Survey shows stress levels of schoolchildren

READERS may be surprised to learn that a recent Barnardo’s survey has shown half of all schoolchildren aged 12-16 feel sad or anxious every week, with worries about their future and school the biggest concerns.

It is deeply worrying that so many children are growing up feeling this way and that these feelings are intensified as they get older.

Nearly half of 12-year-olds in England surveyed (48%) felt sad or anxious at least once a week, with only 2% in this age group saying they never had felt that way.

By the age of 16, seven in 10 (70%) report feeling sad or anxious at least once a week with nearly a quarter (22%) having negative feelings as much as once a day.

Children cited the main causes of stress as school (65%), their future (42%), problems at home (31%), being bullied – not including online – (25%) and their weight (26%).

The results show the overwhelming majority of 12 to 16-year-olds in England (75%) think it would be helpful if they had a counsellor at their school to talk to when they’re feeling down and upset.

The polling results also show that children like to speak to a range of people when they are feeling troubled and call into question the Government’s Mental Health Green Paper proposal to train just one senior lead in each school about mental health.

We believe we need to create a culture where everyone has a greater understanding of what keeps children mentally well and when professional help is needed.

We want parents and carers to be confident in recognising if their children are unhappy and teachers to be sufficiently trained to support them. Lynn Perry Barnardo’s regional director NEW research from the BMA unveils a ‘blind spot’ in mental health care as most commissioners and providers don’t record the number of people waiting for specialist mental health therapies, leaving patients with serious mental health problems waiting up to two years for vital treatment.

Freedom of Information (FoI) requests made by the BMA to Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and NHS mental health trusts revealed nine in 10 (166) of the 183 CCGs who responded have no records of waiting times for talking therapies for treating severe mental illness last year.

Of the 47 mental health trusts that responded, 22 had no records of talking therapy waiting times.

The four talking therapies the BMA enquired about were: DBT (dialectical behavioural therapy), CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), family therapy and dynamic psychotherapy.

Using responses from the trusts and CCGs who did keep records, the BMA found 3,700 patients waited more than six months for talking therapies. Around 1,500 patients waited longer than a year before therapy started, according to FoI responses.

Of all trusts that recorded waiting times for one or more of these services, year-long waits were uncovered in two-thirds.

In Leicestershire, patients waited for up to two years; in Essex and Derbyshire, patients waited for a year and a half before treatment began; in Croydon, more than 100 children were waiting for more than six months for specialised talking therapies.

Only three trusts had information on waiting times for DBT; eight hold data on waits for family therapy.

Hospital trusts pointed to rising demand and a national shortage of the right kind of therapists, as reasons for long waits.

The BMA is calling for true parity of esteem between physical and mental health services and that patients should expect the same high standards of care whether seeking help for mental or physical health problems. The BMA is also calling for: An NHS-wide audit of talking therapies for patients with more severe mental health conditions

A new programme of funding, workforce and performance checks for a national talking therapies. service for patients with more severe mental health problems.

Extra investment in these four specialist therapies to be protected.

There is increasing inequality between people suffering mild to moderate mental ill health and those with severe mental illness. Over the past decade, there have been great strides in improving access to psychological treatment for people suffering mild depression and anxiety through improving access to psychological therapies (IAPT) services, which offer easy and often quick access to a limited range of treatments.

While most doctors would welcome more IAPT services, this service isn’t appropriate for people with serious mental illnesses and health planners risk a ‘blind spot’ where many patients’ needs are overlooked.

While their conditions can be eased with drugs, most patients with complex mental health needs require a combination of talking therapy and medication to make a meaningful recovery, and patients can find it troubling not knowing how long they will wait for therapy.

Without the right therapy, some patients deteriorate and become more vulnerable, being passed from GP surgeries to emergency departments unable to find the most appropriate treatment for their illness.

The extra investment in IAPTs shouldn’t come at the expense of talking therapies, which are well-regarded and deliver good outcomes. Funding for talking therapies should be protected so CCGs can ensure funding reaches services that need it most before it’s too late. Dr Andrew Molodynski,BMA consultants committee

mental health lead