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One in five
adolescents will experience mental health problems
Young people
today are dealing with more choices than ever before and tend
to have more insecurities about their personal and professional
life. A two day conference, organised by the Design
for Living partnership, starts today at W5 with the mental
health and wellbeing of young people as the focus.
Recent
research carried out through the partnership with 16-25
year olds showed that mental health problems such as sleep
disorders, stress, anxiety and behavioural problems affect
one in five adolescents in Northern Ireland.
Dr Brian Gaffney,
Chief Executive of the Health Promotion Agency and one of
the Design for Living partners, highlighted areas of this
research which looked at what young people worry about most
and what they do to cope.
He said: "More than two thirds of young people worry about
not having enough money, over half worried about a return
to the Troubles, half of those surveyed worry about the future
and almost half worried about their appearance."
When asked how
they cope with their worries the most popular responses were
the same for both sexes such as, listening to music, talking
to friends and arranging a night out with friends. Females
also tended to put an emphasis on shopping as a means of coping
while males looked to sport.
Information from
this research has been used as a basis for the conference
which incorporates themes of creativity, knowledge of support
sources, physical activity and self-esteem as ways to support
young people's mental wellbeing.
Emma Ledden,
MTV presenter and former Live & Kicking host, flew into Belfast
to give her full support to the conference by launching a
youth information resource pack, produced in partnership with
the Northern Bank.
Rhonda Gibson,
External Relations Manager, Northern Bank said, "It is significant
that the survey highlights money or lack of it as a top worry
for young people here. At the Northern, we are committed through
this partnership and other programmes to encourage financial
literacy aimed at getting young people comfortable and responsible
with managing their finances."
Another piece
of research entitled Minds
matter, conducted with 11-15 year olds, showed that almost
half of those surveyed felt lonely with one in four feeling
low and among the oldest age group twice as many girls as
boys felt low on a weekly basis.
Further highlighting
the gender difference was the fact that almost seven out of
ten boys felt confident most of the time compared to four
out of ten girls. Of those in the oldest age group two out
of five young people said they turned to alcohol to gain confidence
and one quarter drank to escape problems.
It is hoped this
event aimed both at young people and those who work with them
will provide information on practical ways to support young
people's mental health here. Mr Cecil Graham, Chief Executive,
Action Mental Health said: "Following on from our successful
Design for Life competition we are delighted to be moving
into this further stage which involves both statutory and
voluntary organisations working together to inform young people
of the positive steps they can take to support their own mental
wellbeing."
Mr David Guilfoyle,
Chief Executive of the Youth Council for Northern Ireland,
further emphasised the importance of cross-sectoral working
by adding : "This conference is totally consistent with the
major thrust of the Northern Ireland Executive's Programme
for Government which encourages joined up working between
organisations."
Action Mental
Health, the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland and
the Youth Council for Northern Ireland make up the Design
for Living partnership.
END
Notes
to the editor: The
Design for Living youth
pack can be obtained by contacting:
The Design for Living Partnership Project
C/o Action Mental Health Mourne House
Knockbracken Healthcare Park
Saintfield Road
Belfast
BT8 8BH
Tel: 028 9040 3726
Email:
info@ActionMentalHealth.org.uk
Website: http://www.actionmentalhealth.org.uk/
The Youth Council
for Northern Ireland can be contacted at:
Forestview
Purdys Lane
Belfast
BT8 7AR
Tel: 028 9064 3882
Website: http://www.youthcouncil-ni.org.uk/
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