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Universities UK recently reported a fivefold increase in the number of students disclosing mental health conditions since 2007 (from 9675 in 2007-8 to 57305 in 2017-18) and growing pressures on student mental health services, despite only a modest rise in student numbers. 1 A growing number of UK and international studies show that affective disorders in young people are rising substantially, particularly among girls and young women. 2 A recent UK analysis reported a 68% increase in hospital self harm presentations in 13-16 year old girls between 2011 (45.9 per 100000) and 2014 (76.9 per 100000). 3
Causes of the escalation are uncertain. Some studies point to a rise in presentation and diagnosis rather than a true increase in incidence. 4 More people self reporting problems may partly reflect greater willingness to share feelings, such as suicidal thoughts, due to better mental health literacy. If the situation reflects a real deterioration in the mental health of young people, there are several possible explanations.
The young people affected are "generation Z," born in the mid 1990s and early 2000s. They grew up in the age of social media, the great recession (2008), increases in family breakdown, growth of international terrorism, and, in the UK, student debt and predicted gaps in prosperity between them and their parents. 5 Academic pressures at school cause stress, and the UK government has focused on testing in recent years. Many of these phenomena affect both boys and girls, although some factors, such as school performance pressures and lower family income, may be more likely to affect girls. 6 7
We need to look beyond well recognised risk factors for poor mental health, such as abuse and trauma, to problems that have arisen in recent decades, that affect countries beyond the UK, and that affect girls more than boys.
One explanation is the rise in young people's use of social media after the launch of Facebook (2004), Snapchat (2011), and other platforms. Social media use may...