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- The path is healthy: Mental disorders were 1.5 times more likely to be detected in adolescents.
The path is healthy: Mental disorders were 1.5 times more likely to be detected in adolescents.
The incidence of mental disorders among adolescents aged 15-17 has increased by 53% in 10 years, according to Rosstat data, which was studied by Izvestia. A number of regional Ministries of Health have confirmed this trend. Experts attribute the increase in the number of diagnoses, among other things, to improved diagnosis and growing public concern about the mental state of minors. For more information, see the Izvestia article.
The increase in the number of mental disorders in adolescents
The number of diagnoses related to mental and behavioral disorders that are given to teenagers aged 15-17 has been steadily growing since 2015, Izvestia found out after studying Rosstat reports. If in 2015 there were 18.5 thousand of them, then in 2024 (the latest available data) - 28.3 thousand. The increase is 53%.
As for children under the age of 14, there is also a slight increase among them: 132.2 thousand in 2015 and 133.7 thousand in 2024.
The trend was confirmed in eight regional ministries of health from among those who responded to Izvestia's inquiries. So, in 2025, in Chuvashia, 1,2 thousand minors were diagnosed with mental and behavioral disorders for the first time in their lives. This is a third more than a year earlier (864). The most common conditions among them were without psychosis: neurosis, anxiety, depression (84.1%). "Psychoses and dementia are in second place, 9%," the republican Ministry of Health reported.
In addition, over the past two years, four cases of schizophrenia have been identified among minors in the region. Previously, this indicator was zero.
In the Perm Region, 2.7 thousand underage patients were diagnosed with mental disorders in 2024, and 2.9 thousand in 2025, the regional Ministry of Health told Izvestia. At the same time, in 2023, 3.3 thousand children were diagnosed with mental disorders of a non-psychotic nature, mental retardation and autism.
The number of children with speech and behavioral disorders has also increased in the Kurgan Region over the past three years, the regional Ministry of Health told Izvestia. They called the increase insignificant and stated that "the critical age period falls on 10-11 years."
Growth was recorded in Mari El (+19.9% over the past year) and in the Kamchatka Territory (+10.7% over the past two years). In the Stavropol Territory, an increase of 26.7% was recorded in 2024, but in 2025 this figure fell by 13.1%. In 2025, 211 more children with mental disabilities were identified in the Moscow Region than a year earlier. A slight increase in mental diagnoses is also observed in the Trans-Baikal Territory and the Lipetsk Region.
There are also regions where the detection rate of mental disorders has decreased over the past two years: Penza, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk regions, Buryatia and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Minors are most often diagnosed in the fall and spring, Izvestia was informed in the Tambov region. However, this is not due to the seasonality of the manifestations of diseases, but to the time of passing medical and pedagogical commissions.
"For an accurate diagnosis, it is important that a set of specific symptoms be observed in a child for at least six months. Only then can we talk about the presence of a behavioral disorder, and not about a temporary reaction to stress," the Ministry of Health of the Penza region reported.
Neurodevelopmental disorders are more common in childhood. To a greater extent, these are language and speech disorders, autism spectrum disorders, Kristina Wirth, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist at Medsi, told Izvestia.
But in adolescence, anxiety-depressive and obsessive-compulsive disorders begin to appear, the doctor noted. Schizophrenic spectrum disorders are less common before the age of 18.
There are not enough psychiatrists
The number of mental disorders in adolescence has been growing for many years, Lev Perezhogin, a psychotherapist and Doctor of medical Sciences, confirmed to Izvestia. At the same time, there are not enough child psychiatrists in Russia, even taking into account part-time work, when one doctor works at several rates in a hospital, he said.
— The biggest problem in the Russian recruitment of psychiatric staff is precisely child psychiatrists and psychotherapists. There are not enough of them in almost all regions of Russia," Perezhogin said.
At the same time, according to him, child psychiatric care has been established in Russia, and the level of training of specialists is sufficient.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Health with a request to comment on the data on the dynamics of the detection of mental disorders and the level of provision of the healthcare system with the necessary specialists.
What is the dynamics related to?
The increase in the detection rate of mental disorders can be explained by improved diagnosis, the use of screening programs, and public concern about the condition of minors, several health ministries told Izvestia.
"If 20-30 years ago some features of a child's behavior were perceived as pampering, bad temper, and bad manners, now we understand that such behavior may be associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or be a manifestation of autism spectrum disorder," the Ministry of Health of Udmurtia explained.
In addition, more advanced research methods are emerging, Kristina Wirth said.
— Gradually, with the receipt of new data, the classification of mental disorders is changing, their conceptualization is changing, as a result of which new diseases are being identified, — she noted. — The diagnostic criteria for certain diseases are also being expanded. The stigmatization of mental disorders is decreasing, and people are more likely to turn to specialists.
The increased incidence of bullying can also influence the increase in the number of diagnoses, says Ekaterina Elizarova, a teenage psychologist and specialist at the Alter psychological platform.
How children are treated
Now drug therapy is prescribed even to children, in some cases it is justified and necessary, but psychotherapy is also necessary, Maria Ignatieva, a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, supervisor, and director of customer support for the Yasno service, told Izvestia.
"A pharmacological solution is faster and more convenient for all participants in the system, but a symptom that has been removed with medication, without working with its cause, returns or finds another way out," she believes.
Some antidepressants are recommended for children from the age of six, Kristina Wirth confirmed.
— The increase in their prescribing is most likely due to a decrease in the stigmatization of mental disorders and an increase in the number of visits to doctors. Research on drugs is also continuing, and indications for their use are expanding — not just depression," she added.
According to Ekaterina Elizarova, psychiatric disorders in children have become more serious, which, in turn, can lead to an increase in the number of medical prescriptions.
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