71% of mental health issues experienced by young people are stress or anxiety related, according to Hastings based Youth Mental Health charity i-Rock.

Viki Ashby, a spokeswoman at i-Rock, stated that it is rare for ‘young people to have just one issue’, which may include ‘family worries, housing concerns, local or national issues and the future in general’.

This follows statistics released by the NSPCC who revealed a steep 35% increase in the number of young people being counselled for anxiety. The children’s charity, who are celebrating their 30^th anniversary, found that issues such as Brexit and viewing images of the Syrian war are causing distress amongst children as young as eight. In the last 6 months, the service has dealt with on average 1,082 counselling sessions about anxiety each month. A further 462 counselling sessions have consisted of fears over the new trend published over social media in which people dress up as terrifying clowns in order to scare people.

Footage across social media is having a clear impact on the mental health of young people, therefore it is crucial they understand the institutions that can support them.

• i-Rock is a drop in service for 14-25 year olds based in Cambridge Road, Hastings. They are open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11am-7pm.
• Childline is on 0800 1111 and at www.childline.org.uk