December 30, 2025
SEOUL – The number of Korean children and teens receiving mental health treatment increased by 76.6 percent in the past four years to surpass the 350,000 mark in 2024.
The trend appears to reflect a broader global rise in youth mental health concerns as well as a reduced reluctance towards seeking clinical mental health care in Korea.
A total of 350,337 patients aged under 18 visited psychiatric clinics last year, according to a report released Wednesday by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. The figure rose each year from 198,384 in 2020, passing 300,000 for the first time in 2023.
The most commonly diagnosed condition among children aged 12 and under was Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, with 98,318 cases recorded in 2024. Developmental delay followed with 22,939 diagnoses recorded.
In the 13-18 age group, depression emerged as the most common mental illness with 60,895 cases, followed by ADHD with 54,311.
Increases in mental health cases among younger generations have been witnessed worldwide.
In the United Kingdom, the National Centre for Social Research found that the prevalence of probable mental illness among children aged 7-16 in England rose from 12.1 percent in 2017 to 18 percent in 2022.
Sweden’s Public Health Agency reported a sharp rise in self-reported worry or anxiety. Rates among women aged 16-29 increased from 9 percent in 2011 to 23 percent in 2024, and rates among men from 5 percent to 10 percent over the same period.
Many experts have pointed to increased use of social media as a major contributing factor, as children and adolescents are exposed to harmful content, constant comparison with others and cyberbullying. Some countries have restricted social media exposure for children and teenagers, including the Australian government’s major social media ban for children under the age of 16 earlier this month.
In Korea, Korea Media Communications Commission chair Kim Jong-cheol said during his parliamentary confirmation hearing on Dec. 16 that enhanced restrictions on children’s social media use would be prioritized.
Data from mobile analytics firm IGAWorks showed that Korean adolescents spend an average of 98 minutes per day watching YouTube videos and 49 minutes viewing Instagram content.
Some local physicians believe that the growing number of young patients is partly attributed to increased public awareness of children’s mental health and lower barriers to accessing psychiatric care, which is in some part due to media programs addressing the issue.
“Korean society shows less prejudice and fear toward seeing a psychiatrist than in the past, which has lowered the threshold for seeking treatment,” said Hong Soon-beom, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Seoul National University College of Medicine.
“It may also reflect an increase in parents seeking professional help after being exposed to child psychiatry-related content through television and YouTube.”