IT is an issue I keep returning to, and necessarily so, as mental health – long stigmatised and ‘swept under the rug’ – is now being given the attention it deserves.
International celebrities have helped break the silence by openly admitting to experiencing mental health challenges. Some, like Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles, ‘stepped back’ from their careers, taking time off to deal with anxiety and depression.

In fact, both of these young women caused something of a stir when they made their announcements. Osaka refused to take part in scheduled press conferences and pulled out of the French Open tennis tournament two years ago. She was fined, threatened with expulsion and subsequently said that she planned to “take a break,” citing her struggles with mental health.

Biles, the most celebrated gymnast of all time, received both support and censure when she withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after faltering during a vault she had previously executed perfectly. She later confessed to feelings of anxiety saying she felt she had “the weight of the world on (her) shoulders.”

CNN anchor, Scottie Andrew summed it up when he told the world, “Simone Biles’ withdrawal reminds us that she’s human.”
For indeed, just as with physical health, mental health is a human condition and problems can affect any of us, regardless of ethnicity, status, sex or age.

Both of these athletes were female and young – one Afro-American, the other Afro-Japanese – high earners at the pinnacle of their careers, yet facing mental health troubles. They both serve to remind us that the young, even those who have attained fame and wealth, are not immune from the pressures of living.

Recently, experts have been expressing concern over the increase in mental health illness among adolescents and young adults around the world and calling for urgent measures to be taken to ‘stem the tide.’
In an interview on the Sunrise show, Guyanese Psychotherapist, Shane Tull, said he felt that in this post-pandemic period challenges for the young seem normalcy and security to our young people – both at home and at school.

He has called for a multi-pronged approach, involving government, the private sector and the community as a whole in an open, national discussion on the whole issue of mental health.
“It’s okay not to be okay, it’s okay to ask for help,” Tull said, echoing the words of retired Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps and others like Osaka and Biles, who have made public their mental health challenges in an effort to increase awareness, promote discussion and end the stigma which surrounds this topic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), has announced that, “The number of adolescents reporting poor mental health is increasing.”
The alarming data states that up to 20 percent of adolescents globally experience mental disorders. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 – 19 year olds worldwide and around 15 percent of adolescents in low and middle income countries have considered suicide.

As Tull observed, young people have been left feeling insecure and unsafe following the pandemic, which has disrupted lives, and according to the CDC, has cut off many young people from the “academic, social and physical” activities they previously enjoyed in their schools and colleges.

However, while COVID-19 has contributed to the rise in mental illness among the young, the US Turnbridge Group says that “mental health issues have been steadily increasing for years.”
The Group, which provides mental health treatment for adolescents and young people, contends that the prevalence of mental health disorders is not necessarily new. Adolescence is a time when teenagers are going through significant biological and emotional changes, while trying to establish their independence yet feeling increased pressure to fit in with their peers.

But the experts all agree that it is necessary to start a conversation with young people about the issues troubling them, which Tull pointed out is particularly important in our society, where people are still ashamed to discuss mental health issues and reluctant to seek help.

The Psychotherapist has suggested training key individuals, such as teachers and social workers, in how to recognise mental disorders and mount interventions, as well as involving institutions like the church, where families regularly gather.
A collective approach is seen as essential, with parents playing a pivotal role.

In voicing her concern, UNICEF Executive Director, Henriette Fore, has declared, “Too many children and young people, rich and poor alike, in all four corners of the world, are experiencing mental health conditions…we need urgent and innovative strategies to prevent, detect and, if needed, treat them at an early age.”