Young people aren't snowflakes - mental distress is rising, says head of official review

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.

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".

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.

Some have argued greater awareness and misattributing normal life stresses to mental illness were factors in the increase in cases.

Fonagy said his personal battle with mental health when he was young was a driving factor in his desire to help young people.

He experienced suicidal thoughts as a teenager after moving to London from Hungary without his parents. But he says he was fortunate to get therapy from a local service that "saved his life".

"It's harder to be young now," the 74-year-old said, adding that his review "dismisses the idea of a snowflake generation".

"I'm in awe of the way they have adjusted to an environment that is far more difficult than I ever had to face."

He said economic and employment uncertainty, as well as the pressures of social media, had created a "very toxic" environment for young people.

"They are a generation that has real serious challenges that I would not wish to have had when I was their age.

"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."

More than 100 experts and families with experience of mental health problems have worked on the review with Fonagy, a clinical psychologist and adviser to NHS England.

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.

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.

Some have also questioned whether society was now over-medicalising distress in people's lives – giving people diagnoses when what they are facing is temporary stress that they should learn to cope with.

Last year, the BBC found that many GPs had concerns about over-diagnosis and felt normal life stresses were being over-medicalised.

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Fonagy, however, is adamant that what young people are experiencing represents a real rise in mental health problems.

But he also accepted that greater awareness was leading to more people seeking medical help.

The trend is affecting both boys and girls, but becomes particularly pronounced in girls from about the age of 12.

Sexual aggression from boys was a big concern, he said, but added that the expectations society placed on girls and young women was a factor.

"It's very difficult to be a young woman now in secondary school."

Fonagy said young people were struggling with a range of different conditions from eating disorders and anxiety "that's so powerful people avoid going to school", through to depression that was "so strong people cannot sleep at night and lose their appetite and feel their life is not worth living".

His report will say these problems were exacerbated by the pandemic because of the disruption it caused to their lives.

'Too little, too late'

Young people the BBC spoke to who have struggled with their mental health say it is important that the government acts on the findings of Fonagy's report when it comes out.

"It's all very well having this flashy report, but it's useless if they don't put that into practice," Omari, 22, said.