Anxiety a 'ticking time bomb among young people', charities warn

The number of 16-25 year olds looking online for help with anxiety is on the rise, say Anxiety UK and YouthNet.

In January, the two charities had a combined 15,936 young visitors to their sites, compared to just over 13,000 at the same time last year.

Emma Rubach from YouthNet said: "anxiety is a ticking time bomb among young people. For many years it hasn't really been recognised that they're suffering from this. And now that people are starting to get help I think we're starting to see more numbers coming forward.

"I certainly think young people have it tougher - never being able to switch off. You have your phone in your pocket, you're on social media on all the time and it's really hard to step away from that sometimes."

Earlier this month, new guidelines were brought in by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to improve the standard of care for people experiencing anxiety disorders.

Further reading: Online porn having 'damaging effect' on young people’s mental health

NICE found that recognition of anxiety disorders was poor, and only a small number of people were diagnosed.

The health watchdog also found that the few who were diagnosed were given prescription drugs as a treatment, instead of the psychological help that it recommends.

Nicky Lidbetter, CEO of Anxiety UK, added: “We typically see an increase in enquiries and website visits during this time of year however the rise in the number of visits to our web pages dedicated to young people during the first part of 2014 appears to be a new trend and one that we will need to monitor.

"Ensuring that young people have access to accurate information and on-going support is critical as we know that early intervention often prevents the development of more entrenched and difficult to treat, anxiety disorders in adulthood."

In response to the increase in calls, YouthNet has launched a series of videos with mental health campaigner Jonny Benjamin and This Morning’s Dr Ranj to dispel the myths about what happens when you get medical help for a mental health condition. Watch the first of these videos 'Mental health and your GP' below: