Rise in reported anxiety levels among young people, figures show

There has been an increase in the number of young people reporting problems with anxiety, youth mental health service Jigsaw has said.

Problems with anxiety were the most common mental health difficulty among young people who used the organisation’s services last year. Some 39 per cent reported they were suffering from anxiety, an increase of seven per cent in the last three years.

Jigsaw runs counselling services for people aged between 12 and 25 years.

One quarter of the young people who used the service last year reported problems with stress, while 31 per cent reported low mood. Some 11 per cent of users said they struggled with thoughts of self-harm, 17 per cent had problems with sleep, and 15 per cent said they had anger problems.

Minister to examine compulsory sexual-consent college classes

---

Fear turns to friendship as Lisdoonvarna welcomes asylum seekers

---

Catholic Church rules out capital punishment in all circumstances

---

Vicky Phelan ‘deeply disturbed by lack of empathy’

---

The figures are contained in Jigsaw’s 2017 annual report.

The charity said problems with relationships, family breakdowns, bullying and exam stress were common factors behind the mental health problems young people were presenting with.

Jigsaw supported 4,300 young people last year, up slightly from the 4,185 who used the service in 2016.

Dr Gillian O'Brien, the organisation's director of clinical governance, said "high expectations of self are one key driver of anxiety which can be compounded by the expectations of parents, teachers and society at large.

“There is a deepening sense of uncertainty amongst many young people we support in relation to their sense of identity and place in this fast paced, evolving world,” Dr O’Brien added.

“However, if there is something positive that can be extracted from this rise in levels of anxiety it’s that young people today are so much more literate in terms of their mental health and wellbeing than they have ever been before.

“As a society, our awareness of mental health has grown considerably and it has been normalised to such a degree that it’s now commonplace to encounter open conversations about mental health in all kinds of places,” she said.

Some 21 per cent of young adults who used the service reported they had self-harmed in the last year.

Of young people who attended a counselling session with the charity, 98 per cent said they were satisfied with the support they got, and 96 per cent said they would recommend Jigsaw to a friend.

The group can be contacted throughwww.jigsaw.ie