Increasingly Unstable Youth Crisis (Chapter. 2)

Written by Andi Bazaar and Co-wrote by Oliver Tydalé Schofield | Aug. 20, 2022

When I was young, I promised myself that if I ever had a platform, I would use it to normalize the conversation around mental health. So, that's what I'm doing right now. Today, I want to talk about OCD.

I first started struggling with OCD in pre-school, I was an anxious kid who kept a note-pad taped to her desk because heaven forbid she forget a detail when answering "how was your day?"

For most of my childhood, I didn't know I had OCD. I just knew that I was worried always.

I felt alone, when I closed my eyes to pray after a frightening thought when I knocked on the wood of every classroom desk (never mind that Jews aren't supposed to knock on wood). I didn't know why I was so different from the other kids, I was too ashamed to ask "why?"

One day, I sat in high school health class as we learned about mental illness. My teacher started speaking about OCD and my world froze, "that's me!" I remember thinking, "this is what I've had all along."

I saw my first therapist and she confirmed it, "I had OCD."

When I was first diagnosed with OCD, I decided that it would become my biggest secret. I wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer, a journalist, a writer. I wanted to be a congressman or a senator even but who would ever vote for a senator with OCD?

I went to college and my life started to change, yes I still struggled with OCD and I still struggle with it. That struggle propelled me to prove myself wrong, so I started a non-profit organization, I wrote my own journey on Medium, I advocate for my community on an international-scale.

I recognize now how different my childhood would have been if I had high-achieving role models who were open about their mental illness, if I could look to somebody and think, "If you were just like me when I was a kid, maybe I can be just like you when I grow up."

So that's who I want to be, I want to be the role model I needed as a kid, I want to be somebody who works hard who achieves a lot. I want to be that person not in spite of my OCD but because of it and so here I am telling you my story.

I have OCD and I can still be a doctor, a lawyer, a journalist, a writer, congressman or a senator even. I can be whatever the hell I want to be and so can you, no matter the challenges that stand before you.

Yes, OCD has made me suffer but it has also taught me strength. It has taught me to trust myself in my weakest moments + celebrate myself in my strongest ones, it has taught me to show others the grace I wish to be given. For better and for worse, it's made me who I am.

After 15 years of struggling with OCD, I decided to open up about my experiences on this week's chapter of "Increasingly Unstable Youth Crisis: Chapter. II" writting this article with friend of mine is one of the hardest things I've ever done but I'm as proud of myself as I've ever been.

To anybody reading this artice who sees themselves within the lines, I am a resource and a friend. You might feel alone but I promise you never are. You can do anything, be anything, achieve anything not in spite of your mental illness, but because of it.

This week is the start of "Childrens Mental Health Week" which shines a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health. 1 in 6 children and young people have a diagnosed mental health issue plus many more struggle with challenges such as trauma.

If you are worried about a child or young person, having a conversation with them about their mental health might be a good place to start. Below are some great conversation openers from “Young Minds (UK)”

According to "Mental Health"
✅ 20% of teens experience a mental health problem in any year.
✅ 50% of mental health problems are established by age 14.
✅ 70% of young people experiencing mental health problems have not had appropriate interventions at an sufficiently early age.

There are many factors that can impact on young people’s mental health, children from low income backgrounds are 3x more likely to have mental health challenges. 1 in 3 children currently live in poverty in the UK and it’s set to get even worse, due to the cost of living crisis.

There are a number of local and national organisations supporting young people, here are some details of organisations that might be able to help if you or your child is struggling.

This "Childrens Mental Health Week" alongside starting conversations on mental health as a parent or carer, you can also encourage your children to form good mental health habits from a young age.

This study was funded by the "Department of Health and Social Care," commissioned by NHS Digital and carried out by the Office for National Statistics, the National Centre for Social Research, University of Cambridge and University of Exeter.

Data is for England, July 2020.

1. Rates of probable mental disorders have increased since 2017. In 2020, 1/6 (16.0%) children aged 5 to 16 years were identified as having a probable mental disorder, increasing from 1/9 (10.8%) in 2017. The increase was evident in both boys and girls.

2. The likelihood of a probable mental disorder increased with age with a noticeable difference in gender for the older age group (17 to 22 years); 27.2% of young women and 13.3% of young men were identified as having a probable mental disorder.

3. Among 11 to 16 year old girls, 63.8% with a probable mental disorder had seen or heard an argument among adults in the household, compared with 46.8% of those unlikely to have a mental disorder.

4. Among those aged 5 to 22 years, 58.9% with a probable mental disorder reported having sleep problems. Young people aged 17 to 22 years with a probable mental disorder were more likely to report sleep problems (69.6%), than those aged 11 to 16 (50.5%) and 5 to 10 (52.5%).

5. About six in ten (62.6%) children aged 5 to 16 years with a probable mental disorder had regular support from their school or college, compared with 76.4% of children unlikely to have a mental disorder.

6. Children aged 5 to 16 years with a probable mental disorder were more than twice as likely to live in a household that had fallen behind with payments (16.3%), than children unlikely to have a mental disorder (6.4%).

7. Children and young people with a probable mental disorder were more likely to say that lockdown had made their life worse (54.1% of 11 to 16 year olds, and 59.0% of 17 to 22 year olds), than those unlikely to have a mental disorder (39.2% and 37.3% respectively).

It is important to realize that change in mental health can take a while, we are undoing decades of conditioning. We have to be patient with ourselves and repeat the healthy behaviours until they slowly become more entrenched, healthy changes cannot happen fast.

A SPECIAL THANKS TO:

• Dr Oliver Schofield (Co-wrote/Consulting)
• Dr Seth Gryffen (Consulting)
• Henrie Louis Friedrich (Analyst)
• Clayton Euridicé Schofield (Editor/Journalist)
• Timothée Freimann schofield (Photographed)
• Shot at GQ’s Studios by José Schenkkan and Benjamin Schenkkan Joseph