War sometimes brings out the best in people. A case in point is Dr Robert Collis (1900-1975), who was paediatrician at the National Children’s Hospital in Harcourt Street and a pioneer in the development of neonatal services. A prolific writer, he was also the founder of Cerebral Palsy Ireland (which later became Enable Ireland). But most inspiring was the manner in which he rescued five orphans from Bergen-Belsen at the end of World War II. Collis had volunteered for the Red Cross and, as the prevailing Allied troops eventually marched through Germany, he arrived upon the infamous concentration camp and witnessed the chilling atrocities of the Nazi regime. When a five-year-old orphan named Zoltan was brought to see the good doctor, he is said to have remarked: “My father is dead; you are now my father.” Collis didn’t understand German and simply replied, “Yes”. Zoltan and his older sister Edit were thus among a handful of children whom Collis brought back to Ireland in 1946. He would later adopt Zoltan and Edit and rear them as his own. He was a man who knew the inherent vulnerability of childhood. 

October 10 is World Mental Health Day. The brainchild of the World Federation for Mental Health, the date has been marked since 1992 and carries a different theme each year. Previous years have focused on mental health in the context of human rights, violence, the workplace, ageing, cultural diversity, physical illness and specific psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression. This year, the theme is young people and mental health in a changing world. The Federation stresses the challenges children and adolescents face by growing up in the modern world and highlights the adverse effects of human rights violations, war and violence. The ubiquity and potentially-harmful influence of the internet on young people is a particular concern, especially cybercrime, cyberbullying and access to violent video games. Outcomes range from substance misuse to suicide. According to the Federation, “young adults are at the age when serious mental illnesses can occur and yet they are taught little to nothing about mental health.”

These concerns are echoed by the World Health Organization, which asserts that half of all mental illness begins by the age of 14 and that most cases go undetected and untreated. Depression is listed in third place with reference to the burden of disease among adolescents, while suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29 and the third-leading cause among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years. Harmful use of alcohol and illicit drugs is given particular mention, with the knock-on effect of risky behaviours such as dangerous driving and unsafe sex. The WHO also cites eating disorders as a notable concern.

And, of course, this is all part of the broader issue of the health of young people generally. Approximately 1.2 billion people worldwide (one in six of the population) are adolescents aged between 10 and 19. Most are healthy, but the WHO still raises concern about premature death, illness and injury among this age group. An estimated 1.2 million adolescents died in 2015 (more than 3,000 per day) and these deaths were mostly from preventable or treatable causes. Road traffic deaths were the leading cause, but the list also included lower respiratory tract infections, suicide, diarrhoeal diseases and drowning. Globally, there are 44 births annually per 1,000 girls aged between 15 and 19. Clearly, our young people remain vulnerable – such is the timely theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day. (See https://wfmh.global/world-mental-health-day-2018/ and http://www.who.int/mental_health/world-mental-health-day/2018/en/)