Published: 27 November 2005
Dr Dylan Griffiths has spent more than 20 years healing the minds of troubled teenagers. But the psychiatrist is shocked by what he is now facing on a daily basis. He is treating record numbers of disturbed young patients, unable to cope with the pressures of modern life, who are hooked on drink, drugs and underage sex, or who are so desperate they even contemplate suicide.
The age of experimentation among Britain's teenagers is dropping every year, he and other leading health workers warn, creating a mental health time bomb which will create a generation of dysfunctional adults.
"For today's teens, marijuana, cocaine and alcohol are as ubiquitous as traffic on the street," said Dr Griffiths, who is based at Ticehurst House Hospital in East Sussex.
"Adolescents who self-harmed were rare 30 years ago. Today, self-harming is a dramatic, addictive behaviour, a maladaptive way for growing numbers of youngsters to relieve their psychological distress."
The shocking extent of teen angst among Britain's youth is revealed tomorrow in one of the most comprehensive reports ever carried out into adolescent mental health. Backed by counsellors, drug experts and mental health charities including Sane, the independent study commissioned by the Priory Group paints a bleak picture of the growing mental-health crisis among 12- to 19-year-olds.
Family break-up, increasing pressure to achieve at school, a lack of tolerance in society and an "anything goes" attitude are all contributing to a rise in the number of young people pushed to the brink of suicide, with others driven to experiment with drugs, drink and underage sex as a way of coping with stress.
More than 900,000 adolescents have been so miserable they have considered suicide, the study says. A million have wanted to self-harm and more than half a million have experienced bullying or violence at home....
"There is a lot more stress now in the education system and a pressure on teenagers to be thin, beautiful, successful and to have sex," said the clinical psychologist, based in Basingstoke, Hampshire. "There's less guidance for teenagers, less mentoring and fewer role models for positive behaviour."
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