Our young must not be forgotten about

IN recent years the number of young people in Northern Ireland who took their own lives was proportionately the highest in the UK. It was a mental health crisis which attracted widespread attention even if that was not matched by government initiatives to tackle the problem.

However, since the coronavirus pandemic took hold here almost a year ago the issue has fallen off the radar. It seems that because young people are less affected by the virus physically concentration has been on other more mature age groups.

But a report from the Prince’s Trust published today should be a wake-up call to the health authorities. It contains an undiluted list of alarming statistics which show that the virus has had a serious impact on the mental health of 16-25-year-olds.

More than a quarter in that age group said they feel unable to cope with life due to the pandemic, with 45% reporting that their mental health has deteriorated in the same period. Feeling anxious and missing out on being young are other problems revealed.

Worst affected, inevitably, are those who are unemployed, have few if any qualifications and little self-confidence. Not unnaturally given the disruption caused to their education, one in five is concerned about their future work prospects and 62% feel that getting a new job is impossible because of the intense competition in the job market. As often reported by this newspaper poor mental health has been something of a neglected sector and given the overwhelming demands of the pandemic, when even urgent cancer surgery is postponed, it is likely to remain that way for some time.

But these young people are our future, the next generation of people who will drive the economy forward. They cannot be allowed to be a lost generation and the challenge to assist them will come when the pandemic is brought under control and the rebuilding of the economy takes place.

How will whoever is then Health Minister at Stormont respond to this crisis among young people, providing more services for diagnosing and treating their mental health?

We will also need innovative schemes and economic assistance to give the young people hope and targets to aim for.

The Prince’s Trust, to its credit, just doesn’t identify problems, it also tries to solve them. It helped 70,000 young people last year in the UK with the result that three in four of those on Prince’s Trust programmes move into work, education or training. It is a template which government could well emulate or adapt. Doing nothing is not acceptable.