Teenage Mental Health: What helps and what hurts?

REPORT ON THE OUTCOME OF CONSULTATIONS WITH TEENAGERS ON MENTAL HEALTH
Aware that ‘mental health’ is one of the most pressing concerns for young people in Ireland today, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs announced that his Office would consult with young people themselves on the issue of teenage mental health during 2008. In partnership with the Office for Disability and Mental Health (Department of Health and Children) and the Health Service Executive and its National Office for Suicide Prevention, the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA) organised the consultations on ‘Teenage Mental Health’ in order to elicit what ‘hurts’ or negatively impacts on teenage mental health and also to learn what young people feel ‘helps’ or positively impacts on their mental health.