The Project
Let’s talk is based on one of the most crucial mental health emergency of the last years. According to UN’s Policy Brief: COVID-19 and the Need for Action on Mental Health (2020) approximately 70 per cent of mental health services for children and adolescents are disrupted.
The impacts of disrupted services are compounded by young people missing out on peer support and some of the biggest moments of their lives due to school closures, cancelled events or postponed exams. Emotional difficulties are also increased by family stress, social isolation, with some facing increased abuse, disrupted education and uncertainty about their futures, occurring at critical points in their emotional development. All this points to the alarming need to support all those working with youth to gain basic knowledge on mental health of young people, particularly to provide support to recognize when to provide support, call on for the expert support and support of families and other structures in communities.
Moreover, according to the Final declaration of the 3rd European YW Convention (2020), youth work should develop to a stage where it can be a safety net for all young people in times of uncertainty. In the Declaration, Mental Health promotion is seen as a crucial point in youth work. Youth workers should be empowered to carry on projects promoting and maintaining mental health of young people, particularly those facing intersectional and other vulnerabilities.
The gender difference is of particular interest as the majority of the experts and people working with youth described different self-destructive and destructive behaviour among girls and boys and difficulty to be of adequate support. Their statements are supported by existing research showing that during adolescence, girls have a much higher prevalence of depression and eating disorders, and engage more in suicidal ideation and suicide attempts than boys. On the other hand, boys experience more problems with anger, engaging in high risk behaviours and commit suicide more frequently than girls. In general, adolescent girls are more prone to symptoms that are directed inwardly, while adolescent boys are more prone to act out (Gender and Mental health, WHO, 2002).
Let’s Talk aims at dealing with these issues, by planning to achieve the following objectives:
Providing Policy analyses and recommendations
Providing Policy analyses and recommendations related to young people’s mental health on EU and national level, with focus on the gender perspective.
Support young people's mental health
Providing Policy analyses and recommendations related to young people’s mental health on EU and national level, with focus on the gender perspective.
Developing the gender sensitive tools
Developing the gender sensitive tools for understanding and supporting one’s own mental health for young people.
Disseminating the developed knowledge
Disseminating the developed knowledge and resources in 4 partner countries and on EU level.