Fears social media is fuelling teen suicides

It is 14 months since teenager Molly Russell died, and her father, Ian, is sure that social media played a part. Last week, he said he had "no doubt" that sites like Instagram and Pinterest had helped to kill his daughter by showing her distressing images of self-harm. Then inquestAn official inquiry into a person’s death. into Molly's suicideWhen a person deliberately takes their own life. Links to mental health support contacts in the UK are available on this page from mental health charity Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk/for-young-people/how-to-get-help-and-support/useful-contacts/. is still ongoing. But the head of the UK's national suicide prevention strategy, Louis Appleby, says there is a danger that "we are presiding over a suicidal generation of young people". In fact, yesterday, The Sunday Times reported that teenage suicides have almost doubled in eight years in England. Official figures will not be published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) until September. But journalists said they had learnt that suicide rates were rising among 15 to 19-year-olds, yet declining for most other age groups. The education minister, Damian Hinds, told the paper that social media companies had a "moral duty" to protect young people. They have "changed the way human beings interact with each other," he argued, and "absolutely have a responsibility" to do good. This month the government will go even further, saying that companies like Facebook and Google have a "duty of care" towards young people. They will publish plans for new laws which ask tech companies to remove inappropriate references to suicide and self-harm. If they refuse, a new regulatorA person or group that supervises an activity or industry. will step in, potentially imposing huge fines. In addition to these plans, this week England's chief medical officer, Sally Davies, will recommend that parents ban smartphones at dinner and before bedtime. She will suggest that young people take breaks from screens every two hours. But is that enough? Back in 2017, an OECDThe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. survey found that British teenagers are among the unhappiest in the world. While they spend some of the most time online, they are also more anxious about school and more likely to be bullied than teenagers in most other countries. If you are struggling with self-harm or suicidal thoughts, you can find resources and advice on this page from mental health charity Mind. Is social media to blame for young people's mental health struggles? Even without accounts that glorify self-harm, there is still a lot of pressure to look and act a certain way online. Then there is the risk of cyberbullyingHarassing or bullying others online, whether through rumours, threats or posting personal information about a victim.. Should the minimum age be raised to 18? What about teenagers who find genuine support or advice online? Of course, mental health problems are complex; they never have just one cause. Experts have also blamed young people's problems on exam stress, family issues and a lack of youth mental health services. Which of these is the most important? And what can society do to make life better for young people? Q & A What do we know? One in eight (12.8%) young people aged five to 19 had a mental health disorder in England in 2017, according to the NHSThe National Health Service, the publicly funded healthcare system in the UK. The NHS was founded in 1948.. This included "emotional, behavioural, hyperactivity and other less common disorders." Among 17 to 19-year-olds, it was one in six, or 16.9%. Of the 11 to 16-year-olds with a mental disorder, a quarter (25.5%) had self-harmed or attempted suicide. What do we not know? The causes of mental health disorders in young people — partly because there is never a single cause. However, risk factors can include quality of life, relationships with families, exploring gender or sexual identity, and pressure from peers and the media. Young people are also more vulnerable to mental health conditions as their brains are still developing.KeywordsInquest - An official inquiry into a person’s death.