Are Today's Teenagers in the Midst of a Mental Health Crisis?

Teenagers today are talking about their mental health more openly than ever. At the same time, rates of reported anxiety, depression and other mental health problems have risen. So are today’s teenagers really in the midst of a mental health crisis, and what’s driving it? In the final episode of Coming of Age: The Science of Adolescence, psychologists Lucy Foulkes and Jack Andrews look beyond the headlines to explore what the research actually tells us about teenage mental health. They unpack the role of social media and smartphones, academic pressure, poverty and the lasting effects of Covid, as well as a more complicated question: could greater mental health awareness itself be changing how teenagers understand and describe ordinary distress? Lucy and Jack also explore self-diagnosis, the influence of friends and social media, and why greater openness around mental health can bring both benefits and unintended consequences. Plus, they share practical advice for parents on when to be concerned, what changes in a teenager’s behaviour to look out for and how best to offer support. Research discussed in this episode: Rising rates of mental health problems in children and young people: NHS England, Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2023 The role of mental health awareness in rising reported mental health problems: Foulkes & Andrews (2023), The Prevalence Inflation Hypothesis The relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health: Fassi et al. (2024), JAMA Pediatrics The two-way relationship between problematic social media use and emotional symptoms: Remondi et al. (2026), Journal of Adolescence How lockdown affected young people’s happiness and wellbeing: Soneson et al. (2023), European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry How mental health awareness can influence self-diagnosis: Sandra et al. (2025), Psychological Medicine