ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that timely and personalised support for young people struggling with mental health challenges is vital in ensuring they do not go on to find themselves marginalised in society. One of the best ways of understanding how young people feel about mental health is to hear them describe their experiences or the challenges they face first-hand. Teenage girls tend to be particularly at risk of certain types of mental health problems, and especially between the ages of 17 and 19. Children from low-income families are four times more likely to experience mental health problems compared to children from higher-income families. The rise of the Internet has introduced new risks that have the potential to impact on young people’s mental health as they grow up using it in so many areas of their lives. A protracted period of austerity that began in 2008 has resulted in under-investment and increasing demand for mental health services.
