Nearly one in four young women is struggling with mental illness and has emotional problems such as depression and anxiety, figures show for England.
In a report by BBC on November 22, NHS found out that women aged 17 to 19 years old were twice as likely as young men to have mental problems, with 23.9 percent reporting for the disorder.
In children, it has been tallied that one in nine from aged five to 15, had the disorder when the survey was conducted 13 years ago.
The findings were based on 9,000 young people who participated. These have been gathered by statistics body NHS Digital and assessed by experts to make sure only those diagnosable conditions were included.
Dr. Bernadka Dubicka, of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said that the results were alarming, adding that body image pressures, exam stress and social media negative effects may have been contributed to these results. He also added that abuse and sexual assault may be part of the reasons, too.
"We can only speculate. We still do not fully understand this - all we know is that we see more girls in our clinics," Dr. Dubicka said. "We have to make sure services are available for them."
Adolescence period
University College London psychiatrist Dr. Michael Bloomfield said that adolescent period could have been largely affecting the emotional level of young women.
"Adolescence is a critical period for a person's development, particularly as our brains go through important changes during our teenage years," Dr. Bloomfield said. "Since prevention is better than cure, it is really important for all of us in society to understand together why this is and start reducing the rates of mental disorders in young people."
How to prevent
National mental health director Claire Murdoch said the government needs to step up to lessen and eradicate the numbers of mental health resulting in suicide for some.
"Everyone who works with children and young people, whether in the public, private or voluntary sector, has to play their part if we are to protect young people's mental wellbeing," she said.
