Naughty children labelled as mentally ill

BADLY behaved toddlers are being branded mentally unwell, a major NHS report has revealed, claiming that one in 18 preschoolers is suffering from a psychological condition.

The first official survey of children’s mental health since 2004 concluded that hundreds of thousands of two- to four-year-olds had “at least one mental disorder”. Charities said the results painted a “harrowing” picture of juvenile suffering. But the report was also criticised by experts for inappropriately “medicalising” unruly behaviour.

Based on information from 9,117 children and young people, health chiefs said 5.5per cent of preschool children now had a mental health disorder.

However, nearly half of these were characterised as “behavioural”, with the single most common form being “oppositional defiant disorder” (ODD). The concept was devised decades ago in the US, but was not fully adopted by England’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence until 2013.

The watchdog recommends that parents of affected children attend Nhs-funded parenting classes.

To be diagnosed with ODD, a toddler must display at least four symptoms, such as spite, aggression and disobedience, for six months or longer. Prof Tamsin Ford of Exeter University, the report’s co-author, defended the criteria, saying the behaviour of children with ODD was often so bad it prompted parents to question whether they should let them out of the house.

But education expert Prof Julian Elliott, of Durham University, said: “We are turning everything into a mental health problem. For many of these children they don’t have a mental disorder; it’s a question of conduct. The main problem with three- and four-year-olds is that they don’t do what they’re told.”

The report found that one in eight (12.8per cent) of five- to 19-year-olds had a mental health disorder in 2017, a small increase on 2004, although the figures are not directly comparable.

Dr Jon Goldin, vice chairman of the child and adolescent faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists said: “These figures paint a harrowing picture of young people’s mental health. Particularly concerning is the rise in emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression.” The data was published in the Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017 report, commissioned by NHS Digital and undertaken by Natcen Social Research, the Office for National Statistics and You thin mind.