Young people aren’t snowflakes – mental distress is rising, says head of official review

• Young people today face genuinely elevated mental distress levels rather than increased help-seeking for the same burden of illness—a significant shift with implications for clinical assessment and resource allocation
• Environmental factors making adolescence objectively more challenging warrant investigation into specific stressors (social media, economic uncertainty, academic pressure) to inform preventive interventions
• Clinicians should validate young patients' experiences while avoiding dismissive "snowflake" narratives that may delay recognition and treatment of genuine mental health deterioration

Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Prof Fonagy says being young is much harder now than it was.

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