May 26, 2018, (Ireland) Irish Times: ‘I’m petrified. I can’t eat.’ Ireland’s teenage anxiety problem https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/i-m-petrified-i-can-t-eat-ireland-s-teenage-anxiety-problem-1.3504556 ...The education system is struggling to cope with an upsurge in the numbers of young people presenting with anxiety and related disorders. The number of third-level students with mental health problems, including anxiety and related disorders, has surged by about 270 per cent since 2010, up from 473 to 1,75…. Many of those who work with young people suspect that what they’re seeing can’t easily be explained away Statistics for young people at primary and second level are more difficult to come by. However, a 2015 national study of more than 6,000 adolescents found one in three had experienced elevated levels of depression and anxiety. These numbers come as little surprise to those involved in supporting young people with mental health problems. “It is the number one, most pressing issue that young people identify themselves,” says Dr Gillian O’Brien, director of clinical governance for Jigsaw, the national youth mental health service. Many experts say there is little doubt that greater awareness and openness about mental health is driving these increases. While it’s difficult to tease apart how much of this apparent spike in anxiety is related to an increase in awareness and diagnosis of the disorder, many of those who work with young people suspect that what they’re seeing can’t easily be explained away. Dr Colman Noctor, a child and adolescent psychotherapist with St Patrick’s mental health services with 20 years’ experience, is alarmed by the increases he is seeing on a daily basis. “In the last five to 10 years, I would say anxiety has become the epidemic of this generation,” he says. “I have never met more anxious children than I do now. I have never met so many anxious parents as well. … Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder among young people and adults in Ireland – though, unlike depression, it is often seen as a less serious issue…. But what’s driving the apparent increase in problematic anxiety? And who is most at risk? Research shows anxiety rates are typically higher among young people who have been abused or who live in homes where there is poverty, substance abuse or where there have been stressful events such as bullying, bereavement or assaults....
top of page

Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
bottom of page