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Why our support is needed more than ever

A young Black woman in a wheelchair and a young Black man on a bench, both staring at the camera looking serious.

Throughout 2021-22, coronavirus (Covid-19) continued to impact the lives of everyone in the UK in a profound way. On top of this, most households in the UK were starting to experience the financial pressures caused by rising costs and our lives continue to be impacted by multiple global crises. The combination of all these tensions has hit young people hard and led to a huge increase in the need for mental health support. 

Young people have been disproportionately impacted by two years of disruption and inconsistency in schools; bereavement and loss; uncertainty about the future, particularly in terms of work; and a continuing lack of support networks. For many young people with pre-existing mental health problems, the pressures of the last few years has made their mental health worse.

The NHS data

The most recent NHS data shows that an increasingly high number of young people are struggling with their mental health and that children’s mental health is getting worse since Covid-19.

  • Over 3.5 million young people aged 6-23 years old in England have a possible mental health disorder.

  • Referrals to children and young people's mental health services are at the highest on record at 90,789 in March 2022.

  • Urgent referrals to crisis care teams were higher in March 2022 than any other time since 2019.

  • 1,067,849 aged 18 or under were in contact with mental health services.

  • 4,166 aged 18 or under of those in contact with mental health services were admitted to a mental health hospital.

  • 674,485 children and young people were supported through NHS funded mental health services with at least one contact.

Beano Brain study

YoungMinds and Beano logo.

In 2020, YoungMinds commissioned Beano Brain to carry out a longitudinal study of young people aged 11–25 to track how they are feeling, and how easily they are able to get effective support for their mental health.

The study provides data on the needs young people have and the support they have from family, the education system or professionals and reinforces what we are seeing in the NHS data.

Of the young people surveyed:

49%
said that they'd experienced negative emotions which affect their everyday life.
40%
of all 11-25s said they struggled to cope.
23%
said negative emotions are still affecting their daily life.
19%
said they are still struggling.
A person thinking, sat on the sofa.

Overall across 2021-22, significant numbers of young people have been struggling with their mental health, and continue to do so.

Find out more about our work with Beano Brain

Impacts on daily life

There has been a slight increase in everyday life being impacted across different aspects of young people’s lives as the year has gone on, from sleeping habits to enjoyment and how young people feel about themselves.

A young Black woman in a wheelchair and an older Black woman sitting on a bench in the park. They are talking about something serious.

17-25-year-olds were the most likely to say that aspects of their everyday life were being affected by negative emotions:

  • 54% say sleeping habits have been affected
  • 52% say their enjoyment of life has been affected
  • 50% say how they feel about themselves has been affected
  • 43% say their eating habits have been affected
A young Black man sitting on the ground in the park and staring into the camera.

Overall, young women are more affected than young men. Those who identify outside of cisgender or straight, as well as racialised groups and those who are disabled, are much more likely to be impacted, with higher numbers saying they are struggling to cope:

  • 49% of Black and minoritised or racialised groups
  • 66% of those reporting a disability or long-term health problem
  • 62% of those who identify with the LGBTQIA+ community

Young people's concerns

While Covid-19 is becoming slightly less of a negative influence than before, other concerns are becoming bigger influences. Young people listed the following as their biggest concerns:

  • Covid-19 (56%)

  • concerns about the future (50%)

  • worries about money (48%)

  • the way they look (32%)

Finding support

A father and son sitting at a table with hot drinks and serious facial expressions.

Young people listed the following as places they are most likely to find support:

  • 28% turned to family (a parent, carer or guardian)

  • 26% turned to friends

  • 23% turned to social media and online

  • 18% turned to a trusted adult