Though I must acknowledge that shortages across the board is placing a tremendous pressure on the mental health sector, I find it to be outrageous that children are continually turned away from receiving professional help to cope with their mental diagnosis, as The Times reported that 28 per cent of the 248,000 children referred to a specialist were denied expert help on the grounds of individual cases not considered to be serious enough.
Not only am I surprised to find that more than 55,000 EU residents commit suicide every year; 6,000 are in the UK and Ireland alone, but a number of reports hitting media headlines within the last week or so include research from the Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, who revealed that more than a quarter of young people who were referred to mental health support services in 2015 had not received any professional help, and a new study delving into the rise of suicides among the country’s student population has determined a significant rise in the number of suicides since 2007.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) report – based on 2014 figures – found that there were 130 student suicides in England and Wales among full-time students, with 97 of those males and 33 females. Furthermore, researchers at the University of Manchester who conducted the ‘National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness’ research, based on data and information from coroner inquests, have claimed that issues including exam pressures, skin conditions such as acne, and family bereavements are the most cited factors in the suicides of young people.
Longfield commented: “If a young person with a life-threatening mental health condition has to wait six months to see a specialist, we are playing Russian roulette with their lives. In many parts of the country young people’s mental health support seems to be rationed. I’ve heard from far too many children who have been denied support or struck off the list because they missed appointments. I’ve heard from others whose GPs could not manage their condition and who had to wait months to see a specialist whilst struggling with their conditions.”
