Image shows a young girl crying into her knees [children's mental health crisis]

Content Warning: This article contains details of suicidal thoughts, depression, and eating disorders.

Lucy Beetson

Statistics published during Children’s Mental Health Week revealed concerning trends that professionals have deemed to constitute a children’s mental health crisis. 

Three reports released at the start of the month have highlighted the increased need for young people’s mental healthcare and support. The release of these statistics has seen calls for more mental health care funding in schools, hospitals, and support systems. 

Rise in Emergency Mental Health Care

A report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists has found that the number of UK children in need of emergency mental health treatment has increased by 53 per cent. This includes children suffering from suicidal thoughts, severe depression and eating disorders. The report found over 30,000 referrals to CAMHS crisis teams in 2022/23, compared to around 20,000 in 2019/20. The report also suggested that the increased demand for children’s mental healthcare and support is struggling to be met by CAMHS. 

Experts have revealed that this has meant young people’s mental health is further deteriorating whilst they are waiting for the care they need. They say this has led to a 53 per cent increase in emergency and urgent referrals for CAMHS crisis care. 

On this topic, the Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Child and Adolescent Faculty, Dr Elaine Lockhart, said: “It’s unacceptable that so many children and young people are reaching crisis point before they can access care. We cannot allow this to become the new norm.” 

Dr Lockhart also called for governments and integrated care boards to provide additional funding for services and expand mental health workforces. She said this would allow targets to reduce mental illnesses in children to be met.

Barriers When Seeking Mental Health Support

Mental health charity Place2Be also released data during the launch of Children’s Mental Health Week on February 5th. The data outlined that more than half (55 per cent) of young people face barriers when seeking mental health support. They also revealed that “children and young people’s top worry was schoolwork and exams (nearly 60 per cent), followed by physical appearance (45 per cent) and climate change (42 per cent). Almost 40 per cent reported worrying about their family not having enough money.” 

In response to their findings, Place2be and nearly 30 other mental health charities and organisations have called for the Secretary of State of the Department of Health and Social Care, Victoria Atkins, to invest more in sustainable school-based mental health support. 

Infant Mental Health in Decline?

The Academy of Science has also released its report on mental health in children aged five and below. 

“one in five children aged between one and seven years have a mental health condition.”

Though more broadly based on children’s health, their report outlined a stark decline in infants’ mental and physical well-being. It highlighted that professionals were making limited mental health referrals for children aged two and under. This report also reiterated trends seen in countless reports on children’s mental health: the demand for services is increasing. 

Dr Lockhart commented on this report, saying: “We can no longer afford to overlook the mental health of babies and young children. Around half of mental health conditions are already established by the age of 14 and many of these may be traced back to our earliest experiences. Globally, an estimated one in five children aged between one and seven years have a mental health condition.”  

The Academy of Science concluded its report by calling for changes in policymaking in the UK. 

https://twitter.com/acmedsci/status/1754431709305503950

What should we do? 

Empoword Journalism spoke with Si Martin, Director and Founder of Heads Above The Waves – a mental health NPO supporting young people in finding healthy coping mechanisms to get a first-hand perspective.

To lower the amount of emergency mental health support needed, Martin said: “We need to be prioritising early intervention and low-level support that doesn’t necessarily constitute game-changing crisis intervention but has a knock-on effect […] by having the more low-level support we don’t need much of the higher-level support.”

“this will have a massive impact on the number of people who are reaching a crisis point”

Martin noted that this includes “teaching emotional literacy in school,” having “more third spaces” available and taking the time to “speak to people and understand what the real problems are they are facing.”

He adds that having more “music tuition, sports clubs and classes available for everybody, means that [young people] have the opportunity to try different things that could be outlets or positive coping mechanisms.” Martin argues that making these spaces available will give young people “a sense of community, a sense of belonging and a sense of identity.” 

He concluded, “I believe this will have a massive impact on the number of people who are reaching a crisis point because we are nurturing protective factors.”  

Governmental change

Previously, the government committed to funding mental health support teams (MHST) in 36 per cent of schools by the end of 2023. 

Charities like Banardos and public figures like Roman Kemp have called for this figure to be increased to 100 per cent of schools. 

In January, the Department of Health and Social Care said they would investigate a further £2.3 billion a year into NHS mental health services. They stated the funding would allow them to extend the launch of MHSTs and committed to rolling out the support to at least 50% of schools by March 2025. 

Charities and NPOs

Charities and NPOs are also working to help support children and young people. 

Heads Above The Waves delivers workshops at schools and provides accessible resources online, in schools and hospitals. 

Other charities provide similar services, counselling, teacher training, parent-child sessions, telephone support, and more. You can find a list of charities supporting children’s mental health here.

If you feel you need help with your mental health, please speak to your GP or a healthcare professional. Alternatively, you can find a list of resources here.

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Image courtesy of Zhivko Minkov on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image licence found here.

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