*The Times *reported today that a government study of 30,000 teenagers has found, perhaps unsurprisingly, that teenage girls are twice as likely as boys to suffer with depression and anxiety. The study found that 37% of teenage girls have mental health issues, reporting feelings of psychological distress such as feeling worthless or unhappy, compared with 15% of boys. The amount of girls with mental health issues has risen by 10% in the last decade, with girls from more privileged backgrounds 5% more likely to suffer.
Experts are calling for new approaches to reverse this mental-health epidemic in scools, and have in part blamed social media - kids are unable to switch off from school pressures once they get home, and there is also a disproportionate pressure on young people to succeed. It isn't all doom and gloom, though - despite the increase in mental health complaints, there's been a decline in risk-taking among teens. 12% of teenagers surveyed admitted to drinking, compared with 30% in 2005.
Maybe this calls for a second study, looking more indepth at just why girls are so disproportionately affected by mental health issues - and what can all do to help.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.