Huge rise in teenage girls self-harming
ENGLAND’S children’s rights chief has called for a mental health service for the young as NHS figures showed a shocking rise in teenage girls admitted to hospital for self-harming.
Anne Longfield spoke out after it emerged self-harm admissions in England among girls more than tripled in the past decade.
The Children’s Commissioner said: “While there have been welcome improvements in some areas, the scale of the problem is getting bigger and the Covid crisis has made it even worse.
“Every school needs an NHSfunded counsellor and I want to see a children’s mental health service that is properly funded, with no postcode lottery, so that children receive the support and treatment they need as quickly as possible.”
Between 2019 and
2020, NHS Digital recorded 3,235 cases of self-harm among girls aged 13-17 at English hospitals – up from 980 in 2009/10. One in three admissions of those aged 13 to 30 was for girls in the 13-17 group – up from fewer than one in five a decade earlier.
Tom Madders of charity YoungMinds, said: “The reasons young people self-harm are often complex but we know that traumatic experiences at a young age like bereavement, bullying or abuse can have a huge impact on mental health. “While there is higher awareness than in the past, many young people who self-harm still find it hard to reach out for help until they hit crisis point.
“With coronavirus adding to the pressures they face, the Government must prioritise early support for young people’s mental health.” Teenage boys and girls now make up the most common age profile for self-harm admissions – 41 per cent – compared with just 26 per cent a decade ago. The figures do not say how many of those died.