to other generations? How is this 'data' gathered? It sounds dodgy to me...
The data on this is contested as some sources rely on self-reporting, while sceptics argue greater awareness and reduced stigma around mental health mean more people are coming forward.
Aha!
Last year, the BBC found that many GPs had concerns about over-diagnosis and felt normal life stresses were being over-medicalised.
They are, and they are often the one's doing it!
"Adults have let them down. We're the first generation that probably collectively feels we had a better life than our children will have.
"So, to the person who says it's a snowflake generation, just try living 24 hours as a 16-year-old."
If I could take the tech that we have now back with me I'd happily go back in time to my teenage years. Never has the phrase 'You've never had it so good' be more appropriate.
