The Future in Our Hands
Deteriorating mental health among young people is an issue that affects society as a whole. Moreover, it is a threat to European democracy. Resolving the issue will require systemic understanding and inclusive decision-making.
Up to a quarter of young Finns suffer from some kind of mental-health disorder. According to the annual school health survey conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, anxiety is on the rise, especially among girls and young women. Last spring alone, around one third of girls in grades 8 and 9 of middle school, in high school, and in vocational institutions reported experiencing moderate to severe anxiety. This phenomenon is similar elsewhere in Europe too.
The continued deterioration of young people’s mental health will have wide-ranging and long-lasting consequences – not least in terms of health, education, employment, and relationships – and these consequences will inevitably affect society more broadly. Despite this, the issue is regularly considered a problem affecting only one or two generations, and the responsibility for resolving it is seen to lie with young people themselves, at least according to Agata Meysner, the 27-year-old activist and chair of the youth organisation Generation Climate Europe.
“The matter of how to bring about equality is one that interests most people. But when it comes to young people, the issue is somehow framed as a generational question. I don’t like the idea that it is young people’s own responsibility to remedy the situation. That’s a huge burden to carry,” she says.
In trying to establish the underlying causes of the problem, public discourse often points to young people’s problematic use of social media. Marko Manninen, a lecturer in psychology who works as a research manager at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, believes this is something that cannot be overlooked. With the advent of social media, young people are now constantly under comparison with their peers, and excessive time spent on digital devices necessarily detracts from our real, in-person interactions and other basic aspects of our day-to-day lives.
However, it is naïve to think that young people’s mental health problems can be fixed simply by banning smartphones. Besides, developments in digital technology also provide a wealth of opportunities. Manninen is currently exploring the use of technology in mental-health care, and there is already encouraging evidence pointing to its therapeutic effect.
Agata Meysner“The matter of how to bring about equality is one that interests most people. But when it comes to young people, the issue is somehow framed as a generational question. I don’t like the idea that it is young people’s own responsibility to remedy the situation. That’s a huge burden to carry.”
“I used to be critical of screens, but the reality is that they are a part of our lives now, and therefore they should be properly exploited. The use of technology provides cost-effective, easily scalable, and replicable care models that can be adapted to a patient’s personal needs and are not bound by time, place, or individual professionals.”
Social media can be a useful resource too, Meysner notes. In June, she and Christelle Savall, the 30-year-old chair of the JEF Europe – Young European Federalists youth organisation, spoke about young people’s mental health at the Philea Forum conference, organised by several European funds and foundations.
Meysner and Savall agree that social media can be a useful way to connect with people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and with different traditions and values. Furthermore, mental health is currently a very visible topic on social-media platforms.
“My parents and grandparents didn’t talk about their mental health because it was considered taboo. I think it’s great that my generation no longer considers it a taboo and even highlights the ways in which mental-health issues are often structural,” says Meysner.
If we really want to address this problem, says Christelle Savall, it is important to consider that the phenomenon is part of a larger whole in which factors such as the climate crisis, the rising cost of living, and various ongoing global conflicts all play a part. She believes it can be hard for young people today to see any light at the end of the tunnel or to have anything to aspire towards.
“If we weren’t anxious about these subjects, there would be something wrong. How can we expect people to be mentally stable in a world that is so unstable?” she asks.
Marko Manninen too has much empathy and understanding when it comes to young people’s experiences. He suggests that anxiety has always been an important evolutionary reaction to perceived threats in our environment, and at its best, it can spur people into action. However, when anxiety becomes prolonged, it can deepen and develop into depression, which in turn can lead to hopelessness and incapacity.
Meysner and Savall are particularly concerned about the increasing sense of exclusion that young people experience. If young people feel as though they don’t belong in society or that their voices are not being heard, there is a risk of marginalisation and indifference, which in turn can, for instance, lead some people not to participate in elections.
Christelle Savall“If we weren’t anxious about these subjects, there would be something wrong. How can we expect people to be mentally stable in a world that is so unstable?”
The Young European Federalists and Generation Climate Europe have their headquarters in Belgium, but both networks operate in dozens of European countries and actively aim to get young Europeans more involved in decision-making processes.
Meysner sees enormous potential in youth organisations and believes that this should be harnessed and nurtured. According to the EU Barometer published two years ago, 58% of young Europeans participated in the activities of one or more youth organisations in the previous year.
“Public discourse recognises the importance of homes and schools but not that of youth organisations. Many of these organisations operate with the help of volunteers, and we need better resources to ensure that these activities are sustainable. It’s important that there are places where young people feel welcome and where they can experience inclusion and a sense of purpose,” she says.
Savall reminds us that the involvement of young people in decision-making is not only about ensuring the realisation of human rights but also about strengthening democracy in the long term.
In Finland, the right of young people to participate in matters related to local and regional youth work and policies is enshrined in Finland’s Youth Act. Furthermore, the Local Government Act and the Welfare-Service Counties Act also guarantee young people the right to participate in and influence local and regional decision-making.
For instance, in Finland the Erätauko Foundation aims to bring young people into societal discussions, while the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare has long advocated for involving children and young people in the decision-making of Finland’s ‘welfare-service counties’. Savall stresses that, in addition to the political arena, foundations and organisations too should include young people in their decision-making processes, something that she believes would benefit all parties. “If we want to resolve the current mental-health crisis, we must think about ways of making young people feel like they belong in society and are properly heard. Ultimately, this is a crisis that threatens democracy,” Meysner adds.
Dominic Richardson, director of the research centre the Learning for Well-Being Foundation, works to ensure that the political decisions made in any given society always support the well-being of children and young people. The research centre, which has its headquarters in Amsterdam, aims to help build a world in which all children have an equal opportunity to realise their unique potential.
Richardson explains that we often forget that a child is not an isolated entity but always part of a family and the surrounding community. For this reason, merely treating a child’s problems is not an efficient use of resources. It is more effective and cost-efficient to address the needs of families – even long before a child is born – to ensure a safe and stable growth environment.
“We need to get past the idea that the child is merely the passive recipient of help in a problematic environment. This way of thinking only shifts the burden onto the child,” he explains.
Richardson compares a child or young person suffering from mental-health problems to a diseased fish living in a polluted pond surrounded by deforested areas. You can’t simply take the fish out of the pond, heal it, and put it back in the water again. You can’t clean the pond and expect the fish to remain healthy, because the forest will eventually pollute the pond again. You have to treat the entire ecosystem.
In the same way, both child and family need help via equitable, accessible, and individually tailored public services. Educational and learning environments must be made safe and just, which in turn will foster a sense of belonging and appreciation in children. At the same time, political decisions must be made to create a society that more broadly supports good mental health.
Dominic Richardson“We need to get past the idea that the child is merely the passive recipient of help in a problematic environment. This way of thinking only shifts the burden onto the child.”
While many European countries have already made improvements to the availability of such public services, the problem has become so large that they no longer have the capacity to cope with their increased caseload.
Dominic Richardson“This is a substantial amount and shows great commitment, but the question is how well public funds are used to create an environment that supports continued good mental health. ”
Richardson stresses that, very often, this is not even a question of money but of how public funds are used and allocated. Richardson and his team recently prepared a policy recommendation aimed at preventing child poverty, inequality, and hunger, and the recommendation was proposed for discussion at the G20 meeting in Brazil in November 2024. According to their policy recommendation, in 2019, European Union countries spent an average of about 215,000 euros per child. Other G20 countries spent significantly less, about 120,000 euros per child.
“This is a substantial amount and shows great commitment, but the question is how well public funds are used to create an environment that supports continued good mental health. We already know what we need to do, but in the end, it’s a matter of political will. We need societies that really care about people. We must offer children and young people the chance of a decent future,” Richardson concludes.