New research from Harley Therapy in advance of World Mental Health Day shows despite 99% of young people using the internet and proposed government guidelines to reduce young people’s time online – when it comes to therapy – 50% of 16-24 year olds favour in person consultations, as opposed to telepsychiatry via Skype or telephone.
With this year’s World Mental Health Day theme being young people and mental health in a changing world, Harley Therapy – lauded ‘the Airbnb of therapy’ with over 400 therapists bookable through their website – harleytherapy.com, sought to uncover the therapy habits of its growing 16-24 year old demographic.
They found that since harleytherapy.com launched in September 2017, the average age of 16-24 year olds getting help is 20 and half of 16-24s are favouring in-person treatment for issues including depression and anxiety.
Dr Sheri Jacobson said: “It is encouraging to see our young client’s valuing in person interaction as they seek to build emotional resilience and overcome issues. Humans are innately predisposed towards in-person interaction and without this contact, problems can present, such as loneliness and sadness.
“In an age where people value quantity of interaction – amassing thousands of connections on our socials – over real-life connection, it is vital we don’t lose our support networks. Afterall, an emoji or like can only go so far in meeting our emotional needs.”
Harley Therapy’s findings come as the government announce the production of the first official guidelines on the maximum amount of time young people should spend on social media, amid concerns about the links between its excessive use and mental health problems.
