Psychology|According to experts, on the basis of the research, measures other than medical treatment would be needed.
Young mental health problems are increasing and the causes are sought from many sources.
Now there is even stronger research evidence that a young person’s exposure to mental health disorders in their peer group increases the risk of the young person’s own symptoms.
Fresh in an extensive study of Finnish youth it is stated that the more classmates have symptoms, the more likely the young person will become ill with mental health disorders themselves.
According to experts, the results should prompt a critical look at mental health talk.
Before there is evidence, for example, that the young anxiety and depression are predicted by seeing it in the neighborhood. However, in the new study, school classes were examined, meaning that the young people themselves did not seek out certain people.
The study was published on Wednesday In JAMA Psychiatry. Experts comment on it in scientific publications New Scientist and Science Media Centre.
The positive thing is that classmates who have received a diagnosis reduce the stigma caused by a mental disorder, and thus those who later develop the disorder seek help more easily.
On the other hand In New Scientist’s analysis, the so-called phenomenon of “ruminating together” is highlighted. Depressed or anxious people end up talking a lot about negative experiences, which makes them feel worse.
According to the researchers, there is also a risk that young people who hear about mental health problems will more easily interpret everyday stress or worry as a symptom.
In a new study, young Finnish people were followed from the 9th grade for about 11 years onwards. Pictured are students at the Helsinki language high school in September 2023.
A psychiatrist from the University Hospital of La Paz commented to the Science Media Centre Alberto Ortiz Lobo states that today’s young people express their distress in ways that are more often read as a mental health disorder than before.
“This phenomenon must make us think about what actions related to education, the family or the environment can be done in addition to purely psychological and psychiatric ones,” Lobo tells Science Media Centre.
of Oxford a researcher in experimental psychology at the university Jack Andrews says that if mental health disorders really “catch” in the school classroom, there are several prevention methods available.
For example, the classmates of a young person with an eating disorder could be examined more closely for symptoms, and a young person seen as more vulnerable could be placed in the group of those who appear to be “more resistant”, Andrews tells New Scientist.
Assistant professor of psychology at the University of Helsinki Christian Hakulinen according to mental health campaigns, the difference between everyday distress and illness should be clarified for young people.
“We have to be careful not to treat too much and think that normal reactions are somehow unusual behavior,” Hakulinen tells New Scientist.
of Oxford Andrews University and his colleague Lucy Foulkes have also hypothesized that the increase in mental health disorders is partly due to the way awareness campaigns medicalize life’s adversities.
The duo is still waiting for a peer review according to a research review young people may also adopt the symptoms of disorders in school mental health projects.
Social media also plays a role. In a new study, young Finnish people were followed until 2019, after which the talk of mental health has increased on, for example, the video service Tiktok, Lobo tells Science Media Centre.
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