Girls and Young Women Could Be Failed Without Mental Health Action

A generation of girls and young women will be failed without urgent action to tackle ‘alarming and growing’ rates of mental ill health, according to the charity Agenda, the alliance for women and girls at risk.

The organisation warns of a mental health emergency, in its new report Struggling alone: Girls’ and young women’s mental health, which is part of its #GirlsSpeak campaign.

The research shows that girls’ and young women’s mental health has been deteriorating for years – driven, in part, by violence, exploitation, abuse, poverty and discrimination.

The issue has only got worse during the pandemic with the most disadvantaged young women at the sharp end of issues like domestic violence, unemployment and poverty, which can negatively impact their mental health.

Girls and young women, aged between 16 and 24, are the highest risk group for mental health issues, with:

• Self harm rates tripling since the year 2000.
• Suicides of girls and young women doubling in just the last seven years.
• 1 in 8 of girls and young women experience post-traumatic stress. disorder (PTSD), and 1 in 10 has been diagnosed with a personality disorder.
• Growing concern about Black and minoritised young women and girls who are at a higher risk of poor mental health, but who are less likely to be able to get effective support.

It warns girls and young women struggle to get the help they need due to a lack of appropriate specialist services, as well as discrimination and stigma in mainstream mental health provision.

Jessica Southgate, CEO of Agenda, says:

“We are facing a mental health emergency for girls and young women – with alarming and growing rates of mental ill health, including PTSD, self-harm and suicide. This cannot go on.

“This crisis is about more than body image and social media. We must recognise that violence, exploitation and abuse, poverty and discrimination, are all key drivers of girls’ and young women’s poor mental health.”

“Too often girls and young women are systematically excluded and isolated by the systems and services meant to help them, which can leave them afraid to seek help or makes it difficult for them to do so. Even when they do finally receive support, they can face punitive and retraumatising treatment, like the use of physical restraint or the police getting involved.”

While specialist services and good practice do exist, the report says they often struggle for recognition and funding.

Ms Southgate adds: “Without more age-appropriate specialist services for girls and young women that recognise and respond to their needs and experiences, including of trauma, poverty and discrimination, we are failing this generation. Without urgent action now, we are storing up problems for the future, which could have devastating consequences for generations to come.”

Lucy, aged 19, was experiencing domestic violence at home which badly affected her mental health. She says:

“Because of what was happening my mental health got really bad and I was taking lots of overdoses. At one point I actually said, I need to be sectioned. I thought that would have given them an indication [of how bad things were] but they refused.”

She eventually got support from a domestic abuse service with a specialist young person’s worker.

Agenda is calling for the Department of Health and Social Care to create a national women and girls’ mental health strategy, with dedicated funding for services for girls and young women that take into account their specific needs and experiences.