Soaring rates of anxiety in children

[ClaphamFox]

What's going on here?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/aug/27/nhs-referrals-for-anxiety-in-children-more-than-double-pre-covid-levels-england

 

 

[kingcarr21]

4 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

What's going on here?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/aug/27/nhs-referrals-for-anxiety-in-children-more-than-double-pre-covid-levels-england

 

 

Because instead of kids going outside climbing trees they spend most of their time exposed to the internet. Where they have access to all sorts of stuff that easily influence fragile minds.

 

 

[Daggers]

Shortest thread ever.

[Babylon]

Mobile phones handed out like confetti, and access to unfiltered access to social media. Total ban on smart phones for under 16's would make a massive difference. 

 

God knows what impact tablets are having, I feel like I go out for a meal and my kid is the only one not on the tablet for the entire meal. 

[bovril]

Instinctively I'd agree it's down to overuse of social media but it'd be interesting to see if there are similar trends in other countries where social media use will probably be at the same levels as in the UK.

[st albans fox]

Already several correct answers but the genie is out of the bottle and it’s not a single silver bullet responsible 

 

I have direct experience of this with some of my kids -  Fortunately not chronic (at this stage) and addressing it is important.  However, I don’t believe that social media has any responsibility in these cases. 

[Sampson]

It’s harder and harder or almost impossible to protect children from the realities of the adult world today I think. Neither can the shut off from bullies or the harshness of the playground after school. 
 

Honestly, I’d hate to be a child or teenager growing up today since the invention of social media.

 

10 years ago I thought the internet on balance was a force for good but since 2016 I’ve probably flipped the other way. 

[ClaphamFox]

Is it possible that the increased focus on mental health in schools is having some unintended negative impacts? Young people these days seem far more aware of their mental health, and able to discuss it in a much more articulate way, than was typical when I was a teenager in the 1990s. Yet this greater focus on emotional wellbeing in schools, and in society more widely, doesn't seem to be helping matters much. Is there something about the way we're teaching this stuff that actually makes people more anxious rather than less? Are we subconsciously sending a message that people are inherently fragile rather than helping them become more emotionally resilient and deal with difficult situations? I don't know - it just seems odd to me that there has never been such focus on mental health, yet people's mental health just seems to be getting worse and worse.

 

[foxy boxing]

they are always on their smartphones or ipads, having to feel the need to constantly be connected. less time spent outside and eating junk food and a lack of sleep. being a child has dramatically changed over the last thirty years or so. the constant need to be on facebook, snapchat, instagram,  years ago all children did was play outside because thats all you could do now they are so engrossed in social media where there is all sorts of harmful content.

[bovril]

21 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

Is it possible that the increased focus on mental health in schools is having some unintended negative impacts? Young people these days seem far more aware of their mental health, and able to discuss it in a much more articulate way, than was typical when I was a teenager in the 1990s. Yet this greater focus on emotional wellbeing in schools, and in society more widely, doesn't seem to be helping matters much. Is there something about the way we're teaching this stuff that actually makes people more anxious rather than less? Are we subconsciously sending a message that people are inherently fragile rather than helping them become more emotionally resilient and deal with difficult situations? I don't know - it just seems odd to me that there has never been such focus on mental health, yet people's mental health just seems to be getting worse and worse.

 

You've articulated well something I've wondered about for a while. Not specifically about young people but society in general. My partner, who's not originally from Britain, has often remarked that she feels more anxious here than at home, partly in her mind because there's much more awareness and discussion of mental health here. I also vaguely remember a study from the University of Cambridge last year that suggested suppressing negative thoughts may actually be better for mental health than discussing them.

[mancunianfox]

I have been wondering this too. I don't think it is too surprising that depression, anxiety, neurodiverse conditions are being diagnosed more as it is discussed so much more, especially on social media. I have struggled with depression since I was a kid (pre social media) which I now understand as triggered by body dysmorphia. I didn't realise what the actual cause was though until it started being discussed more recently. Not sure if that really helps though, I am probably more aware of it now than ever. Anytime I open up about my feelings to anyone I feel infinitely worse so nobody really knows about it but if I was younger maybe I would be more prepared to talk about it openly.

 

I suspect it is something that has always been there but people are encouraged to be more open about it now. I think we just have different ways to express how difficult life is and always has been for most people.

[leicsmac]

It may be that this is a problem that has always been rather prevalent and children are now merely reporting it more and therefore giving more accurate numbers of the problem rather than suffering in silence, than there being a sudden massive jump in anxiety and mental health issues (though of course there may well be exacerbating factors these days such as social media).

[Sampson]

1 hour ago, mancunianfox said:

I have been wondering this too. I don't think it is too surprising that depression, anxiety, neurodiverse conditions are being diagnosed more as it is discussed so much more, especially on social media. I have struggled with depression since I was a kid (pre social media) which I now understand as triggered by body dysmorphia. I didn't realise what the actual cause was though until it started being discussed more recently. Not sure if that really helps though, I am probably more aware of it now than ever. Anytime I open up about my feelings to anyone I feel infinitely worse so nobody really knows about it but if I was younger maybe I would be more prepared to talk about it openly.

 

I suspect it is something that has always been there but people are encouraged to be more open about it now. I think we just have different ways to express how difficult life is and always has been for most people.

I think a bit problem is that you can’t really express how you feel in language so discussing it can feel insufficient or anti-climactic.

 

I’m not saying people shouldn’t talk and get help btw. Just that really, we try and think, rationalise and speak aloud how and why we feel certain ways in the English language (or the language you primarily speak) and this in reality is quite bad at being able to explain the way our neurons fire and even our thought processes or how our thoughts work (and the voice in our head we think of as our thoughts speaks already in an artificial man-made language to begin with) 
 

Like I often have slumps and have brief periods of anxiety and I’ll rationalise in hindsight its because of xyz because we have to tell a story to explain it to others, but if I actually admit it it’s because my mind unconsciously had a thought about x for some unknown reason which unconsciously triggered a thought about y which unconsciously made me think about z, sometimes if I think about it the change in my brain chemistry comes from something I ate or a song I heard in the background of a cafe or something else. Sometimes I have no idea where it comes from.

 

If I try to explain to someone I’m feeling anxious and how that feels like and why it just feels like a garbled mess and I’ll often pin some tangible reason to it in my head in order to rationalise it when that probably has nothing to do with why my neurons decided to fire that way today.

Edited 27 August 2024 by Sampson

[bovril]

12 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

It may be that this is a problem that has always been rather prevalent and children are now merely reporting it more and therefore giving more accurate numbers of the problem rather than suffering in silence, than there being a sudden massive jump in anxiety and mental health issues (though of course there may well be exacerbating factors these days such as social media).

I think also young people have more to be anxious about these days than when I was growing up.

[Fox92]

You seen kids at junior school with iPhones. It's mental.

[leicsmac]

1 hour ago, bovril said:

I think also young people have more to be anxious about these days than when I was growing up.

That's entirely possible - or at least, they know more about stuff that deserves anxiety these days.

[bovril]

9 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

That's entirely possible - or at least, they know more about stuff that deserves anxiety these days.

Perhaps. I think the vibes matter - the sense of life improving of getting worse. The vibes are quite bad in the UK right now compared to when we were young. I think social media helps spread that but it isn't the root cause. 

[leicsmac]

19 minutes ago, bovril said:

Perhaps. I think the vibes matter - the sense of life improving of getting worse. The vibes are quite bad in the UK right now compared to when we were young. I think social media helps spread that but it isn't the root cause. 

Yeah, general "feeling" does seem to play into it some, and social media doesn't create that by itself, but rather acts as a force multiplier for it.

[Samilktray]

2 hours ago, bovril said:

Perhaps. I think the vibes matter - the sense of life improving of getting worse. The vibes are quite bad in the UK right now compared to when we were young. I think social media helps spread that but it isn't the root cause. 

Glad somebody has finally addressed the clear lack of vibes in this country 

[bovril]

6 minutes ago, Samilktray said:

Glad somebody has finally addressed the clear lack of vibes in this country 

The vibes are definitely off

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

the demise in hedge porno and the rise in anxiety is quite frankly too well connected to disregard

[deejdeej]

This place is as close as I come to social media these days. Most formats of it are entirely toxic.

 

After a few days away from it I noticed a substantial change in my mindset. 

[Zear0]

There was a time I dreaded school due to one individual being an absolute ****. Used to arrive at school as late as possible and hide at lunches for a few months. It was awful. 

 

For some young children with smart phones, there is potential zero escape from this sort of behaviour and can imagine it being utterly unbearable.

[Parafox]

7 hours ago, bovril said:

I think also young people have more to be anxious about these days than when I was growing up.

 

I always felt my parents protected me from the bad things going on in the world when I was young, the Cuban missile crisis, the Cold war, JFK's assassination, Russian nuclear war threats. Spy wars. I was aware and I watched stuff on the news but dear old mum and dad made sure I wasn't ignorant of the real facts and knowledge is not only power but also reassuring.

 

There was nobody else telling me shit that was extreme or frightening or that made me anxious. Sure, nuclear war was scary but I only had 2 sources of information, the news and my parents.

 

Now, kids are bombarded with half-truths, outright lies, misinformation, propaganda. Not to mention sexually explicit images and messages that influence young people to behave and interact in a certain way with their peers, and in some cases the expectation of sexual encounters in that, girls in particular, are objectified online and "expected" to behave like those that the lads see on porn sites.

 

Bullying at school was dealt with pretty well as everyone, including school staff, knew who the bullies were. Now it's almost impossible to stop as online accounts can be changed with a few clicks and the once blocked individual has access again.

 

As mentioned before, Pandora's box is well and truly open. No going back now.

 

It's a shame that so much good that has and will come from the internet, has been hijacked, abused and clouded by those who mean ill towards individuals and the world at large.

Edited 27 August 2024 by Parafox

[Lionator]

Anxious parents = anxious children.

 

Increased access to the media/internet.