The Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) have stated in a recent report that the NHS’s ability to treat and help young people with mental health issues is a “silent catastrophe” mainly due to the services being severely under-funded as well as the whole system having huge structural issues leading to a “serious and worsening crisis.”
The consequence of this is clear as the levels of suicide have risen as well as the number of individuals referring themselves to A&E departments. Furthermore, the report goes on to explain that the number of children and adolescents failing to receive the right treatment or “fully slipping through the cracks” is also on the rise, this is then worsened by the fact that specialist facilities are declining in their ability to treat those in need.
The head of policy at the charity YoungMinds, Dr Marc Bush, had this to say: “Every day we get calls to our helpline from parents whose children have been waiting months for an appointment with Camhs (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) or who have been turned down because the thresholds for treatment are so high. The system is overstretched and disjointed, with a devastating impact on thousands of families across the country.”
As for what we can suggest, if you are one of those people who are facing mental health complications please speak to someone, in the UK the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or by email at jo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Last but not least, you can click the following button to read our very Mental health advice.
