Nearly two thirds of British teenagers will suffer from a mental health condition or behavioural disorder by 2030.
A report by Zurich Insurance found that having a mental health problem had already become the norm for young people aged between 15 and 19. Its estimates suggest that 51pc of people in this age bracket have a mental or behavioural disorder such as anxiety, depression or ADHD.
By 2030, Zurich Insurance forecasts this will hit 64pc if current trends persist, suggesting a significant step up in diagnoses.
It threatens to worsen Britain’s youth unemployment crisis as ministers warn that many are destined to a lifetime on benefits without greater intervention.
Politicians on both the Left and Right – including Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, and Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader – have warned of an “overdiagnosis” of mental health conditions.
Mr Streeting has said the Government could not “sit back and ignore the rise in mental health problems in our society”. He added: “Doing so would leave a generation of people to suffer alone and leave our economy and society deprived of their talent and potential.”
Will Shield, a professor of child psychology at the University of Exeter, said: “There is a risk that we’re over-medicalising normal childhood or teenage experience.
“But I think we have to ask why people are using this language to describe themselves. I think it is because society and things are really hard at the moment. It’s far easier to try to make sense of your experience through that lens of ‘I fit into this box’ or ‘this is why I find things so challenging’.”
Poor mental health is also rapidly becoming more common among the wider population, with experts pointing to anxiety as the leading cause.
Zurich’s report found that more than 10.5 million Britons would suffer from anxiety by 2028, up from 8.7 million last year.
The sharp deterioration in mental health among young people is a global phenomenon. However, separate research from the Resolution Foundation found that Britain’s young people stood out as some of the most miserable and anxious.
Nye Cominetti, of the Resolution Foundation, said: “The UK, when you compare it to other countries, looks really, really bad on young people’s health.”
He said that when looking at those estimated to suffer depression, “we are worse than any other OECD country”.
“On anxiety, we also look really bad.”
This was echoed in Zurich’s research, which found that Britain’s young people had worse mental health than peers in countries including Germany, Australia and Malaysia.
The report blamed poor mental health among young people on “reduced stigma, social media exposure, academic pressure, economic uncertainty and strong engagement through schools and universities”.
Prof Shield said: “The children I work with are far more eloquent when they talk on mental health now and far happier to talk about what wellbeing means – what poor mental health looks like and what they can do about it – than they were when I started my career 20 years ago.”
Other research on international trends has shown that young people differ considerably from previous generations in their habits. Gen Z are less likely to date or have sex, they drink and smoke less and are more conscious of exercise.
Economists have also attributed the rise in problems among teenagers to the many big economic shocks in recent years, as well as stagnant wages and high housing costs, which have pushed milestones such as living independently further out of reach.
Nearly one million 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK are classed as not in education, employment or training (Neet).
The Zurich report found that Britons who struggled with mental health had far worse employment rates than their peers in similar countries. Only 53pc of Britons with a mental health condition are in work, compared with 82pc of those without.
Peter Hamilton, from Zurich, said: “The rise in youth mental health care needs is the start of a wave that will shape the UK’s workforce for a generation. Unless we intervene, mental health risks will become a persistent drag on productivity, economic growth and social mobility.”