boys are left to suffer in silence

WHAT is happening to teenage girls in this country?

An alarming number — more than a third — have experienced symptoms of psychological distress, according to a recent department of education survey, with problems such as low self- esteem, a sense of worthlessness and feelings of despair or anxiety.

What’s interesting is that only 15 per cent of boys reported the same symptoms.

This has led many to conclude that girls are under more stress than boys, with the pressures of social media, body image issues and early sexualisation, as well as the suggestion that they’re under more strain than boys to succeed academically, and that they tend to be more self-critical and lacking in confidence.

I’m not so sure it’s this simple. These are self-reported symptoms, so really all this shows us is that more girls communicate their difficulties than boys do.

In fact, young boys are more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health problem than girls. The gap narrows as children age so that by late adolescence, more girls are diagnosed with mental health problems. But this is not because girls suddenly start having a harder time: I think it’s because girls become good at articulating their problems, and therefore get a diagnosis.

The boys suffer in silence. Males between 15 and 24 are significantly more likely to kill themselves than females. In fact, suicide is the leading cause of death in young men after road traffic accidents.

Boys are feeling just as distressed — they’re just unable to tell anyone about it and no one is showing them how.