By: Staff Writer
October 31, 2025
A joint United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and CARICOM report highlights the significant number of children and adolescents across the Caribbean suffering from high levels of anxiety and depression.
The report, The 2025 Caribbean Child and Youth Mental Health Research Study, said: “The majority of participants experienced occasional symptoms of anxiety in the previous two weeks. Most reported being so restless that it was hard to sit still (46 percent), feeling afraid as if something awful might happen (47 percent), having trouble relaxing (55 percent), not being able to stop or control their worrying (55 percent), sometimes feeling nervous, anxious or on edge (55 percent), becoming easily annoyed or irritable (51 percent), or worrying too much about different things (56 percent). Although the majority reported experiencing occasional anxiety, in some cases nearly 25 percent of young people reported experiencing intense anxiety.
It also said: “A large numbers of respondents reported that they only sometimes felt optimistic about the future (42 percent), good about themselves (35 percent), useful (40 percent), confident (34 percent), that they dealt with problems well (40 percent) or could think clearly (40 percent).”
Conducted in 2024, the survey engaged more than 1,500 children and young people across 17 Caribbean countries and territories, marking one of the most comprehensive regional efforts to understand the state of youth mental health and well-being.
Michele Small-Bartley, Programme Manager for Youth Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, emphasised the importance of translating research into practical action. “Many children, whether at home, in school, or within their communities, need our support. This document not only presents valuable data, but it also offers practical resources and evidence to guide the development of more tailored and impactful programmes for our Caribbean people,” she stated.
The report also said: “The majority of participants frequently experienced symptoms of depression in the previous two weeks.
“Most reported often feeling tired or having little energy (57 percent), trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or sleeping too much (44 percent), poor appetite or overeating (46 percent), feeling down, depressed or hopeless (54 percent), little interest or pleasure in doing things (56 percent), feeling bad about themselves or have let themselves or family down, feeling down (46 percent), and trouble concentrating on things such as reading the newspaper or watching television (46 percent).
“Sadly, a worrying 29 percent of young people frequently thought they would be better off dead or hurting themselves in some way.”