A Mental Health Crisis Among Our Children: Why We Must Act Now

In the year 2000, just over 2% of young people (14-24) across the UK presented to primary care with a mental health issue. Fast forward to 2023, and that figure has quadrupled, with referrals to children’s mental health services specifically having tripled since 2016 alone.

The Children’s Society now estimate that in a typical school class of 30 children, five are likely to be struggling with a mental health concern. These are not just numbers; these are real kids with real families, relying on the support of frontline workers who are far, far too often completely overwhelmed.

My niece was one of these children. She suffered from anxiety as a teenager and refused to attend school. After years of fighting for support from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), she reached a breaking point before anyone would see her. It took another two years and several therapists before the diagnosis. That moment of understanding changed everything for her and our family, but those lost years can never be recovered. This is the brutal paradox we find ourselves in. While neurodiversity itself is not a mental health issue, leaving it undiagnosed and unsupported almost guarantees one will develop.

The human toll, however, extends far beyond just the individual affected. Every single week, I receive correspondence from parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in my Shipley constituency, pleading for help with a system they feel isn’t offering them any. The recent report on young people and work found that nearly one million young people are not in education, employment or training. Driven by long-term sickness, with mental health being the leading cause, we are losing the potential of a whole generation because we failed to catch them when they needed us most.

The causes of this are, of course, complex, ranging from a global pandemic that disrupted schooling to intensified academic pressure and, undoubtedly, the significant impact of social media. All of this was amplified by 14 years of brutal Conservative austerity, in which school funding was slashed, the NHS was cut to the brink of collapse, and community youth services, which reached their peak during the New Labour years, became virtually non-existent across large parts of the country.

But my constituents in desperate need of support, require action and solutions, not blame for how we got here. And this Labour Government is acting through its ambitious SEND reforms, inclusive curricula, additional funding for youth services, and efforts to tackle homelessness. But more is urgently needed.

Firstly, the NHS crisis in CAMHS is simply unconscionable. At the end of last year, we had over half a million children and young people on mental health waiting lists, with over 50% of them having been there for more than a year. I agree with the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which has warned that these delays are converting what should be treatable conditions into lifelong illnesses.

In Parliament, I recently raised the case of a constituent of mine who is about to start secondary school. He has now waited 18 months for ADHD and autism assessments, and his mother described to me the devastating impact this is having on their wellbeing, including emotional distress, hair-pulling, sleep disruption, and his withdrawal from education and peers. This is not an endless battle that she should be having to fight, and neither should the GP at my local Grange Park Surgery, who said in her letter to me: “The mental health services are not working. They are massively under capacity. Think about the effect on the family and on the whole life outcome of the child themselves. We cannot give up on these children.”

Secondly, our local youth services need to be restored. All evidence points to the positive impact that having a space to play, be physically active, and connect with peers has on young people. Community and voluntary youth workers are vital, yet they’ve been systematically defunded. Investment here yields enormous returns.

And finally, and perhaps most urgently, is social media. Over 700 of my local constituents responded when asked about their experiences with social media in recent months. One parent described nightly battles with teenagers desperate to keep their phones in their bedrooms overnight, unwilling to miss out on social contact. Parents need support, and we must take bold, decisive action to tackle the addictive and harmful content from the tech companies and treat this as the public health emergency that it is.

Our young people deserve better, and it falls on this government to deliver it.