Rachael Newham, founder of Think Twice, a Christian mental health support group, was speaking after a survey from Girl Guiding revealed that parents are worrying more about drug and alcohol use by their teenage daughters than the more prevalent "mental anguish" they face every day.
Young girls said mental health, cyber-bullying and jobs were the biggest worries in their lives, and an increasing number considered self-harm and depression as the most significant health issues facing their peers - above drug or alcohol abuse.
"I think so often parents are concerned about the things that they were concerned about as a teenager and they're the big fears they think of - like unplanned pregnancy or drugs - and I think mental health can just be seen as a phase.
"If a young person is saying they're feeling really down, quite often a parent can think that's just a normal part of the teenage experience."
She added that teenagers can never rest because they are constantly bombarded: "Perhaps 20, 30 years ago you could get home and switch off from everything that's been going on - whereas now we have 24/7 technology - Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Tinder - and there's no escape."
Listen to Premier's Hannah Tooley speak to Rachael Newham here:
