Covid toll on child mental health

Young ‘bear brunt’ of pandemic crisis as demand for help rises, psychiatrists warn

THE NUMBER of children and young people referred for mental health help has risen by more than a quarter as they “bear the brunt” of the coronavirus crisis, a Royal college has warned.

Data analysed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists shows that almost 400,000 children and 2.2 million adults sought help for mental health problems during the pandemic, with 1.68 million more mental health sessions delivered over the past year compared with the year before.

The head of the college is warning that the demand for services is reaching breaking point, with a “very real risk” they will be “overrun by the sheer volume of people needing help”.

And the chief executive of a Leeds mental health charity says it is “critical” that young people’s mental health needs are dealt with now, as “it could be many months or even years before we fully recognise the pandemic’s toll on our collective wellbeing”.

Analysis of NHS Digital data suggests that while the Covid-19 crisis is affecting people of all ages, the under-18s are suffering most. Some 80,226 more children and young people were referred to specialist mental health services between April and December last year, up by 28 per cent on the same months in 2019 to 372,438.

Meanwhile, 600,628 more treatment sessions were given to children and young people, up by a fifth on 2019 to 3.58 million.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists is calling for an additional £500m in the Government’s mental health recovery plan to urgently reach the front line, on top of the existing planned investment in mental health services.

Dr Bernadka Dubicka, chairwoman of the child and adolescent faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “Our children and young people are bearing the brunt of the mental health crisis caused by the pandemic and are at risk of lifelong mental illness.

“As a frontline psychiatrist I’ve seen the devastating effect that school closures, disrupted friendships and the uncertainty caused by the pandemic have had on the mental health of our children and young people.

“Services were already struggling to cope with the number of children needing help before the pandemic hit, and they risk being overrun unless the Government ensures the promised money reaches the front line quickly.”

Helen Kemp, chief executive of Leeds Mind, said the trend was evident in local services in the city. Between April and August 2020 the charity’s reception staff noted an increase in inquiries around young people’s mental health, mostly from worried parents or guardians.

She said its young people’s peer support group is currently oversubscribed and many of its mental health workshops have been fully booked. She said: “Over the past year, our young people’s peer support groups have often focused on anxieties around the pandemic – whether that was about social isolation, loneliness, disruption to education, or more recently, about the vaccine.

“We’ve also been seeing more interest from schools and other education institutions around the types of mental health support that we can offer to the young people in their learning community.”

Our children... are at risk of lifelong mental illness. Dr Bernadka Dubicka, of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.