The rise in teen depression

“A time bomb is ticking. The number of young people taking anti-depressants in the north and north-east of Scotland has risen by more than two-thirds in the last six years

The five-year-old daughter of Martha Bess DeWitt – a Presbyterian education director in Nashville was very tearful at the breakfast table. Martha asked her what was troubling her.

The lass responded, “Could we please not watch the news at breakfast any more?” Pause for thought. The news from around the world these days tends to be deeply dispiriting. Whether it's protests on American streets about the killing of black men by police, or the bombing of aid convoys in Syria, or the killing of innocent bairns in Aleppo, it can make for pretty gruelling listening or watching.

Of course, it's not just fiveyear-olds who are deeply troubled by what is going on. Images of senseless murder in places like Libya, Syria, Iraq and Gaza are hardly likely to raise the spirits of sentient beings.

For the moment, though, I want to switch the spotlight from international affairs to a more local matter, one which I believe raises profound implications about the way our society is developing.

A time bomb is ticking. The number of young people taking anti-depressants in the north and north-east of Scotland has risen by more than two-thirds in the last six years.

Hundreds of children aged under 14 have been given antidepressants.

The Scottish Government said the rise was “as a result of better identification of those requiring treatment”.

Mibbes aye, mibbes naw, as the great Kenny Dalglish might say.

Some very uncomfortable facts: in 2009, 1,499 under-21s were using anti-depressants in Grampian, compared with 2,784 last year – a rise of 85%.

In the NHS Highland area, 814 were taking anti-depressants in 2009, compared with 1,227 in 2015 – an increase of 50%.

This trend is not confined to Scotland, though there are particular problems in relation to isolation and loneliness in the Highlands.

The World Health Organisation has raised concerns about the number of children being prescribed anti-depressants in UK. Between 2005 and 2012, there was a 54% increase in prescriptions issued for the drugs.

What is happening here? Beyond concerns about the appropriateness of medicalising the problem, lies a more fundamental question: why are so many young people developing mental health problems?

If increasing numbers of youngsters require treatment for depression, what kind of society are we becoming? What are our values? And where are these key issues being discussed?

We need to get beyond the political noise about the issue. Political point scoring is unhelpful.

Perhaps the biggest impact of this trend is being felt in our schools. So let's find out.

A recent survey of school leaders in the UK revealed that 55% of 338 school leaders reported a large rise in the number of pupils suffering from anxiety and stress.

More worryingly, 79% of heads saw an increase in selfharm or suicidal thoughts among students.

“Teenagers growing up today in Britain are under a constant onslaught of stress and pressure," said Lucie Russell, director of campaigns at the Young Minds charity.

“Teenagers are struggling to cope with the pressures they face to have the perfect body, to cope with the exam factory culture we have created for them, with bullying and with the impact online networking is having on their lives."

This, perhaps, points us to the heart of the matter.

My guess is that we can't fully address this troubling problem until we face the pervasive culture of narcissism in which we live. When narcissism meets slick mobile technology, the results can be lethal.

Young people are encouraged to put themselves “out there”, to market themselves to a very wide public.

This makes them particularly vulnerable to online trolls who get their kicks in life by making other people miserable.

One of the marks of fullblown narcissism is a lack of empathy for other people. There are lots of examples.

Katie Hopkins is one of the sad “stars” of social media. She takes pride in her refusal to care about the effect of her words on other people.

“No,” she wrote about the refugee crisis, “I don’t care. Show me pictures of coffins, show me bodies floating in water, play violins and show me skinny people looking sad. I still don’t care.”

Which takes us back to the victims of war today. Go to Google and put in the word “Aleppo”. See the images of destruction that are there.

No wonder the five-year-old lass from Nashville was overwhelmed by sadness at the breakfast table. Think about that. And think about the increasing numbers of our young ones who are suffering from depression.

And weep.