Young and Under Pressure
Tabi Jackson Gee
There’s no denying it: the UK has made huge strides in its attitudes to mental wellbeing in recent years. Finally our mental health is on the national agenda.
Social media is awash with people sharing details of their own personal struggles and every day there’s a new story about a celebrity who has opened up about their experiences.
This change in pace of the conversation around mental health can only be a good thing. Because life now is filled with its own unique, very modern set of challenges — particularly for young people. We’ve grown up over-exposed to the world thanks to the internet, portable devices and the spread of viral news. We’ve also never, ever been told how to cope with any of this.
What are the biggest challenges facing us today?
Jean Twenge is a professor of psychology at San Diego university and the author of Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy — and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood — and What That Means for the Rest of Us. She reflects on the fact that the number of US teenagers spending time with friends every day dropped by more than 40 per cent between 2000 and 2015. This isolation has resulted in what’s been described as a “loneliness epidemic”.
Of course, technology isn’t the only thing making modern life more complicated. Back in Britain, we’ve come of age during a recession and been pushed head first into an insecure job market. There’s a housing crisis that prevents many of us from living where we want and need to live for work. And while our parents’ generation aspired to put down roots in their twenties, many of us can’t even afford to leave home, let alone buy a house. According to the UK Office for National Statistics, in 2015 around 40 per cent of young adults aged 15 to 34 were still living with their parents.
That’s a lot of pressures to be dealing with — and it’s taking its toll. Last year the Metropolitan Police received a phone call relating to mental health every five minutes. Combine these statistics with a dearth of funding and suddenly the current state of Britain’s mental health comes into sharp and terrifying focus.
Are we really any different from our parents?
Carl Anka is a 25-year-old presenter, journalist and mental health campaigner.
Like many people his age, Carl has been at the sharp end of the insecure job market for a couple of years. After a particularly unpleasant experience 12 months ago he hit crisis point. He was working irregular hours and getting very little sleep. He had no time to see friends or visit his parents.
On one Monday in January, Carl made a very brave decision — and tweeted about being diagnosed with clinical depression. Since then he’s felt support and gratitude from people in similar positions, further evidence that the digital world can offer as many solutions as it does problems. He even went on BBC TV programme The One Show to talk about his experiences.
But media and social media can exacerbate the problem, too. Alya Mooro is a blogger who, having grown up with and started her career online, has experienced a “love/hate relationship” with social media. “On the one hand, I’m very thankful for it and the role it’s played in my career,” says the 28-year-old. “It has facilitated many friendships and I even met one of my best friends on Instagram.
“On the other hand, it can be very stressful constantly feeling like you need to portray the best version of yourself and forever feeling the pull of wanting to post and check how well your posts are doing,” she continues. “It’s also horrific for FOMO (fear of missing out) and comparing yourself to other people.”
“I think that social media is a huge pressure for young people because there is nowhere to escape from it, every waking moment,” says Joanna Jamieson — a counsellor for 18 years. “Yet if you turn if off it’s easy to feel isolated and alone.” Jamieson works currently with Minds for Life, a new therapy and counselling service that delivers video therapy and text message support through mobile phones.
Balancing the pressures of a social life spent online and an insecure work environment is something that most of us need help with. “A lot of my mental wellbeing is tied up in my job,” says Carl Anka. “When I have money, I’m happy. When I don’t have money, I’m not.” Money and mental health are inextricably linked, especially for those of us living in busy, expensive cities where jobs are hugely competitive.
“If I go for after-work drinks on a £19,500 salary and buy two rounds, I’m then done for the weekend,” says Carl. Nothing makes you feel alone quite like living in one of the world’s busiest cities with no friends and limited opportunities to go out. This is a modern phenomenon, says Joanna Jamieson — a counsellor for 18 years. “I think there’s more anxiety around than there used to be,” she sympathises. “The pressure to succeed is very high. It’s very difficult. Our parents didn’t face the same issues, and their expectations of life where very different.”
Putting our habits to better use
Minds for Life is just one example of how the seemingly omnipresent digital world could actually help the young people who are absorbed in it for much of their day. The trend for “digital detox” is all well and good, but slightly unrealistic for most young people who have to use their phones and computers for work and for the practicalities of their everyday life. Having therapy through video sessions and text messages, people can also avoid the added stress of booking an appointment, missing work to go to an in-person session (sometimes impossible) and having to talk to a total stranger face to face.
Where our parents’ generation may have only felt comfortable speaking to a therapist in person, we are used to speaking to people through computer and phone screens. And studies show there’s no therapeutic reason that we can’t be counselled online. In fact, the immediacy of getting help right when you need it is powerful — and could mean that the young people of today find a way of dealing with the mental challenges that our busy world throws at them.
