New report on Adolescent mental health published

In any given year, 20% of adolescents experience a mental health problem, most commonly depression or anxiety. In many settings, suicide is among the leading causes of death among young people.

A new report by WHO and UNICEF describes actions undertaken by a range of international development organizations to address adolescents’ mental health needs at country level. The findings report that adolescent mental health is inadequately addressed and actions at country level appear to be fragmented. Interventions for promotion of psychosocial well-being and provision of mental health care to adolescents often have narrowly-focused, project-specific objectives, while opportunities to mainstream adolescent mental health in education, health and child protection programmes are still largely untapped.