(Montreal) The number of young people who have been diagnosed with anxiety has exploded in a few years, hence the importance of offering them the resources they need to face the situation, believes an expert.
Posted at 6:45 a.m.
In 2010, said the director of public health for the Laurentians, Dr. Éric Goyer, a survey revealed that 11% of young people aged 12 to 25 in his region had received a medical diagnosis of anxiety. Five years later, in 2016-2017, it was more like one in five young people.
“Then, when we look at a study by the University of Sherbrooke in which our region participated […]it is almost almost one in two young people aged 16 and over who report symptoms of anxiety or depression, ”he said.
Dr. Goyer made these comments as part of the launch of the Respire campaign, which for the past three years has offered online tools to prevent anxiety among young people aged 6 to 17 and better equip the adults who accompany them.
A survey conducted by Maru Public Opinion on behalf of the André-Boudreau Foundation, which collaborated with the Public Health Department of the CISSS des Laurentides for this campaign, reveals that two-thirds of parents of children under 18 are concerned about the stress and anxiety experienced by their children.
In addition, almost all parents of children under the age of 18, 90%, indicate that their children suffer from some form of stress or anxiety.
Finally, almost a third of parents of children under 18 (29%) say they are poorly equipped to help their children manage their stress and anxiety; 83% of these parents would need more guidance to know which tools and resources to turn to to help their children manage their stress and anxiety.
The objective of the Respire campaign, said Dr. Goyer, “is really to try to equip people as much as possible to be sensitive to the problem, then see if we can provide a little information and tools to help families or children deal with that anxiety.
The campaign notably offers humorous capsules on the TikTok platform, but also awareness tools so that young people learn to identify what is going on in their body.
New content will be offered continuously for the third edition of the campaign, rather than the static content that has been uploaded for the first two years.
Those responsible for the campaign also intend to address the problem of vaping, which seems to be on the rise among young people. Not only can vaping be a way to manage stress and anxiety, Dr. Gohier said, but we know it can also open the door to using other substances.