The teens struggling with their mental health
As youth mental health charities see a spike in demand for their services, we speak to two mums who say their children are struggling to cope during lockdown….
THEIR FUTURES COULD LOOK VERY DIFFERENT BECAUSE OF ALL THIS
Before the country was put into lockdown, Betsi Mason,
15, was a typical teenager. She worked hard at school and loved spending time with her friends. But in the past 10 weeks, Betsi’s mum, Nicki, 53, has noticed a difference in her daughter. She’s become anxious, withdrawn and struggles to get out of bed in the morning.
Nicki, from Hastings, says, “Lockdown has been tough on her. She feels under pressure to keep on top of her schoolwork, and she’s missing her friends. This is the time in her life when she should be becoming more independent but, instead, she’s stuck indoors.”
Since the lockdown was announced in March, youth mental health charities have reported an increase in demand for their service. YoungMinds revealed that 83 per cent of under-25s say the pandemic has made their mental health worse. And Shout, which runs a 24/7 text helpline for young people, has taken an increase of 8,500 text conversations, with 56 per cent listing anxiety as an issue.
TOO MUCH TO BEAR
The situation has become so bad that the British Psychological Society, along with 30 other organisations, wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister, urging him to take steps, such as launching a national mental wellbeing campaign, to reduce the impact on young people’s mental health.
Tragically, for some young people, the lockdown has been too much to bear. Beth Palmer, 17, was found dead in her bedroom just days after it was announced. Her father, Mike, said, “She couldn’t finish college, she couldn’t go out and see her friends. She felt as though a three month lockdown was 300 years.”
Sally Greig is the co-founder of EggTooth, a not-for-profit social enterprise that aims to tackle mental health issues in young people. She says, “There’s a misconception that because teenagers aren’t going into school, they must be enjoying lockdown. But they’re away from friends, and they’re missing out on crucial lesson time with their teachers. Those in years 10 and 12 will still sit exams next year, so this can have a real impact on their futures. Not only that, but with so much news of the virus and deaths, teens are being forced to confront their own and their family’s mortality – much earlier than the average person would.”
At the end of March, the government announced a £5 million grant for mental health services, but Sally says that isn’t enough.
“The government needs to think about this long-term,” she says. “Their futures could look very different because of all this.”
The think tank Resolution Foundation predicts that the “corona class of 2020” will be at risk of unemployment, and face damage to their career and pay prospects.
Sally adds, “Our teenagers are doing their best and we should take our hats off to them, but they need access to consistent long-term support.”
For Betsi, lockdown with her mum and older brother Archie, 18, was a novelty at first. Nicki, who is a chef and a hairdresser, explains, “Betsi has never had any mental health issues before. And to begin with, doing her schoolwork in her PJs was fun. But after the Easter holidays, she opened up her laptop to 60 emails from her teachers, detailing various assignments she needed to complete.
“She tried to manage it all, but the next thing I knew, she was crying in my arms. Betsi is predicted top grades across all subjects and she feels under pressure to achieve them.
“She genuinely fears that if she gets behind now, she’ll ruin her chances of passing her GCSEs next year, and damaging her future career prospects.”
MELTDOWNS
Betsi began to have regular meltdowns, and even refuses to get out of bed some days. Nicki is so concerned for her daughter that she put her on 5-HTP, a natural antidepressant, and has also sought the help of local mental health services.
Nicki explains, “She’s very up and down. She has Zoom chats with her school friends, but it’s just not the same.”
Now, Nicki worries what will happen when Betsi returns to school. She says, “We don’t know when Betsi will get back into
the classroom, but I know she’ll be so focused and I’m worried she’s headed for burnout.
Mum-of-two Michelle Pearce*, 47, knows how Nicki is feeling. Her eldest daughter, Rebecca, 16, was due to sit her GCSEs this summer.
Michelle – who lives in Manchester with Rebecca, her husband Stephen, and younger daughter Emily, 13 – says, “Rebecca wants to study law at university and was planning on taking A-levels in Maths, English and Sociology.
“But now she’s worried she won’t get the GCSE grades to do so. She feels she could have done better in her mocks, which they’re partly basing her results on.”
LOST MEMORIES
And Rebecca, like most students across the country, had been making plans for her prom. Michelle says, “Since September last year all she’s talked about is the prom. For Christmas, Stephen and I took her to a local boutique to pick out a prom dress. Now it’s not happening and she won’t get that night with the friends she’s known since she was just seven years old.
“I sit down with her every day and we talk through how she’s feeling, but I really feel for her – and I’m not sure how we can make up for the time and memories she’s lost.”
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