Incredibly high numbers of young people are experiencing poor mental health, 20-25% according to most trusted reports (NHS 2024, UK Mental Health 2025). Whilst 46% of working parents report difficulty focusing on their work and productivity because of their worries about their teenager’s mental health (Deloitte, 2024).
So, how can we best assist parents and carers to provide the support and help young people need to improve their mental health?
I recently ran a focus group with an amazing group of eight young people aged 13-17 years, who could very clearly articulate their views and experiences, some through conversations others through drawing and discussion, this is what I learnt:
A big problem isn’t just poor emotional wellbeing in teens but how and where they try to get support. Young people in the group said they often struggled with asking for help with mental health challenges. Finding the best person to talk to was difficult and sometimes it was easier to isolate themselves instead of reaching out.
I asked the group a series of questions including: Where they feel they can get support for any issues they’re facing? What thoughts and feelings affect their mental health? And what are some of the best ways parents and guardians can support their young people? Everyone gave brilliant answers and were very open with sharing their thoughts.
Teens said they tend to talk through their problems with friends or sometimes preferred members of staff at their schools as well as siblings. They said this was due to friends and teachers being easily accessible. Whilst siblings were seen as being “more relatable and accessible” than their parents due to the similarity in age and living in the same environment.
In exploring what thoughts and feelings affected their emotional wellbeing and the impact on their mental health, the group described a wide range of feelings, thoughts, and reactions. They described “self-doubt” and “bad self-image” to “procrastination” and “bed-rotting” as well as “guilt” about lashing out at the people around them when they’re struggling. What also emerged was that sometimes teenagers didn’t have the words to describe how they are feeling, and the teenagers helped each other figure out the words they needed.
Something that I really wanted to know was whether the young people in the focus group felt comfortable going to their parents or guardians for support with their mental health. When I asked the group, I received a unanimous “no”. The teens gave some very honest reasoning for why young people don’t go their parents: they feel parents/guardians are “quick to judge” and they tend to “skip to conclusions”. The young people said that they also don’t speak to their parents due to the fear of being “lectured” or “misunderstood” and then punished for the situation they are in.
This discussion then led the group onto what parents and guardians can do to better support their teenagers, a topic that I was extremely interested in hearing their thoughts on as to understand what works best for teens, should involve actually just asking them.
Some teens said that it’d be good if parents can “see both sides of the story” when discussing disputes with younger siblings. One young person felt that their parents always favoured their younger siblings’ side during arguments, and this made the young person feel less loved.
Some young people talked about the need for parents to “respect personal boundaries” when it comes to coping with stress or other negative feelings, they wanted their parents to “understand mental needs” like going for a walk to clear their head.
Young people had lots of suggestions to share about how parents and carers can support and help them. The teens suggested parents and guardians should create a “no judgement” atmosphere to allow for “good communication”. However, they mentioned that parents and guardians should also understand and respect that if a young person wants to talk about what is bothering them, they will and feeling like they are being constantly asked won’t help them.
The discussions with the youth group were powerful and showed a disconnect that can happen between parents/guardians and teens, whilst also highlighting how parents and carers can help and support their teenagers. Feeling heard and understood was important to this group of teenagers because it feels validating to have someone listen to them, share their issue or challenge and just be there to give advice if its needed. All the teenagers in the group discussed how this would greatly improve the emotional wellbeing and mental health of them, as a young person.
This discussion reaffirmed for me why the work we are doing at LOHA is so important. LOHA knows that most parents and carers really want to help young people, and they are usually the best people to do so. Young people want strong, positive relationships that will help them to thrive. The great thing is all families have amazing skills and experience to draw on to provide young people with the understanding and empathy they need to help them navigate the challenges of adolescence.
LOHA’s activities and programmes facilitate open and honest conversations between parents/guardians and their young people. The activities facilitate the building of trust, resilience, understanding, connection through curiosity, and empathy. This helps all the family have more meaningful conversations, that matter, and which improve emotional wellbeing for better mental health.
Before signing off I want to acknowledge the amazing young people I met in the focus group and thank them for sharing their insights and experiences – it was so insightful listening to all the knowledge and suggestions you shared, and hopefully we can help many other young people as a result.
Visit our website here: https://loha-community.com/ and look round before signing up to our platform to discover our guided activities and programmes.