Lack of psychiatric support cited

The majority of young people with a mental illness are not receiving appropriate treatment, the director of a mental health group said yesterday.

Tony Bates, of Headstrong, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, said that "less than 10 per cent of young people with a mental illness engage in support services".

He believes most people at risk from mental illness can be successfully helped with a "small amount of support" when it is provided at the right time.

Dr Bates's comments came following the release of research by a team of psychologists and sociologists from Trinity College and University College Dublin, who found "there is considerable evidence that mental health problems among young people are increasing."

The study profiled the mental health, habits and background of 97 young people, 50 males and 47 females, and the participants had an average age of 21.

It found psychiatric illnesses among young adults remain largely untreated, with many people taking to alcohol rather than receiving medical assistance. The researchers said that in the context of the current suicide rate, the statistics were alarming.

"Mental health problems can exist from an early age but by the time most people in Ireland arrive at a service their problem has reached a point from where it will take a long time to address," Dr Bates said.

"Early intervention is needed to prevent a problem from turning into a serious mental illness . . . Current services are thin on the ground and under-resourced, but most of all they are not youth friendly."

Some 92 per cent of young people surveyed by researchers drank alcohol and one fifth were found to have a serious problem. A further 6 per cent were said to be demonstrating signs of suicidal intent.

The study said: "Excessive use of alcohol was evident and this, along with the inherent risks involved, was largely unacknowledged by the participants. In light of present suicide levels among young men in Ireland the profile of heavy drinking alongside undiagnosed psychological difficulties evident in this study is particularly disturbing."

Dr Bates said this finding was not surprising. "Young people do not find it easy to walk into a GP's office to seek help. They are conscious of people seeing them there, they find it expensive and they are aware that most GPs know their parents.

"In many cases these factors mean young people find it easier to turn to other things such as drinking or taking drugs instead of seeking help," he said.

The study also highlighted a "serious knowledge gap" in relation to understanding psychological symptoms and a reluctance to seek treatment among this age group. It said this "may indicate either a lack of awareness of mental health issues, or lack of availability of services".

Dr Jimmy Devins, the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, said mental health is "a very serious issue" and he has been concerned with "removing the stigma" surrounding it since he assumed his post in July.

"Mental health is as important as physical health. Nobody is immune to bad mental health and perceptions of it need to be changed . . . We are attempting to increase awareness of the issue through public campaigns on television and radio. These are being directed at young people to get the message across and the feedback has been quite good," Dr Devins said.

The research on young people and mental health was published in a recent edition of the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine.

It also found there was a significant relationship between the education level people reached and their involvement in criminal activity. One quarter of the participants had not completed secondary school and this group were far more likely to have committed an offence.

TROUBLED GENERATION: symptoms and solutions
92 per cent of young people drank alcohol and one-fifth had a serious problem.
22 per cent displayed a serious likelihood of having a clinical addiction to alcohol.
25 per cent had been in trouble with the law at some stage.
75 per cent of those who had been in trouble with the law were men.
43 per cent were free from symptoms of mental illness.
6 per cent showed signs of suicidal intent.
83 per cent believed in God but only 11 per cent attended church more than once a month.
98 per cent of participants had sought emotional support from their friends.