There’s a crisis in mental health among young people – and anyone who questions it is viewed as deeply controversial. Thankfully, this documentary asked all the right questions
‘We’re encouraging young people to talk about mental health but, when they do, the support is not always there,” was the key message from last night’s Dispatches: Young, British and Depressed on Channel 4.
Last year, there were 700,000 referrals of children and young people into mental health services – a 45% increase in two years. What questions should we be asking about such a sharp rise? Can it really be that this generation’s teenagers are inherently more sad, anxious or vulnerable than those of the past?