A stark rise in the number of teenage girls and young women in Northern
Ireland seeking help with anxiety and depression in the past year could be just
the tip of the iceberg, a local charity has warned.
The new statistics were revealed by Belfast charity New Life Counselling
as World Mental Health Day today puts the focus on ‘Depression: A Global
Issue’. The charity, which offers free counselling across Northern Ireland,
experienced a 23% rise in the number of women accessing their service from 2010
to 2011. Of the 669 females supported by New Life last year, 201 were between
the ages of 18 and 25 and 261 were aged 26 to 40. The charity’s chief executive
Karen Collins said: “These figures show a significant increase in demand for
counselling support from young women.
“In most cases it is for help with stress, anxiety or depression as a
result of a broad range of pressures, mostly connected to relationships and
family, but some with drugs and alcohol problems and also young women
struggling with looking after young children. “One of the reasons more young
women are seeking help is greater awareness of counselling services and we have
been working hard to break down the stigmas associated with mental health so
that people are not too embarrassed to seek help.”
Belfast Telegraph
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