Dutch youth report rising stress, loneliness, and suicidal thoughts

The number of young people struggling with their mental health is continuing to grow. General practitioners again held more consultations with young people experiencing suicidal thoughts or who had attempted suicide in the second quarter of this year. The number of consultations related to suicide reached a new peak, according to figures from the health institute Nivel and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).

Surveys completed by more than 5,000 young people confirm the impression that they are feeling slightly worse more often. Almost half (48 percent) of the people surveyed felt lonely at times between April and June, and around the same percentage of people admitted to feeling stressed. The share of young people stating that they had suicidal thoughts rose from 13 to 15 percent.

Most young people indicated that they feel happy most of the time, but this group dropped slightly from 83 percent to 81 percent.

The number of young people struggling with mental health issues and suicidal thoughts has been rising for years. The issue began to arise before the coronavirus pandemic. But during the period of lockdowns and uncertainty, researchers began to observe a clear trend. After the pandemic, the hoped-for improvement did not materialize.

School is the biggest source of stress for young people. Closely following were their other obligations, summarized in the study as “everything I have to do.” Stress related to what others think and personal problems was also mentioned more frequently in the latest round of research.

In addition to the factors highlighted in the study, doctors and psychologists often point to excessive smartphone and social media use. AJN Youth Doctors even attribute a “growing health and well-being crisis” to this.