Change the Future - UNICEF Ireland

CHANGING
THE FUTURE
Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland
REPORT 2:
MENTAL HEALTH
UNICEF Changing the Future
1.

Change the future
UNICEF is a global organisation, working in more than 190 countries to help build a world in which children’s rights are
respected, their needs are provided for, and they have a voice in shaping the world around them. We believe in changing the
world for children in Ireland too. UNICEF advocates for all young people to ensure that they have every opportunity to grow,
develop and contribute to our society. We are working to ensure that young people in Ireland are heard and that their rights
are realised.
This is why we believe the Change the Future: Experiencing Youth in Contemporary Ireland Report Series is vitally important –
because it is founded exclusively on the views of young people. Change the Future is about the voice of young people living
in Ireland, telling us their story, in their words.
This Research Project was coordinated by UNICEF Ireland.
The research, data and findings reported in Change the Future: Experiencing Youth in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health
was completed and compiled in December 2010. UNICEF would like to express our gratitude to our research partners MCCP,
and The Base Ballyfermot. Further details of the methodology and background to the Report are available through the
offices of UNICEF Ireland: www.unicef.ie
Any part of the Report may be freely reproduced using the following citation or reference: UNICEF Ireland, Change the
Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health January 2011. The views expressed in this Report
represent those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of UNICEF.
Photography: The photographs of young people used within this report for illustration are images posed by models and do
not depict actual situations, or reflect the themes of the Report.
UNICEF Ireland,
33 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin 1,
Republic of Ireland.
Tel: (+353) 01 878 3000
Fax: (+353) 01 878 6655
Web: www.unicef.ie
Email: info@unicef.ie
As the Changing the Future Report Series continues, this
second report focuses on adolescent experiences of
mental health, and the associated issues and pressures to
which young people are being exposed.
There are many disturbing and heart breaking findings
in this report. The pain that many young people are
experiencing was very evident not only in the statistics
but also in the comments made by the many brave, young
people who took part in this survey. Our findings show
that many young people experience serious mental health
issues at some stage. Yet very few of them receive any
professional help and as a result many experience ongoing
problems.
Young people have the capacity to help us reach the
solutions to these challenges. Through their compassion,
determination and kindness young people all across
Ireland continue to reach out to peers experiencing
difficulty every day. The young people who chose to take
part in this Research continue this tradition, by sharing
their stories with UNICEF, they are ensuring that we can
act to support young people who we know may come to
experience those same challenges in the future.
It is crucial that all of us in Ireland break down the
stigmas and taboos that surround adolescent mental
health. Confronting these issues is the first step towards
promoting and ensuring positive mental health for
all young people, and supporting and assisting those
young people who experience difficulties, to return to
equilibrium as quickly and conclusively as possible.
As a society we must all ask serious questions about our
ability to reach out to young people who are experiencing
these difficulties. We must question the quality of our
efforts to offer support to young people in crisis.
We must strive to ensure that every single young person
who needs our companionship, our understanding and
our assistance knows that we are here for them, and
knows the avenues through which they can draw down
that support, in a safe, protective, confidential and nonjudgemental
way.
The right to good health, both physical and mental is not
something that young people in Ireland should have to
aspire to. It is something to which they are entitled, and
which we are beholden to secure on their behalf.
We must do more to ensure that when it comes to positive
mental health, our children know that they have nothing to
hide, that there are sympathetic and supportive avenues
to which they can turn, that they no child has to face these
challenges alone.
Melanie Verwoerd
Executive Director, UNICEF Ireland.
Changing the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health. UNICEF Changing the Future 3.

Change the future
Why now?
In 2006, the Irish Government published its “Vision for
Change”, a Report of the expert group on Mental Health
Policy that had been convened to review Irish policy
and practice in Mental Health. The report sought to
“formulate a blueprint for a modern, comprehensive,
world-class service to meet the mental health challenges
facing our society.”
A Vision for Change addressed some of the most
fundamental challenges that face the implementation of
that system – challenges of understanding, of taboo, of
structure, of service delivery and challenges of access.
A Vision for Change also directly addressed the very
specific issues that children and young people face
with regards to mental health, recognising that these
issues have their own unique character. If Ireland is
to successfully implement a system that promotes and
defends young peoples right to the enjoyment of positive
mental health, then that system must respond to the
perspectives and needs identified by young people
themselves.
The child’s right to mental health is enshrined within the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,
Article 24 of which states that:
“The State shall recognise the rights of a child
to the enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of health and the facilities for the
treatment and rehabilitation of health, shall
strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his
or her access to such health care services.”
The obligation on the State to adequately equip children
and young people to meet the challenges they face in
terms of maintaining positive mental health was further
recognised within “Our Children – Their Lives” the
National Children’s Strategy 2000-2010, which states:
“Children will be supported to enjoy
the optimum physical, mental and
emotional well-being.”
It is widely recognised in Ireland, and internationally, that
there are certain obligations to children and young people
to which the State is beholden. Amongst these obligations
stands provision for positive mental health, and the
necessary supports and services to equip young people to
address mental ill-health when and where it occurs.
Every child has mental health needs. A child does not
need to have experienced specific trauma, illness, have
been socially excluded or physically bullied to have these
mental health needs. The system outlined in A Vision for
Change should not be conceived to identify and reach
out only to those children and young people in Ireland
who have been identified as experiencing specific mental
health problems, but to all children living in the State.
There is no better way to begin this important
conversation than to ask young people themselves.
It is crucial, if we are to successfully address the issues
that surround mental health, that young people themselves
assume a central role in that dialogue, collective
understanding, and effort. If we are to successfully
engage the issues that affect adolescent mental health,
promote the most positive experience of mental health
amongst young people, and respond appropriately and
successfully to their experience of mental ill-health, then
young people themselves must assume a central role in
the way in which we approach that effort.
Young people are already, and ever more increasingly
have to become, part of the solution. We have to open
the conversation up – to listen, to address stigmas, to be
inclusive, to learn and to gain from their unique insights.
We have to place young people at the centre.
How did we do it?
Change the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in
Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health is the second in a
series of four reports that will be published by UNICEF
Ireland in 2011. The purpose of this series is to present
the results of primary research that we carried out at
the end of 2010, and to combine the findings of those
four reports into a single holistic snapshot of adolescent
wellbeing in Ireland.
The first of these four Reports - Change the Future:
Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland:
Happiness, Bullying and the Recession, published in April
2011, has already outlined the methodology employed
in this research in some detail. For that reason, Change
the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary
Ireland: Mental Health will only restate the broadest
elements of that methodology:
➦➦The research includes respondents from all
four Provinces – Leinster, Munster, Ulster and
Connaught;
➦➦The results include male and female respondents;
➦➦The research featured the responses of young
people aged 16 to 20 years;
➦➦The survey used youth-friendly language;
➦➦All information gathered on the pages of the survey
website remains confidential;
➦➦No information gathered will be shared with any
other party;
➦➦No IP addresses or other technical information
was captured by our software or within the
research;
➦➦No contact information that could identify any
respondent for this survey - including emails,
phone numbers, pictures, videos, sound files or
names and addresses or other information was
gathered by this research;
➦➦The only demographic information gathered
was: age, sex and county of residence. This is
not considered sufficient to identify the location
or identity of any respondent and ensures that
respondents can give full and frank replies to
questions without any worry of being identified at a
later date by any individual, group or body;
➦➦Questions were both prompted and unprompted,
allowing for both qualitative and quantitative
results to emerge from the data collected;
➦➦The survey asked the participants to tell us
“in their own words” as often as possible;
➦➦Throughout this Report, we have presented those
responses exactly as they were told to us by the
young people themselves.
Further details of the conceptual framework and
methodology employed in this research project can be
gained from the series’ first report Change the Future:
Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland:
Happiness, Bullying and the Recession, or by contacting
the offices of UNICEF Ireland.
UNICEF Ireland will go on to publish the third report in the
Series – Change the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in
Contemporary Ireland: Drugs and Alcohol, later in 2011.
Changing the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health. UNICEF Changing the Future 5.

Mental Health
What did we f ind?
The report covers a range of very serious issues that
clearly affect a large proportion of young people living in
Ireland.
UNICEF Ireland believes that it is in the interest of all
Irish people, young and old, to be forthright in their
understanding and discussion of issues such as suicide,
depression, self-harm and eating disorders, and the
prevalence of these problems amongst young people
living in Ireland. We must engage the issues with
sensitivity, but also determination.
Mental Health Issues: How prevalent
are they among young Irish people?
There are certain issues that continue to emerge in
discussions centred on adolescent mental health,
and UNICEF Ireland wanted to give young people the
opportunity to report their own experiences of those
issues. Of course, the medical diagnosis of a condition
such as depression could be different to the selfreporting
of that same condition, however UNICEF
wanted to give young people the opportunity to tell us of
their experiences in the manner they saw fit.
The research findings also point to two very worrying
trends, those of feeling suicidal and self harming.
Which would you say you have felt or
suffered from in the past?
26%
20%
Furthermore, 13% of young Irish people report that they
have suffered from Anorexia or Bulimia in the past.
Which would you say you have felt or
suffered from in the past?
It is only by discussing these issues openly and without
prejudice that we can begin to address the stigmas and
taboos that continue to surround mental health in this
country.
Which would you say you have felt or
suffered from in the past?
0 10 20 30 40 50
13%
0 10 20 30 40 50
Only once we have engaged with these issues directly,
discussed them openly, and confronted them in a public
and unified manner, can we truly hope to assist the
great many young people who have reported their own
admirable efforts to address these great challenges.
50% Depression
29% Other
26% Feeling Suicidal
20% Self Harming
14% None
13% Anorexia / Bulimia
50% Depression
29% Other
26% Feeling Suicidal
20% Self Harming
14% None
13% Anorexia / Bulimia
In establishing this understanding we can offer not
just empathy, but our assistance in an informed and
comprehensive way.
0 10 20 30 40 50
50% Depression
29% Other
26% Feeling Suicidal
20% Self Harming
14% None
13% Anorexia / Bulimia
More than One Quarter of young Irish people
report that they have felt or suffered from
feeling suicidal in the past.
13% of young Irish people report that they
have felt or suffered from Anorexia / Bulimia
in the past.
“Depression for me now is a problem and is
having a physical impact on me”
“Physically sick, terrified... Suicidal.”
1 in 5 young Irish people report that they have
felt or suffered from self harming in the past.
Overall, in terms of young peoples’ reports of their own
experiences of the issues raised by the research, a clear
picture has emerged: 1 in 2 young Irish people report that
they have suffered from depression in the past, a further
1 in 4 report that they have felt suicidal, 1 in 5 report that
they have self harmed, and more than 1 in 10 report that
they have suffered from Anorexia or Bulimia.
50% of young Irish people report that they have
felt or suffered from depression in the past.
Changing the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health. UNICEF Changing the Future 7.

GenDer
The Signif icance of Gender
in Mental Health
The findings point to some clear distinctions in terms of
gender. It is evident that the extent to which girls and
boys experience these concerns is markedly different,
and it is essential that we acknowledge these disparities
if we are to discuss policies that can successfully
address them.
Which would you say you have felt or
suffered from in the past?
It is apparent that a greater proportion of girls, report
depression, self harm, anorexia/bulimia, and feeling
suicidal. There is a clear and noticeable gender disparity
which is reflected in the reporting of these four issues.
Considering each of these issues in turn, the gender
disparity becomes evident.
The difference in the experience of depression between
the two genders is illustrated below.
The difference in the experience of
depression between the two genders
49%
59%
Significantly more girls than boys report
self harming
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Boys
Girls
16% 27%
16%
27%
Self Harming
11% more girls report to have suffered
from self harming than boys.
Significantly more girls report suffering
from Anorexia or Bulimia
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Boys
2%
Girls
2% 23%
23%
Anorexia / Bulimia
23% of girls report that they have
experienced Anorexia or Bulimia
compared to just 2% of boys.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Boys
Girls
49% 59% Depression
More girls report feeling suicidal than boys
24%
32%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
It is the case, therefore, that more girls than boys have
reported the experience of depression, feeling suicidal,
self harming and anorexia/bulimia. This disparity may
represent different prevalence rates between the boys
and girls, or it may represent different reporting rates
amongst the two genders.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Boys
Girls
49% 59% Depression
16% 27% Self Harming
2% 23% Anorexia / Bulimia
“Did not fit in good enough with friends or
to be with other people too.”
10% more girls report to have suffered
from depression than boys.
Boys
Girls
24% 32%
Feeling Suicidal
8% more girls report to have suffered
from self harming than boys.
In either case it is evidently important that policy
responses to these issues must be gender sensitive and
responsive to these different needs.
24% 32%
Feeling Suicidal
42% 28% Other
A greater proportion of girls report suffering
from Depression, Self harm, Anorexia / Bulimia
and feeling suicidal than boys.
Changing the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health. UNICEF Changing the Future 9.

Reporting
Different mental health issues can
occur together for individual young
people
Another significant pattern emerges in relation to the
way in which some young people reported the concurrent
experience of some of these mental health concerns.
The findings in this section therefore highlight the
multiple ways these different mental health problems can
overlap for individual young people.
Young people who have experienced
Depression
The research findings reveal that a greater proportion
of young people who have reported the experience of
depression, also report experiencing other mental health
issues.
Which would you say you have felt or
suffered from in the past?
Of the 50% who reported to have felt or
suffered from depression – 35% have also self
harmed, 19% have also suffered from Anorexia
or Bulimia and 46% have also felt suicidal.
Young people who have experienced
Self Harm
Similarly, the young people who reported self-harming
also reported a higher prevalence of depression,
Anorexia / Bulimia and/or feeling suicidal.
Which would you say you have felt or
suffered from in the past?
It is therefore the case, that of the 20% of young people
who report the experience of self harm, the great majority
also report that they have experienced depression and/
or have felt suicidal. This suggests the possible overlap
of three extremely traumatic and potentially dangerous
experiences amongst 1 in 5 young Irish people.
The great majority of young Irish people
who report to have experienced self harm
also report the experiences of depression,
and feeling suicidal.
Young People who have experienced
Anorexia / Bulimia
A large proportion of the young people who report that
they have experienced anorexia/bulimia also report that
they have experienced other mental health issues.
Which would you say you have felt or
suffered from in the past?
Of the 13% who report to have suffered from
Anorexia or Bulimia, 72% have also felt
depressed, 46% have also self harmed and
60% have also felt suicidal.
Young People who have felt
Suicidal
Finally, the research findings reveal that young people
who report that they felt suicidal also report that they
have experienced the other mental health concerns
raised by the research.
Which would you say you have felt or
suffered from in the past?
50% 89% Depression
20% 56% Self Harming
13% 31% Anorexia / Bulimia
0 20 40 60 80 100
% %
Total Base
50% 84% Depression
0 10 20 30 40 50
% %
Total Base
20% 35% Self Harming
13% 19% Anorexia / Bulimia
26% 46% Feeling Suicidal
Base = 50% that felt depressed.
13% 30% Anorexia / Bulimia
26% 71% Feeling Suicidal
Base = 20% that felt self harmed.
Of the 20% who reported to have self harmed,
84% have also felt depressed, 30% have also
experienced Anorexia / Bulimia and
71% have also felt suicidal.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
% %
Total Base
50% 72% Depression
20% 46% Self Harming
26% 60% Feeling Suicidal
Base = 13% that suffered Anorexia / Bulimia.
0 20 40 60 80 100
% %
Total Base
Base = 26% who have felt suicidal.
Changing the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health. UNICEF Changing the Future 11.

lInk To Bullying
Of the 26% who reported to have felt
suicidal, 89% have also felt depressed,
56% have also self harmed and 31% have
also experienced Anorexia / Bulimia.
In all four findings, the research presents clear overlaps
of the issues amongst the same individuals. In general
terms, it seems clear that the experience of one of these
mental health related experiences is often associated
with the experience of others.
A young persons’ experience of one of
the Mental Health concerns raised in the
research is often associated with their
experience of others.
The link to Bullying
UNICEF also looked at the relationship between
bullying, and the reporting of the four mental health
concerns raised by the research. In Change the Future:
Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland:
Happiness, Bullying and the Recession, UNICEF found that
55% of young people reported that they had been bullied.
If we are to take this proportion as the base and overlap
the reporting of depression, feeling suicidal or self-harm,
a clear link becomes evident.
Which would you say you have felt or
suffered from in the past?
It is therefore the case that the great majority of young
people who reported that they have been bullied, also
report the experience of other issues such depression,
self-harm, anorexia / bulimia or feeling suicidal.
While it is not clear that bullying is a causative factor
in these experiences, the prevalence of the overlap
between these issues beg very important questions about
the links between them.
Are the Problems ongoing?
The report has concentrated on the reporting by
young people of the experience of challenges such as
depression, self harm and feeling suicidal. The research
findings suggest that the experience of such issues is
prevalent. However, this is only part of the picture.
While it is important to understand the prevalence of
these experiences, we must also be cognisant of the fact
that, for a great many of the young people who took part in
this research, the problems are ongoing.
In terms of the gender distinction, once more it is
apparent that greater proportions of girls than boys report
that they continue to experience the problem.
1
“I’m afraid to admit…
because I fear that people
will judge me harshly
because of it.”
27%
73%
Similarly, there is a clear distinction in terms of the
ages of the young people who report that the problem
pervades, with a steady rise in reporting of the on-going
experience until the age of 19, then a noticeable reduction
at the age of 20.
“I was young so I felt distraught…”
59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 %
62% Depression
67% Self Harming
67% Feeling Suicidal
Base = 55% that reported being bullied.
While UNICEF had asked if the young people had
experienced the concerns in the past, we were told that
41% were still experiencing the issues at the time of the
research.
Are you still having this problem?
2
The greatest proportion
of young people who report
that the problems are ongoing
are 19 years old.
Age %
16 28
17 49
18 45
19 51
20 31
Yes: 41%
“I felt like I must have done something really
bad to deserve it – like it was all my fault.”
Close to two-thirds of the young people
who reported that they have been bullied,
reported the experiences of depression,
self harming or feeling suicidal.
No: 59%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Two in five young people are still
experiencing the issue.
1 Explanatory Note:
The Percentage reported for each gender represents the
proportion of the total sample who responded yes. ie 27% of
those were responded “Yes” to this question were males.
2 Explanatory Note:
The Percentage reported for each age represents the
proportion of the total sample size. ie 45% of all 18 year old
respondents reported that they were still having this problem.
Changing the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health. UNICEF Changing the Future 13.

Getting Help
Getting Help: Are young people
getting the support they need?
Young people are revealing the widespread experience
of distressing issues, which are difficult to address alone
without the necessary systems and supports.
Addressing challenges such as those discussed in this
Report can be demanding, and even more so to do alone.
Yet when we asked young people if they were receiving
any help to address their concerns, the overwhelming
majority reported that they were not.
The fact that 82% of young people who were still
experiencing the problem also reported that they were
not receiving any help, professional or otherwise, is of
significant concern.
There are a number of very important avenues (such
as peer or family support, the support of teachers and
guidance counsellors in schools, and the professional
assistance of care workers, doctors or mental health
therapists) towards which a young person in distress
should be able to turn for assistance, understanding
and support.
Getting Help :
Where do young people turn?
The 18% who reported that they were receiving help
revealed a variety of different sources of that assistance.
Who is helping you with this at present?
Other reported sources of help were family members,
doctors, therapists, teachers and care workers. While
the availability of peer support can provide a vital lifeline
to young people in distress, a major concern suggested
by these findings is that a comparatively small number of
young people report that they are seeking professional
assistance. 4
Who is helping you with this at present?
63%
Are you getting professional or other help?
Yes: 18%
No: 82%
0 50 100
“Isolated and unwanted.”
Only 18% of the young people who
reported that they were still experiencing
the problem reported that they were
getting help, of any kind.
82% of the young people reported that they
were not receiving any help from any source.
With such a low number of young people reporting that
they are receiving assistance an important question must
be asked – Is it the case that these avenues are not open
to the vast majority of young people who need them, or
that the young people themselves are choosing not to
use them?
There is also a significantly lower proportion of younger
people who report that they are getting help, which grows
as the respondents age increases. More than twice as
many 19 year olds reported that they were getting help
compared to 17 year olds. It is clear that the younger the
person is, the less likely it is that they are in receipt of any
assistance or help.
3
Only 15% of the young people
who reported that they were
still experiencing the problem
reported that they were getting
help, of any kind.
Age %
16 9
17 5
18 7
19 11
20 11
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
63% Friend
33% Family Member
19% Doctor
17% Therapist
7% Teacher
2% Care Worker
Base = 18% who report that they were
receiving some help.
The overwhelming majority (63%) of young people
reported that a friend was helping them at present.
33%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
63% Friend
33% Family Member
Base = 18% who report that they were
receiving some help.
63% report that they are being helped by
a friend, 33% by a family member.
3 Explanatory Note:
The Percentage reported for each age represents the
proportion of the total sample size. ie 9% of all 16 year old
respondents reported that they were getting help.
4 Explanatory Note:
In this report we define professional assistance as a doctor,
therapist or care worker.
Changing the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health. UNICEF Changing the Future 15.

Getting Help
A further 7% report that they are receiving help from a
teacher, while only 2% report that they are being helped
by a Care Worker.
19% report that they are receiving help from a Doctor, and
a further 17% report that they are receiving help from a
therapist.
This suggests that there is a large gap between the
proportion of young people reporting mental health
concerns, and the proportion of those in receipt of
professional help in addressing those concerns.
Who is helping you with this at present?
7%
2%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
7% Teacher
2% Care Worker
Base = 18% who report that they were
receiving some help.
Who is helping you with this at present?
19%
17%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
19% Doctor
17% Therapist
Base = 18% who report that they were
receiving some help.
More than half of the respondents reported the
experience of issues such as those highlighted by this
Report, and 41% of those young people reported that the
problems were ongoing.
Of that 41%, only 38% are receiving help from a
professional source.
“I felt like I was the only one going through this.”
Less than two in five of the young people who
reported that the problem was ongoing are
currently receiving professional help.
7% Report that they are getting help from
a teacher, 2% reported getting help from
a Care Worker.
“I took anti-depressants in the past when
getting help with my mental health and I found
that they’ve done more damage than good.
Generally there is parity between the two genders’
sources of help, There is, however, a stark contrast in the
proportion of boys and girls who are receiving help from
a doctor.
19% report that they are being helped
by a doctor, 17% by a therapist.
Region Female % Male %
Friend 61 66
Family Member 34 32
Doctor 22 11
Therapist 17 16
Teacher 7 7
Care Worker 2 2
For every 1 male who is receiving help from
a doctor with these concerns, there are two
females in receipt of such assistance.
Changing the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health. UNICEF Changing the Future 17.

SumMary
Concluding Summary:
What are young people telling us
about Adolescent Mental Health?
There are several key findings that have emerged from
this research. UNICEF believes that it is imperative
that these findings are not just reported, but are also
understood, especially amongst those stakeholders
whose responsibility it is to ensure that positive
adolescent mental health is given the priority it deserves
within Ireland’s legislative and policy framework.
With one in every two young people reporting that they
have experienced depression, the scale and importance
of the task of promoting positive adolescent mental
health should not be underestimated. This assertion is
illustrated by the reporting of the other issues that have
been highlighted in this report: One in four of the young
people surveyed report that they have felt suicidal; one
in five that they have self-harmed; and a further 13%
reporting that they have felt or suffered from Anorexia or
Bulimia.
In fact only 14% of the young people who took part in this
research project reported that they have not suffered
from or felt any of the issues discussed in this report.
As Change the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in
Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health has demonstrated
in its findings, in many cases individual young people
experience the overlap of issues such as depression,
eating disorders, self harm or feeling suicidal.
This suggests that services which seek to promote
and defend the right to positive mental health must be
integrated and comprehensive in addressing the myriad
needs identified by the young person themselves.
To be truly effective, those services have to be accessible
to, and understood by, the people who may need them.
The views and opinions of young people themselves must
assume a central role in formulating policies that seek to
address Ireland’s youth mental health needs.
The fact that more than two in every five of the young
people who reported these problems, also report that
they are on-going should serve to remind all of the
relevant stakeholders and duty-bearers of the urgency
of the situation.
No young person should be left to address these issues
single-handedly, and there is an implicit responsibility
upon systems of child protection and care to engage
young people at the time that they are experiencing
difficulty.
Perhaps the most concerning finding of this report,
relates to the proportion of young people who are not
receiving any assistance. The overwhelming majority,
82% of those young people who responded that they were
still experiencing serious challenges, reported that they
were not receiving help from any source. This represents
a serious indictment of the way in which Ireland provides
avenues of care and support to young people who
experience these mental health issues.
Compounding this indictment is the finding that amongst
that small proportion of young people who are in receipt
of some kind of assistance, an even smaller proportion
report that they are in receipt of what could be termed
“professional” help – that is help from a doctor, therapist
or care worker. Less than two out of every five young
people are receiving help, report that help to be a
professional source.
There is an evident gap in the proportion of young people
who report that they have experienced the types of
mental health concerns that have been raised in this
report, and the proportion of those young people who
are in receipt of the appropriate types of assistance.
The existence of this gap poses fundamental questions
that Ireland must address if our adolescent mental health
policy is to meet the needs of young people.
Does the Irish mental health system have sufficient
capacity to address the needs of the large proportion
of our young people who experience challenges to their
mental health? If the capacity is there, why are young
people not availing of it? Is it a question of access?
Is it a question of young people’s lack of understanding of
the issues, the system of supports and the solutions?
Or is there another reason that young people choose
not to seek help? These are some of the most important
questions that we need to answer, if our adolescent
mental health policy is to be made fit for task.
No young person should ever feel that they need to
face these difficulties alone. Nor should they feel that
in admitting to these challenges they are in any way
diminished. The enjoyment of positive mental health
depends to a great extent on timely and appropriate
information, understanding and support.
The responsibility to ensure that no young person
believes that they are alone in their experience, that they
must shoulder that responsibility single-handedly or that
there is nothing that can be done to assist them through
difficult times is clear and we must assume it fully.
Also available:
➦ ➦ Change the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in
Contemporary Ireland: Happiness, Bullying and the
Recession, published in April 2011.
Changing the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health. UNICEF Changing the Future 19.

UNICEF Ireland,
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Republic of Ireland.
Tel: (+353) 01 878 3000
Fax: (+353) 01 878 6655
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design: mattwhitby.com
Changing the Future: Experiencing Adolescence in Contemporary Ireland: Mental Health.