Lack of youth facilities may cause depression, warn experts

THE chronic lack of facilities for young people in Ireland could be leading to depression among teenagers, an expert has warned.

Authors of the East Cork Area Development report, Mary McGrath and Deborah Lynch, did not ask young people any questions about feelings of depression or suicide in the survey or a related conference, but they reported a number of unsought references were made to isolation, exclusion and not feeling a part of society.

A Cobh teenager, for example, said: “I stay at home because I don’t drink or smoke I don’t fit in with the groups.”