Politics Home Article | Beyond the doomscroll: Youth mental health in an online world

Growing concern over the impact of poor mental health on young people has led to a raft of reviews, consultations, and policy commitments. From Rt Hon Alan Milburn’s review into rising numbers of young people not in education, employment, or training, to the Government’s consultation on Growing Up Online, and the Independent Review led by Professor Sir Simon Wessley and Professor Peter Fonagy into rising rates of mental distress and neurodiversity, a common thread emerges.

Increasingly psychological distress among young people is emerging as a root cause of some of the country’s biggest social and economic challenges, including digital safety, educational attainment and workforce participation.

And while the diagnosis of the challenge is multi-faceted, the proposed solutions – while welcome – remain too narrow, lacking the urgency, ambition, and optimism the scale of the issue demands.

Expanding the number of mental health professionals in schools and Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) services, alongside increased investment in measures such as Early Support Hubs, are important first steps. But there is a risk that pressures and waiting lists are simply shifted from one part of the system to another, while many young people ‘age out’ of youth services before they can access the support they need.

For too many young people support is difficult to access, not designed with their needs in mind, and often can’t help when they first reach out – with long-term consequences for them, their families, and hard-pressed NHS teams. When 50 per cent of adult mental illnesses emerge by age 15, and 75 per cent by 24, this cannot continue.

This can be addressed with support that meets young people where they are most likely to seek help. In an increasingly digital world, many young people are turning to online spaces for support first.   

Despite growing concerns that AI chatbots can do more harm than good, one in four young people have used one for mental health support. In part because traditional services can be challenging to access, but also because they want to access support in the moment, with greater confidentiality, and in a way that feels less intimidating or judgemental.

As Chief Clinical Officer at Kooth, this trend isn’t new. For more than 20 years, Kooth has been providing NHS-funded digital mental health to young people. Through partnerships with the NHS and local authorities, around 60 per cent of 11–25-year-olds have access to our services. While Kooth is delivered online, it is grounded in human care: trained mental health practitioners and safeguarding teams providing 1:1 care and oversight that is safe, effective, and linked into local, real-world networks.

As a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, I know first-hand that mental health is messy and complex. Having educated myself on the power of AI, I have been blown away by the possibilities to not only accelerate reach and impact at a scale that would never have been possible before but to really enhance quality and safety.

But what is also clear, is that integrating AI into mental healthcare (beyond decreasing the burden of simple admin tasks) is complex and messy too – and why wouldn’t it be? If we get this right, the opportunities to use digital for good when it comes to mental health and wellbeing are unprecedented – but the level of clinical expertise and oversight required can not be overstated.

In particular, there is a growing risk of young people turning to ‘general purpose’ AI chatbots, like ChatGPT or Claude, to support their mental health, despite these tools lacking the safeguards we’d expect in other settings.  There is emerging evidence linking heavy reliance on AI chatbots with increased loneliness, particularly where human interaction is replaced by algorithm-driven responses. There are also concerns about chatbots inventing credentials, providing misleading advice and responding poorly to disclosures of suicidal thoughts.

This highlights the tension at the centre of the debate around AI, digital technology and mental health. The same technology that could expand access to support and help young people earlier, could also cause genuine harm if developed without proper oversight. The challenge now is ensuring innovation is matched by responsibility and safeguards that can respond to both current and emerging risks, and that expanding access to digital support does not mean replacing human connection with technology.

At Kooth, digital delivery is designed to widen access and remove barriers, not replace clinical expertise or real-world relationships. Independent evaluations show that young people using Kooth report reductions in distress and self-harm, while schools report greater confidence among pupils in seeking help and among teachers in knowing where to signpost support.

Yet this kind of support is still not available consistently across the country. Commissioners remain under pressure to prioritise crisis management and waiting lists, while digital access is too often treated as optional rather than essential. Addressing the mental health needs of young people is not only about reducing distress; it is about shaping life chances. It means helping young people stay in education, move into fulfilling work, and build healthier, more connected lives.

Digital access must be central to that ambition – but not an end in itself. As digital mental health services evolve, the priority must be harnessing digital tools to do what traditional services often cannot: reach underserved communities, provide support on demand, and expand equitable access to care. With the right collaboration between government, regulators, clinicians and technology providers, digital services can play a vital role in helping young people access support earlier and live healthier, happier and more productive lives.