Young mental health referrals double in England after lockdowns
More than twice as many children and adolescents were referred to mental health services year on year in England as cases hit a record high. The findings have been called heartbreaking and awful by the new chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Dr Elaine Lockhart also warned that waiting lists were so long that significant numbers of young people would not get treatment in time to prevent them growing into adults with entrenched mental health issues that could have been avoided had we been able to intervene earlier. She added: It is difficult to consider these numbers and know that behind each one is a child or young person, and a family, who are in distress.
Children and young people’s mental health has been neglected for years and in t...