thank you very much
78,000 consultations give or take that’s
how many students I spoke with over the
last 20 years or so as a university GP
and today I want to tell you a little
bit about their stories about what I
heard and I want to share with you some
of the things that I picked up some of
the trends over that time because it
feels so important to think about why
we’re seeing this significant increase
in distress in young people and we are
seeing that thank you
over that time I noticed about 20 years
ago that I might see one or two people a
day for a mental health problem and that
was out of about 30 patients a day when
I left clinical practice last September
it was 50 percent one in two of the
young people coming to see a university
GP in my practice but also around the UK
was for a mental health problem and
actually on some days because I am a GP
with a special interest in mental health
I would see 9 out of 10 of my young
patients for mental health issues so I
started to ask myself what’s going on
and is there anything that we can do to
change this and so I’m going to tell you
a little bit about what I’ve found out
and then at the end I’m going to ask you
to do two things if you can to help the
next generation what I noticed with this
massive increase in distress was also a
significant increase in the pressure
that they feel now we’ve always been
under pressure who isn’t under pressure
but what I’ve noticed and what they
talked about
was the competitive society that we live
in we have become an overly competitive
society so we’ve always had competition
around things like sport general
knowledge quizzes bit of singing and
dancing in the performing arts but now
we’re competitive about cooking about
sewing choir singing ice skating even
cake has become competitive actually
even falling in love on an island we
have to think about that and what
message that is giving to the young
people growing up in that culture
because the message is really clear you
have to win because if you’re not a
winner you’re a loser
off you go and that is a really strong
message to give to young people and what
we’re seeing is that actually it’s
obviously not just in the social things
that we’ve seen this competitiveness
it’s also happening clearly at
university 50% of young people now go on
to higher education which is great on
the one hand but on the other of course
it means that 50% of young people have a
degree there are that many more
graduates that you’re up against so when
you’re going into the workplace looking
for a job you need to stand out how are
you going to stand out so the pressure
is on you have to do a master’s oh and
then it’s a PhD and your degree your
undergraduate degree you can’t just get
a degree anymore and go to university
for an education that’s not good enough
you need to get a first one in for
graduates now get a first so how do you
stand out they tell me that they don’t
join clubs just for the fun of it
anymore in freshers week they don’t you
know join the chocolate-eating Club or
the Frisbee Club
because if it’s not for their CV they’re
not interested there are first-year
graduate undergrads coming in their
first term at university worried that
they’re not on track for a first there
has been a massive shift in what we’re
seeing well you might say bit of
competition that’s good gives them
something to aim for doesn’t that bring
out the best in people well it doesn’t
what happens is it drives perfectionism
and I’m not talking about the kind of
perfectionism where you’re quite tidy or
you like things sorted out just so this
is the sort of perfectionism that
massively undermines them they torment
themselves with how they are failing
they’re the student who gets 10 a stars
but focuses on the one a with no star
and the rates themselves torments
themselves about that tells themself
that they’re a failure we know young
people like that and that is happening
more and more that is why it matters
because perfectionism
is linked to a lot of mental health
conditions it is a trait as part of
anxiety obsessive compulsive disorder
eating disorders depression self-harm
they are all closely associated with
perfectionism so we have to think if
competitiveness is part of what’s
driving perfectionism and that is woven
through mental health conditions we need
to tackle this competitive society to
move forward because fear of failure is
stopping them achieving their potential
they have such a crippling fear of
failure that they won’t try stuff they
won’t do stuff just for fun just in case
they won’t do it just for the skills or
the learning they are really frightened
of letting their families down letting
people down that is what really worries
them so actually we need to think about
the messages that have come
across hang on though
you’ll all be thinking social medias to
blame isn’t it that’s what the media
would have us know that social media is
the problem and causing all these mental
health problems it’s linked of course to
things like bullying to harassment of
course it’s part of that picture but
what it does for competitiveness and
perfectionism it acts like a huge lens
magnifying those worries so they are now
judged 24/7 rated graded on everything
that they do that is an enormous
pressure on young people and there’s no
escape they can’t get away from that so
we have to remember that social media
does play a part but I don’t think and
the studies don’t show that it is the
key issue here so here’s where I asked
you to think about two things if we’re
going to tear down this tyranny of
perfection and face the fear of failure
head-on because otherwise the next
78,000 students coming to see their GP
are not going to be up better any better
off than we are now we need to do
something to change the culture that
we’re living in that says it’s all about
compare competition and being the winner
not the loser there are two practical
things that I’m going to ask you to
think about doing first of all normalize
failure failure okay when you don’t get
that promotion when you don’t get that
job when you lose at a sporting event
tell the young people that you know your
children your pupils at school tell them
at university students share the fact
that it’s okay not to be perfect that
you know what not winning is part of
life and normalize that experience for
them and that you’re okay with it okay
that life goes on that it’s not a
catastrophe when things aren’t working
out as expected so share your failures
and the other big ask is think about the
question does this have to be
competitive the next time you’re
organizing a university event a kid’s
party a village fair you know do we need
this much competition in our lives or
can this one just be for fun to learn a
new skill and take that pressure off
them so I’m saying no more medals not
for everyone not for anyone for certain
events where it can be let’s say no more
competition so that the message is very
clear not winning is part of life and
that’s okay we can learn from that and
secondly you guys the young people you
just have to do your best not be the best thank you
78,000 consultations give or take that’s
how many students I spoke with over the
last 20 years or so as a university GP
and today I want to tell you a little
bit about their stories about what I
heard and I want to share with you some
of the things that I picked up some of
the trends over that time because it
feels so important to think about why
we’re seeing this significant increase
in distress in young people and we are
seeing that thank you
over that time I noticed about 20 years
ago that I might see one or two people a
day for a mental health problem and that
was out of about 30 patients a day when
I left clinical practice last September
it was 50 percent one in two of the
young people coming to see a university
GP in my practice but also around the UK
was for a mental health problem and
actually on some days because I am a GP
with a special interest in mental health
I would see 9 out of 10 of my young
patients for mental health issues so I
started to ask myself what’s going on
and is there anything that we can do to
change this and so I’m going to tell you
a little bit about what I’ve found out
and then at the end I’m going to ask you
to do two things if you can to help the
next generation what I noticed with this
massive increase in distress was also a
significant increase in the pressure
that they feel now we’ve always been
under pressure who isn’t under pressure
but what I’ve noticed and what they
talked about
was the competitive society that we live
in we have become an overly competitive
society so we’ve always had competition
around things like sport general
knowledge quizzes bit of singing and
dancing in the performing arts but now
we’re competitive about cooking about
sewing choir singing ice skating even
cake has become competitive actually
even falling in love on an island we
have to think about that and what
message that is giving to the young
people growing up in that culture
because the message is really clear you
have to win because if you’re not a
winner you’re a loser
off you go and that is a really strong
message to give to young people and what
we’re seeing is that actually it’s
obviously not just in the social things
that we’ve seen this competitiveness
it’s also happening clearly at
university 50% of young people now go on
to higher education which is great on
the one hand but on the other of course
it means that 50% of young people have a
degree there are that many more
graduates that you’re up against so when
you’re going into the workplace looking
for a job you need to stand out how are
you going to stand out so the pressure
is on you have to do a master’s oh and
then it’s a PhD and your degree your
undergraduate degree you can’t just get
a degree anymore and go to university
for an education that’s not good enough
you need to get a first one in for
graduates now get a first so how do you
stand out they tell me that they don’t
join clubs just for the fun of it
anymore in freshers week they don’t you
know join the chocolate-eating Club or
the Frisbee Club
because if it’s not for their CV they’re
not interested there are first-year
graduate undergrads coming in their
first term at university worried that
they’re not on track for a first there
has been a massive shift in what we’re
seeing well you might say bit of
competition that’s good gives them
something to aim for doesn’t that bring
out the best in people well it doesn’t
what happens is it drives perfectionism
and I’m not talking about the kind of
perfectionism where you’re quite tidy or
you like things sorted out just so this
is the sort of perfectionism that
massively undermines them they torment
themselves with how they are failing
they’re the student who gets 10 a stars
but focuses on the one a with no star
and the rates themselves torments
themselves about that tells themself
that they’re a failure we know young
people like that and that is happening
more and more that is why it matters
because perfectionism
is linked to a lot of mental health
conditions it is a trait as part of
anxiety obsessive compulsive disorder
eating disorders depression self-harm
they are all closely associated with
perfectionism so we have to think if
competitiveness is part of what’s
driving perfectionism and that is woven
through mental health conditions we need
to tackle this competitive society to
move forward because fear of failure is
stopping them achieving their potential
they have such a crippling fear of
failure that they won’t try stuff they
won’t do stuff just for fun just in case
they won’t do it just for the skills or
the learning they are really frightened
of letting their families down letting
people down that is what really worries
them so actually we need to think about
the messages that have come
across hang on though
you’ll all be thinking social medias to
blame isn’t it that’s what the media
would have us know that social media is
the problem and causing all these mental
health problems it’s linked of course to
things like bullying to harassment of
course it’s part of that picture but
what it does for competitiveness and
perfectionism it acts like a huge lens
magnifying those worries so they are now
judged 24/7 rated graded on everything
that they do that is an enormous
pressure on young people and there’s no
escape they can’t get away from that so
we have to remember that social media
does play a part but I don’t think and
the studies don’t show that it is the
key issue here so here’s where I asked
you to think about two things if we’re
going to tear down this tyranny of
perfection and face the fear of failure
head-on because otherwise the next
78,000 students coming to see their GP
are not going to be up better any better
off than we are now we need to do
something to change the culture that
we’re living in that says it’s all about
compare competition and being the winner
not the loser there are two practical
things that I’m going to ask you to
think about doing first of all normalize
failure failure okay when you don’t get
that promotion when you don’t get that
job when you lose at a sporting event
tell the young people that you know your
children your pupils at school tell them
at university students share the fact
that it’s okay not to be perfect that
you know what not winning is part of
life and normalize that experience for
them and that you’re okay with it okay
that life goes on that it’s not a
catastrophe when things aren’t working
out as expected so share your failures
and the other big ask is think about the
question does this have to be
competitive the next time you’re
organizing a university event a kid’s
party a village fair you know do we need
this much competition in our lives or
can this one just be for fun to learn a
new skill and take that pressure off
them so I’m saying no more medals not
for everyone not for anyone for certain
events where it can be let’s say no more
competition so that the message is very
clear not winning is part of life and
that’s okay we can learn from that and
secondly you guys the young people you
just have to do your best not be the best thank you
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