Storm And Stress - New Ways Of Looking At Adolescent Mental Health

In the second of this three part series mental health researcher Sally Marlow, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, examines adolescent brain development through neuroscience, environmental stressors, and psychological processes.

Looking back at the brain as far as before birth Sally Marlow explores if there is a particular neurological profile which needs to have developed during childhood for "good" adolescent mental health, and if some young people have specific brain-related vulnerabilities?

Can we really pinpoint triggers for mental illness by looking at brain tissue? Is an approach based on genetics and statistics, just a bit too crude? These are very fashionable ideas currently, but there is quite a negative history attached to concepts of this kind. Sally asks whether and how such ideas can be integrated into effective treatments with positive outcomes for adolescent mental health.

Producer: Julian Siddle.

Why is the age range 16-25 such a crucial time for mental health?

Series exploring mental illness in young people.

20 years ago we didn't have the range of tools we now have to pinpoint physiological differences in brain development at various stages of life. Now it's clear the adolescent brain is still developing, and yet we expect young people to cope with a lot adult situations.

In the second of this three part series mental health researcher Sally Marlow, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, examines adolescent brain development through neuroscience, environmental stressors, and psychological processes.

Looking back at the brain as far as before birth Sally Marlow explores if there is a particular neurological profile which needs to have developed during childhood for "good" adolescent mental health, and if some young people have specific brain-related vulnerabilities?

Can we really pinpoint triggers for mental illness by looking at brain tissue? Is an approach based on genetics and statistics, just a bit too crude? These are very fashionable ideas currently, but there is quite a negative history attached to concepts of this kind. Sally asks whether and how such ideas can be integrated into effective treatments with positive outcomes for adolescent mental health.

Producer: Julian Siddle.

Why is the age range 16-25 such a crucial time for mental health?

Series exploring mental illness in young people.

In the 3rd part of our series Mental Health Researcher Sally Marlow, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, looks at new ideas around continuity of care.

We visit an experimental inpatients service for people ranging from early teens to their mid 20s. It's one of a kind and this service is not based in the UK, but in Germany.

December 2017 saw the publication of government plans for adolescent mental health in a green paper, 'Transforming children and young people's mental health provision'. While being welcomed as a step in the right direction, the green paper has also been criticised for not going far enough, only making a tiny increase in access to treatment for young people with mental illness.

Another criticism of the green paper is that too much of the responsibility for adolescent mental health shifts to schools. Teenagers spend much of their time at school, its is a formative environment, but without additional funding and adequate evidence-based mental health interventions can schools really be the key? We visit one school at the vanguard and look at how they are bringing together education with awareness and action on mental health.

Producer: Julian Siddle.

Are we serving our young people well enough when it comes to mental health?

Series exploring mental illness in young people.

Nearly all the young people with mental health issues that we've interviewed for this series agree the transition from child to adult mental health services is incredibly traumatic.

In the 3rd part of our series Mental Health Researcher Sally Marlow, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, looks at new ideas around continuity of care.

We visit an experimental inpatients service for people ranging from early teens to their mid 20s. It's one of a kind and this service is not based in the UK, but in Germany.

December 2017 saw the publication of government plans for adolescent mental health in a green paper, 'Transforming children and young people's mental health provision'. While being welcomed as a step in the right direction, the green paper has also been criticised for not going far enough, only making a tiny increase in access to treatment for young people with mental illness.

Another criticism of the green paper is that too much of the responsibility for adolescent mental health shifts to schools. Teenagers spend much of their time at school, its is a formative environment, but without additional funding and adequate evidence-based mental health interventions can schools really be the key? We visit one school at the vanguard and look at how they are bringing together education with awareness and action on mental health.

Producer: Julian Siddle.

Are we serving our young people well enough when it comes to mental health?

Series exploring mental illness in young people.

Rates of mental illness amongst adolescents have risen, and yet action is severely lacking, we ask who is accountable and what is goverment doing?

We look to the future, how can change realistically be achieved in both the short and medium term?

What does the new funding announced for the NHS mean for Adolescent Mental Health?

It is clear the current system is broken - but how can and should adolescent health services be reorganised? Many young people in need reported the damaging effect of the chasm between adolescent and adult services, can this be done away with?

One solution is to involve schools more, how can this be achieved ?

And how can the more imaginative approaches of the voluntary sector, often involving arts, music and community based support, be incorporated into mainstream NHS mental health services for young people?

We examine emerging government policy on this issue, where does the Health Secretary think the emphasis should go, and what exactly will be funded?

And what about the mental health research community, often working in both academia and treatment, how can their insight be harnessed to inform public policy?

The minster answers points raised by many of the young people we have met in this series who have first hand experience of the current mental health system.

Will new NHS funding improve adolescent mental health? We question Jeremy Hunt.

Series exploring mental illness in young people.

Sally Marlow puts some of the issues we have come across throughout the series to UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Rates of mental illness amongst adolescents have risen, and yet action is severely lacking, we ask who is accountable and what is goverment doing?

We look to the future, how can change realistically be achieved in both the short and medium term?

What does the new funding announced for the NHS mean for Adolescent Mental Health?

It is clear the current system is broken - but how can and should adolescent health services be reorganised? Many young people in need reported the damaging effect of the chasm between adolescent and adult services, can this be done away with?

One solution is to involve schools more, how can this be achieved ?

And how can the more imaginative approaches of the voluntary sector, often involving arts, music and community based support, be incorporated into mainstream NHS mental health services for young people?

We examine emerging government policy on this issue, where does the Health Secretary think the emphasis should go, and what exactly will be funded?

And what about the mental health research community, often working in both academia and treatment, how can their insight be harnessed to inform public policy?

The minster answers points raised by many of the young people we have met in this series who have first hand experience of the current mental health system.

Will new NHS funding improve adolescent mental health? We question Jeremy Hunt.

Series exploring mental illness in young people.

In the first of this three part series mental health researcher Sally Marlow, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London,

asks is there an actual difference for mental health, or is it simply awareness - that mental health issues are now talked about far more openly than they were when the term 'teenager' was first coined?

She explores the extent of the problem. Is there a parental equivalent of "the worried well" when it comes to mental health? Has the increased awareness of mental health problems contributed to medicalising feelings and behaviours that in the past were thought of as part and parcel of adolescence, and if so, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Some of the reasons for mental health issues are not surprising- such as trauma and social isolation, but there are other reasons too - factors such as microaggressions on the part of society, and systemic problems like austerity and ethnocentricity.

Life online clearly is now a big factor, especially social media, and there certainly is impact. The negatives hit the headlines, from body shaming to bullying and even suicide - but how much of this is really new and how much of it is an online expression of pre-existing issues?

There is good data on the prevalence of young people's mental health problems over the years. Sally Marlow uses this to compare the mental health of 16 - 25 year olds today to previous generations.

Producer: Julian Siddle.

Are rates of mental illness in young people really escalating?

Series exploring mental illness in young people.

There is obviously a profound difference between the lives of 'Millennials' and those of a 1950s teenager.

In the first of this three part series mental health researcher Sally Marlow, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London,

asks is there an actual difference for mental health, or is it simply awareness - that mental health issues are now talked about far more openly than they were when the term 'teenager' was first coined?

She explores the extent of the problem. Is there a parental equivalent of "the worried well" when it comes to mental health? Has the increased awareness of mental health problems contributed to medicalising feelings and behaviours that in the past were thought of as part and parcel of adolescence, and if so, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Some of the reasons for mental health issues are not surprising- such as trauma and social isolation, but there are other reasons too - factors such as microaggressions on the part of society, and systemic problems like austerity and ethnocentricity.

Life online clearly is now a big factor, especially social media, and there certainly is impact. The negatives hit the headlines, from body shaming to bullying and even suicide - but how much of this is really new and how much of it is an online expression of pre-existing issues?

There is good data on the prevalence of young people's mental health problems over the years. Sally Marlow uses this to compare the mental health of 16 - 25 year olds today to previous generations.

Producer: Julian Siddle.

Are rates of mental illness in young people really escalating?

Series exploring mental illness in young people.