Many mental health challenges start in our childhood and teenage years: one in five, or 1.2 million, children and youth in Canada are affected by mental illness at a given time.
Examples of mental health challenges experienced by youth are anxiety, depression, eating disorders, schizophrenia, substance use, self-harm and suicide; some people will experience two or more of these problems together.
Youth mental health challenges are often related to stress or other experiences, such as trauma.
A mixture of personal, family and environmental factors (positive and negative) can impact a person’s resilience and mental health.
Mental health recovery is different for each person.1