Dr Peter Moore: 'Why we should help our young people through these anxious times'

There are over 600,00 people off work due to anxiety and depression. Talking therapies are fully booked and prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications are at a record high. But the anxiety crisis does not affect all ages. It is a particular problem in people under 25 and the level falls dramatically in older people.
I do not subscribe to the idea that today’s youth are wimps and all they need to do is develop a backbone. The crisis is far more complicated and serious. It is not only people being signed off work but can lead to suicide.
Anxiety is not in itself an illness. If us humans never got anxious we would have become extinct before we left Africa. A hunter gatherer should be anxious if an elephant charged. Today, anyone in the middle of the road when a bus is coming will, I hope, be anxious.
Anxiety becomes a problem if it affects daily life. It becomes pathological if, instead of being anxious in the road when a bus was coming, someone panicked walking on the pavement in case a bus appeared.
The natural reaction to stress is for the heart rate and blood pressure to increase, to sweat and muscles to overreact by developing a tremor. These are all natural reactions preparing for 'fight or flight'. We either run from a threat or fight. Either way it means expending energy.
The problem today is that people still have the same natural reactions but do not follow it with vigorous exercise. It may be tempting to use up energy by throwing the computer across the room and jumping on it but, sadly, this is not acceptable. It explains why exercise is a good idea. No one can use up their 'fight and flight' reaction in an office or working from home but they can go for a run or play a sport.
But why is anxiety such a problem today and with this generation? No one knows but there are several theories. Stress is helped by working in a team and having good friends. This is not helped by the Internet rather than face to face relationships.
Also, the Covid lockdown made things far worse. They could not go out. Telling a young person that if they sit with a mate on a bench in the park, they might kill a granny is not conducive to a relaxing time. The risk of Covid was far less for younger people and yet they suffered more than the old. Not being able to socialise in your teens, unable to see your friends at school or university and not being able to even sit exams all took its toll.
With emails people cannot leave the office, close the door and forget work. Emails don’t stop.
The younger generation are also facing financial pressures. Many have large student loans to pay off when the cost of property in relation to income is far higher than for previous generations.
To make the situation worse, if they accept that they need help, it is difficult to see a GP. Unless they are from a wealthy background and can afford private care the waiting list for 'talking therapies' is many months.
When the large Victorian 'lunatic asylums' were closed in the 1980s we were told that they were very expensive to run. How much better would it be to use the money for care in the community? I supported the move and naively waited for the care in the community to take off. It didn’t.
Every department is crying out for more money but investment in mental health services now would save money later by helping people back to work, preventing suicide and helping younger people to live happier lives. During Covid the young suffered to help older people. It is time we gave something back by offering them support in this new anxiety epidemic.