World Mental Health Day

"On World Mental Health Day, Friday 10th October, I had the privilege of speaking to some of Chester Diocese' Youth and Children's Workers to discuss Mental Health in Young People. Different recent studies reveal that between 18-45% of university students report mental health difficulties, a stark increase from only five years ago, and mental health difficulties are the number one reason for students dropping out of university. Worse still; suicide is the leading cause of death in those younger than 35.

"We considered why this might be the case. The lessening of stigma and an increase in vocabulary of mental health have helped raise individuals' awareness of mental health and increased confidence in discussing it. This is mostly very positive although some research suggests this boom in awareness may be offering labels that even school age young people sometimes unhelpfully attach firmly to their identity. Additionally, the world is facing significant turbulence including the cost of living crisis, the climate crisis, and an epidemic in violence against women and girls.

"Thanks to modern technology, anyone with a smartphone has front row access to humanitarian crises across the world, inevitably impacting mental health. Furthermore, social media, while not inherently bad, can be addictive and does have the capacity to introduce young people to harmful, and sometimes extreme, influences. Some studies suggest that, on average, in the western world, we each consume as much information in a day than we would have consumed over a lifetime 100 years ago. Our brains have not had time to adapt to this development and young people, the greatest users of social media and technology, are most affected by this.

"So where is hope to be found in this conversation? We talked about the reminder of Ecclesiastes that 'there is nothing new under the sun', that while it often feels like everything is 'unprecedented', the world has experienced other versions of this crisis time and again; and God is not overwhelmed by it.

"We talked about the oppressive system that Jesus was born into and how we can follow Jesus' example to let God's power be made perfect in weakness. And finally we talked about our capacity, as leaders, to offer co-regulation to our young people by rooting ourselves in the love and hope of God so that we can offer it out abundantly."

Studies referenced include work done by Cibyl, Papyrus, HEFCE, Mental Health Foundation and Martin Hilbert, USC.