Children as young as four showing signs of mental health problems
Children as young as four are showing signs of mental health problems, a survey of teachers has shown.
Anxiety, panic attacks and depression are among the symptoms displayed by infant school pupils, according to a poll carried out by the UK’S National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), telegraph.co.uk reported.
In one case, a teacher described an eight-year-old pupil who climbed on the roof and said they wanted to kill themselves.
Overall, 96 percent of the more than 1,300 union members questioned said that they believe there are pupils that they come into contact with that are experiencing mental health issues.
Of these, around one in seven said that pupils experiencing these difficulties were aged between four and seven, while over a quarter (27 percent) said they were aged seven to 11.
The age group that teachers were most likely to say were affected were those age 11 to 16. Some one percent said that children under four were affected.
Asked about the type of mental health issues children are suffering from, around 92 percent cited anxiety and panic attacks, while 80 percent said depression.
In addition, around two thirds said youngsters were self-harming, while just under half said eating disorders and 45 percent said pupils were showing signs of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
One member told the union: “Access to mental health services is appalling for young children — a young child climbing onto a roof and saying they wanted to kill themselves (aged eight) was not deemed serious enough to get CAMHS [Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services] support.”
Chris Keates, general secretary of NASUWT, said: “Teachers have never before had to deal with such a complex range of pupil welfare issues as they do today.
“The pressure on teachers and headteachers is enormous and is putting at risk their own mental and physical health and wellbeing.”
A DFE spokesperson said: “We want all young people to grow up feeling confident about themselves and able to get the right mental health support when they need it.
“We have pledged £1.7 billion to improve the mental health services on offer to children and young people. But we know there is more to be done to ensure progress in this area, which is why we have recently outlined proposals to improve links between the NHS and schools, provide quicker access to intensive support and more capacity to be able to intervene earlier.”