The paradox of endless options and unrealistic expectations: understanding the impact on youth mental health

Young People’s responses to the Population Wide Act-Belong-Commit Mental Health Promotion Campaign: Implications for Youth Mental Health Interventions

“…Given that the mental health of young people has received increasing attention in the past decade [7,10], and was described over 15 years ago as a 'global crisis' [11], there have been an increasing number of interventions across the globe targeting youth across a variety of settings, including schools, universities and sporting organisations [12]. However, many of these interventions have been concerned primarily with early detection and help-seeking, and focus on risk factors (e.g., substance use; bullying; social media; etc see [13,14], with fewer focussing on enhancing positive mental health [15].…”

“…However, many of these interventions have been concerned primarily with early detection and help-seeking, and focus on risk factors (e.g., substance use; bullying; social media; etc see [13,14], with fewer focussing on enhancing positive mental health [15]. Further, these interventions appear to be having limited impact at population levels; for example Mohr et al point to the deteriorating mental health of young people in Nordic countries [10], the World Health Organisation points to increasing rates of suicide and depression amongst young people across the globe [16], and the mental health of young Australians has recently described as a 'public health crisis' [17]. Maidment & Carbone also concluded that 'Australia is experiencing a youth mental health crisis' and called for a new approach to build a mental health promotion system for young people [18].…”