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UK News

Churches urged to discuss mental health as poll finds 1 in 3 teens have considered self-harm

by Eno Adeogun

Drug and alcohol charity Addaction's research also found a third of schoolgirls with mental health problems have hurt themselves or attempted suicide.

Abbie Robson is a Christian and author of the book 'Insight Into Self Harm'.

 

Explaining how the Church can help young people, Robson told Premier: "I think it's really important that churches talk about mental health and talk about mental illness and what it means - not just for young people but for adults as well because it affects people of all ages.

"We need to have sermons about it; we need to be talking about it in our Sunday schools."

Creative Commons

The researchers spoke with more than 8,500 pupils aged 13 to 17 at schools in Cornwall, Kent and Lancashire.

They also found that 28 per cent of the teens had felt down or depressed on at least six days in the last month.

Meanwhile, 22 per cent felt overwhelmed or worried often or all of the time.

Robson said she wasn't surprised by the results of the poll.

She added: "I think pressure is really, really high for teenagers and most of what they're being taught in schools is much more academic than how to manage their own emotions and how to manage that pressure."

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