Everyone knows that adolescence is a potentially difficult time. Until they are fully developed, teens are much more impulsive, can be super-sensitive to criticism, are often disorganised, have problems with time-keeping, are prone to taking risks, and struggle to sleep for as long as their bodies require which at 9 hours is longer than most adults need . They are no longer children, but they are certainly not self-regulating, autonomous adults either.

Parents, teachers and carers expect to have some difficulties in their relationships with adolescents. But for some in this age group, the issues are more problematic than the run-of-the-mill messy rooms and back-chat. And expert  research in the past few years has led many to believe that the problem of mental health among this age group is increasing. Here are some chilling statistics:

• self-harming has quadrupled in the past 10 years
• the number of children and teens admitted to hospital to be treated for anxiety has trebled in the past five years
• Childline has had an increase of 35% in calls about anxiety in the past 12 months
• in a survey of 30,000 one in three girls aged 14-15 believed they were suffering from anxiety or depression, an increase of 10% in 10 years
• provision for patients with eating disorders - which according to NHS Choices usually starts around 16 or 17 - has decreased while the numbers of patients seeking treatment has increased sharply in the last five years
• in 2015 231 young men and women aged 10-19 committed suicide, the highest number since 2001
• in a 2016 survey for Parent Zone, 93% of teachers reported seeing increased rates of mental illness among children and teenagers and 90% thought the issues were getting more severe
• 70% of children and young people who experience a mental health problem have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age