Covid, high cost of living and social media: Why are more young women struggling with their mental health?

A young woman struggling with anorexia and anxiety has said social media is to blame for a rise in the number of Scots with mental health problems.

Scotland is in the grip of a mental health epidemic, according to the latest census, which shows young women are twice as likely to have mental health problems as men.

In 2022, 15.4% of people aged 16 to 24 reported experiencing a mental health problem; this rate was 2.5% in 2011.

While the rate of women in this age group experiencing mental health problems is 20.4%, this rate is 10.5% for men.

Rebecca Miller, 22, said she started having an eating disorder when she was 12 years old.

Doctors referred him to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), where he received treatment for two years.

Rebecca told STV News: “I was in a spinning circle. I was judging myself in the mirror.

“I wasn’t gaining as much weight as I should have and it turned out to be anxiety based.

“I was really young and it was very difficult trying to move forward with that. Navigating the rigors of high school is hard enough, let alone dealing with anxiety and having it creep up on you.

“I was always afraid of going to school; The first semester was unattainable for me. “I think it took me until after high school to gain confidence in my ability to deal with these things.”

Rebecca suffered from anxiety and an eating disorder at school STV News

Rebecca was referred for further counseling at the age of 18 but found this difficult to do during Covid.

“If I were face to face with a therapist and chatted as much as I could face to face, I tried really hard to engage as much as I could. They could probably sense that I wasn’t putting my all into it.

“It was hard for everyone.”

Rebecca now uses her platform as a beauty pageant contestant to raise awareness of mental health issues.

“My anxiety is always there. “It never disappeared,” he said. “I developed a coping mechanism after that; I know exactly what I need to do to combat that feeling I get in the morning.

“He pointed me in the right direction and made me take good action from it.

“It will come and go. I’m at a stage now where I can talk about it with other people.”

He said he believed social media had a “huge” impact on young people’s lives and could leave them “vulnerable”.

“It can be 50/50, it’s a good platform but it can also be detrimental to young people’s lives and mental health.

“People are scrolling on their phones. People are finding that they can say anything behind a screen.

“It’s really hard to walk away because it has its good and bad sides.”

He added: “I was on social media when I was 18 or 19

“I am now at an age where I am at peace with myself, I do not care about how many followers I have, how many likes I have, or what filter I use.

“I want to make peace with myself, feel comfortable with myself and show myself as I am.”

Dr Rebecca Mason of the Young Women's Movement — Dr Rebecca Mason of the Young Women’s Movement STV News

New research from the Young Women’s Movement and the Scottish Women’s Budget Group suggests young women in Scotland are being seriously affected by the cost of living crisis.

The report paints a bleak picture: nearly two-thirds (65.7%) of young women surveyed feel they are worse off financially than this time last year, and nearly a third (32.7%) find housing costs unaffordable.

More than half (53.4%) said they relied on savings as well as income to manage rising costs last year.

Dr Rebecca Mason is a research and policy leader at the Young Women’s Movement.

She said the cost of living crisis was having a huge impact on young women’s mental health and wellbeing.

“Young women and girls are giving up on doing nice things and socializing with their friends. Young women in rural and island communities are staying at home rather than socializing with friends and peers.

“The cost of going to the cinema, the cost of going to a restaurant, the increasing cost of public transportation. They don’t feel safe walking home at night.

“Young women in towns and cities say the cost of living related to housing has increased and having less money to socialize is negatively impacting their mental health.”

She also said social media has influenced young women’s beliefs that “they should behave, speak and appear in society.”

“We think that mental health strategies and policies should be shaped especially for young women and girls, and attention should be paid to age and gender.

Dr Arun Chopra, Director, Mental Welfare Commission STV News

“Young women say they are perhaps seeking help for mental health issues and want medical professionals to tell them it could be hormonal and menstrual issues.

“They may not want to disturb their local GP as services become increasingly burdensome.

“They should feel safe to report any problems they encounter.

“Our message to young women and girls is do not suffer in silence. If they have problems, talk and ask for help.

Mental Welfare Commission Director Dr. Arun Chopra said he was “not surprised” by the latest figures.

She said: “The group experiencing the sharpest increases in detention rates are young women, some of whom are attributed to eating disorders and some to self-harm.

“Probably underlying some of this is that we are still working through the effects of the pandemic and its impact on young people.

“I think this demonstrates the need to monitor where resources should be directed, the investments needed and targeted to improve mental health, especially for young women.”

Mental Health Minister Maree Todd said: “This new research showing the increasing number of young women struggling with mental health issues is deeply worrying. “We are focusing on tackling mental health inequalities, including from a gender-based approach.

“Tailored support for women includes investing in specialist perinatal care and treatment for women with complex mental health needs, prioritizing women and girls for adult community mental health funding, and working with our mental health equity forum to create more accessible support services to individual needs . ”

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