Report by mental health charity, Centred, says more than half of young people in the Highlands face significant stress with many feeling there is no one willing to listen to them
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An alarming new study claims more than half of young people in the Highlands face significant stress, with many feeling they are not listened to, or disbelieved.
The research has been carried out by the mental health charity, Centred.
Previously known as Birchwood Highland, it provides care and support to hundreds of people experiencing significant and enduring mental ill-health across the Highlands .
The new research identified that 56 per cent of young people in the region faced significant stress, with reasons including academic performance, finances and their own mental health.
The same proportion who said they had experienced mental health disorders also said they were not able to receive help in a timely manner during the coronavirus pandemic.
The charity said one of the most alarming findings was that 14 per cent said they had no one in their life who would be willing to listen to them, so were left without support.
The study also looked at the impact of social media, with 39 per cent saying they had felt uncomfortable or unsafe using social media, the most common reasons cited being body shaming, objectification and cyberbullying.
Dr Clare Daly, head of communications and research at Centred, said of the study: rural youth in particular were facing many challenges.
“In response to this, we wanted to find out more about how different aspects of life have impacted their mental health and overall wellbeing,” she said.
“The subject of rural youth mental health is vitally important and needs to be kept in the spotlight in order to address the many issues that have been raised by our research. “It is our hope that we can add to the knowledge base and encourage an ongoing dialogue as to how best to go forward, one that recognises young people as ‘experts by experience’.”
The findings are highlighted in the report, An Exploration into the Factors Impacting on the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Highland Youth: Part 1, launched to mark World Mental Health Day this week.
It has been launched off the back of the success of the charity’s flagship report, Mental Health: Exploring the Current Landscape, which achieved local and national recognition.
Earlier this year, an Inverness Courier investigation revealed the number of young people in the Highlands waiting more than a year to see a mental health specialist had risen eight-fold in the past two years.
Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request revealed 720 under 18-year-olds were on the waiting list in the NHS Highland area as of last November. Of these, 200 had been waiting more than 53 weeks.
