Young people face shortage of reliable accessible resources when seeking mental health help: Expert

While mental health is commonly viewed as being about an individual’s weakness, there are actually a number of drivers, which makes the issue complex, said Prof Third.

“They range from individual predispositions right through to sort of social and cultural attitudes,” she said.

A range of structural factors also affect young people’s mental health, such as whether they come from a lower socioeconomic background or have access to education, she added.

“Unfortunately what we don’t know enough about is exactly how these drivers intersect,” said Prof Third, adding that more research has to be done to understand the trends.

COMPARING ACROSS CULTURES

Across the four countries where the study was conducted, young people had many similarities in their experiences with the issue of mental health, said Prof Third.

“I think what we heard from young people in this study, and it was an in-depth study that talked with young people in sort of workshop-based settings, is that they have really become more aware of mental health since the rise of the pandemic,” she said.

“They told us that there are a range of things that they think affect their mental health. These include pressure about schoolwork, family conflict or violence.”

Other issues, such as facing relationship troubles and their families not being able to afford basic food and housing, also strongly impact their mental health and wellbeing, said Prof Third.