Following on from the first report in the series released in April, UNICEF Ireland today launches the second in a series of four reports that present the findings of primary research carried out among Irish teenagers in late 2010. The series of reports entitled “Changing the Future” will be released periodically by UNICEF Ireland in 2011 and will come together to paint a holistic picture of teenage well-being in Ireland, in the words of young people themselves. The Second Report: Mental Health explores the reporting of specific mental health difficulties including the experiences of feeling depressed, feeling suicidal, self-harming and anorexia/bulimia.
“With one in every two young people reporting that they have experienced depression, the scale and importance of the task of promoting positive adolescent mental health should not be underestimated” said Melanie Verwoerd, Executive Director of UNICEF Ireland.
Some of the principal findings from the first report include:
- 50% of young Irish people report that they had felt or suffered from depression in the past;
- 26% of young people in Ireland report that they have felt or suffered from feeling suicidal in the past;
- 20% of young people in Ireland reported that they have felt or have suffered from self-harming in the past.
- 13% of young people in Ireland reported that they have felt or suffered from anorexia/bulimia in the past.
- Only 14% of young people in Ireland specifically reported that they had not felt or suffered from any of these mental health problems in the past.
- Only 18% of the young people who report the problem to be on-going report that they are receiving help from any source.
Overall, in terms of young peoples’ reports of their own experiences of the issues raised by the research, a clear picture has emerged: 1 in 2 young Irish people report that they have suffered from depression in the past, a further 1 in 4 report that they have felt suicidal, 1 in 5 report that they have self-harmed, and more than 1 in 10 report that they have suffered from Anorexia or Bulimia.
“There are several key findings that have emerged from this research. UNICEF believes that it is imperative that these findings are not just reported, but are also understood, especially amongst those stakeholders whose responsibility it is to ensure that positive adolescent mental health is given priority within Ireland’s legislative and policy framework” said Melanie Verwoerd, Executive Director of UNICEF Ireland at the launch of the Report on Tuesday June 7th.
The fact that 82% of young people who were still experiencing the problem also reported that they were not receiving any help, professional or otherwise, is of significant concern. There is also a significantly lower proportion of younger people who report that they are getting help, which grows as the respondents age increases. More than twice as many 19 year olds reported that they were getting help compared to 17 year olds. It is clear that the younger the person is, the less likely it is that they are in receipt of any assistance or help.
The Report concludes that there is an evident gap in the proportion of young people who report that they have experienced the types of mental health concerns that have been raised in the report, and the proportion of those young people who are in receipt of the appropriate types of assistance. The existence of this gap poses fundamental questions that Ireland must address if our adolescent mental health policy is to meet the needs of young people.
“No young person should be left to address these issues single-handedly, and there is an implicit responsibility upon systems of child protection and care to engage young people at the time that they are experiencing difficulty” concluded Ms. Verwoerd.
Click on the image below to download the PDF
The first report in the series can also be downloaded here
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in Changing the Future, please click here to see a list of support services.