Youth Mental Health in Focus

Let’s Talk about Youth Mental Health in Focus!

Introduction

It’s your friend Megan’s birthday and she is holding a party this weekend. You cannot wait to meet up with everyone and have some fun. It’s been so long since you’ve been to a birthday party as last year you were unable to celebrate because of Covid-19 restrictions. This means that Megan’s party will be extra special. You text your friends to see what they are wearing and what time you should meet them.

You haven’t seen or heard from your friend Jake for a while. He hasn’t been hanging out as usual and hasn’t replied to any of your texts. You send Megan a message to ask if Jake is going to her party. She replies instantly, “Haven’t you heard? Jake is in hospital; he’s been acting really weird. I think he’s depressed.”

You are shocked to hear this. Jake had seemed perfectly ok when you saw him a few weeks ago. You don’t really know much about mental health, but this is the third young person you have recently heard about who has been struggling with their mental health. You thought that older people experienced mental health difficulties, what could young people have to be depressed about?

Tasks

You do some research about the topic and discover that one in five young people may experience mental health difficulties and that suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29-year-olds in Europe. You are stunned! You text your friend Sam and tell him what you have found out and tell him you want to raise awareness about it. You both decide that you should make a TikTok video. All your friends use TikTok and it could be a great way to share important information in a non-judgmental way.