Girls ‘hit by anxiety’

AT LEAST 80 per cent of the support provided by Childline for feelings of anxiety last year was given to girls, the charity said.

Girls were more likely than boys to call about suicidal thoughts and feelings, Childline said, with 19,061 girls having counselling sessions for these reasons in 2017/2018.

Hollie Evans, who experienced such strong feelings of anxiety at the age of 16 that she stopped talking, walking and taking care of herself, called the charity after a suicide attempt.

She had dropped out of school, missing her GCSEs, and was diagnosed with pervasive arousal withdrawal syndrome (Paws), where patients withdraw from the world around them.

“When I started talking again, my sister said there was a point she thought she would never be able to hug me or hear my voice again,” Hollie, 20, from Kent, said. A call to Childline stopped her from trying to take her life again when she got off the phone, she said.