Ian Collins Says Social Media Is Damaging Young People's Mental Health

4 December 2017, 08:16

Young people are experiencing increased rates of anxiety and depression and social media is to blame, Ian Collins says.

Children suffering from anxiety and depression will be offered access to counselling at school as the government tries to tackle a widely reported crisis in young people’s mental health.

There will now be a guaranteed maximum four-week waiting time for children with more complex problems to access NHS child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs).

Ian Collins laid the blame for the crisis on social media and its impact on young people's mental health.

He described a "dangling effect" of other people's opulent lives that did not mirror that of younger people. He said this breeds feelings of dissatisfaction and happiness.

Ian said: "The constant dangling effect, the dangling of out of reach lifestyles, the dangling of out of reach opportunities, the dangling of opulence, fame, fortune - there has never been an era like this anyway.

"THe constant drip of information that never stops, particularly a young person, is away from a person telling them their life could be so much better.

"You could be doing this, you could be doing that. There's never been an era in the human journey, when a system has allowed young people to be told how great their life isn't."

Watch the clip at the top of this page.