The last thing children need is more drugs

THERE’S growing hysteria about the mental health of our children, with almost a million prescriptions for antidepressants handed out to youngsters between 2015 and 2018 – and the biggest rise being to those aged 12 and under. Theresa May responded with dramatic guidelines for schools.

Children as young as four will now have to take wellbeing assessments and ‘mental resilience’ classes will be compulsory by 2020. I worry because I’ve seen where all this is heading. When I was in my early 20s, I worked with children in America, where the first sign of trouble often results in a trip to the doctor and a dollop of medication. Few of the drugs struck me as effective, and occasionally seemed to worsen symptoms as well as making youngsters dopey and withdrawn.

The number of our children with mental health issues is actually quite small – about one in ten. But if we keep telling our youngsters they’re at risk, it might become a self-fulfilling prophecy.