Regarding the support available for Children with mental health problems - sometimes only the F word will do...

SOMETIMES ONLY THE F WORD WILL DO when talking about the support available for children and teenagers with mental health issues... 

A couple of days ago I watched BBC Panorama, Kids in Crisis. This shocking programme about Children's Mental health is still available on BBC i player but be careful... it's likely to make you cry. 

Watching this programme made me feel so terribly sad, then frustrated and then bloody angry. I don't swear very often but sometimes only the F word will do. So, here goes...the support available on the NHS  for children and young people suffering with mental health issues in the UK,- is a fucking disgrace.

​Currently, only 1/4 of children with mental health problems are being treated and the governments aim is to increase that to a 1/3. Sorry but WTF? How is that acceptable? That means that 2/3 of children with mental health problems will still be crying out for help. That's hundreds of thousands of parents at their absolute wits end trying to cope with children and teenagers with serious mental health problems. Problems that will get worse the longer they are left untreated, often leaving to depression, self-harming and suicide. 

And those 'lucky' enough to get accepted by CAMHS (the NHS's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) can often wait years for treatment. 
​As the reporter said - if they had a broken leg, they’d be treated immediately. It’s just wrong on so many levels. Untreated anxiety can, and often does, lead to a lifetime of misery. 

CAMHS is just not fit for purpose. Whilst I've no doubt that the staff are dedicated and hard working, -they just do not have the resources to support everyone. Yet doctors around the country still refer children and young people to CAMHS on a daily basis. ​

So, what can parents do if they are not getting the support they need for their child or teenager from their GP or CAMHS? 

I'm sorry to have to say this but I would strongly recommend that you find the money to get your child treated privately. Beg, borrow, sell stuff. Do whatever it takes. (within the law of course!)

Is it right that you should have to do this? No, it's absolutely not. But whether it's right or wrong is not the issue here. CAMHS can't cope. End of story. If you want your child treated - it will be up to you to make it happen. 

"The Association of Child Psychotherapists says it has heard of cases of children having to make multiple suicide attempts in order access care. Nick Waggett told Panorama: "We hear stories of children and young people having to have attempted suicide on a number of occasions  before they are seen within the service. The problem is that by then they're very ill and it actually becomes increasingly difficult to offer them an effective treatment.

As the programme shows, a simple, treatable anxiety problem can develop into severe depression and multiple suicide attempts in just a few short year. You have to find a way to get your child or teenager treatment. Don't let anyone put your child on a long waiting list. 

Whilst this blog didn't start out as a way to promote HappiMe's services - it is going to end up that way! Please, please, please, give us a call and let see if we can help. Our fees are heavily subsidised so we can treat your child for less than £45 a session. ​

There are many organisation in the UK doing an amazing job trying to fill the huge gap in children’s mental health services.  Click here for our parents resource page 

Did you know?

• 850,000 children aged 5-16 have mental health problems
• Three children in every classroom have a diagnosable mental health disorder.
• One in 10 deliberately harm themselves regularly (and 15,000 of them are hospitalised each year because of this) *
• Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer from severe depression
• Half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14. 
• 45% of children in care have a mental health disorder - these are some of the most vulnerable people in our society
• Nearly 300,000 young people in Britain have an anxiety disorder.
• 95% of imprisoned young offenders have a mental health disorder. Many of them are struggling with more than one disorder
• A Freedom of Information request from BBC Panorama has revealed that at least 1.5 million under-18s in England live in areas without 24/7 child mental health crisis care.​

* Stats from Young Minds &** Mental Health foundation