‘I wasn’t deemed sick enough’: The crisis in children’s mental health services
Mia was just 10 years old when she and her family knew she needed mental health support.
But their attempts to access help were met with delays and denials that lead to such a severe deterioration in her condition it nearly cost Mia her life.
“I wasn’t deemed sick enough, I was told it was fine and there was nothing wrong with me”, Mia explains. “I was telling them, ‘this is not normal’, and they didn’t listen.”
But Mia was struggling. Her mental health was worsening and would eventually reach crisis point.
“By the time I was 12 I was self-harming. I felt like some days I couldn’t cope with the day but I was still performing well academically and that, when you’re a kid in this country, that is how they mark your wellbeing.”
It was when Mia turned 15 that help eventually came but only after she suffered a breakdown. She was arrested for false imprisonment and criminal damage after an attack on her teacher, and eventually admitted to a psychiatric unit.
Mia believes earlier intervention would have prevented her deterioration into crisis.
Mia has taken up climbing
“I would have killed myself. I would have. Mental health care is lifesaving, just as lifesaving as cardiac care, just as lifesaving as diabetes care. You cannot live a healthy, happy life if you are mentally unwell, without support.”
Mia’s story about her struggle to access the right mental health care at the right time exposes a system in crisis. Children and young adults across the country are being forced to endure long waits for specialist care and demand continues to grow.
NHS England estimates a quarter of all 17 to 19-year-olds now have a probable mental health disorder compared to one in 10 just six years ago.
David Barker and his team at Youth Talk offer free confidential counselling for 13 to 25-year-olds.
But they are overrun with record numbers of children and young people in need of help.
The charity has doubled its capacity – but even this is not enough.
Mr Barker told Sky News: “Before the pandemic there was a crisis of young people struggling with their mental health, the pandemic has compounded all of that, hugely, and as a result of that we’re seeing a long tail of the COVID pandemic in terms of mental health and particularly young people.”
Community health services are also struggling. A survey of NHS Providers found that children are now waiting an average of 91 weeks for an autism spectrum disorder assessment and between 72 and 207 weeks for an ADHD assessment.
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Jenna Hughes speaks to Sky News
Jenna Hughes had to wait three years for a diagnosis for her eldest child Amelia.
Her youngest, Imogen, has already been waiting for a year. Caring for Amelia and Imogen without any extra help is having an impact on everyone in the family.
“I’ve struggled with my mental health,” Jenna says. “Because of the level of care my children need. That’s hard on my family. The NHS is overrun but it puts so much pressure on families, and strain and stress.”
Demand is only expected to increase.
And if there is no urgent action, healthcare providers like the Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust predict that by next year their community waiting lists for children and young people will have more than doubled since the pandemic.
Its chief executive Elliot Howard-Jones said the biggest challenge for his trust in responding to the growing crisis was finding the right staff.
“It’s absolutely not where we want to be, we want to have much shorter waiting times for children, it significantly affects their life chances and their educational attainment if we don’t see them quickly.
“The biggest challenge in terms of community services is not the vision for what we want to do which is clearly to support people at home and to help children develop as best as they can, it’s getting the staff and growing the service quickly enough to be able to respond.”
Mia is 21 now. She is in the final year of a wild animal biology degree at the Royal Veterinary College after passing her A levels with top grades.
But the outcome could have been very different and for the many thousands of children still struggling it will be unless the crisis in children’s mental health is addressed urgently.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
The FA has launched an investigation into allegations that suspended Premier League referee David Coote discussed giving a yellow card ahead of a match.
Mr Coote booked Leeds player Ezgjan Alioski during a match against West Brom in October 2019.
The Sun claims that the day before, he discussed carding the player with a Leeds fan he had met online, then after the game messaged him saying: “I hope you backed as discussed.”
Mr Coote insists nothing improper took place.
He said in a statement: “I strongly refute these false and defamatory allegations.
“Whatever issues I may have had in my personal life they have never affected my decision-making on the field.
“I have always held the integrity of the game in the highest regard, refereeing matches impartially and to the best of my ability.”
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The previous comments Coote made about Liverpool
An investigation has now been opened to get to the bottom of the claims surrounding the already-suspended referee.
Previously, a video emerged showing Mr Coote snorting a white powder.
That came after another video showed Mr Coote in a foul-mouthed rant about Liverpool FC and their then-boss Jurgen Klopp.
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After the most recent allegations, a spokesperson for Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) told Sky Sports News: “The facts need to be established in light of these very serious allegations.
“We adopt a zero-tolerance approach to any breach of our Integrity Code of Conduct, which is signed by all match officials on an annual basis.
“PGMOL Board is committed to taking the appropriate action should any breach of that Code be proven.
“David Coote remains suspended and subject to an ongoing disciplinary process by PGMOL, separate to the investigation into this matter which will be carried out independently by The FA.”
It added: “We will be making no further comment at this stage.”
Davina McCall has said she is feeling “stronger and stronger” every day after having brain tumour surgery.
In an update posted to Instagram, the TV presenter emphasised the importance of sleep during her recovery after having a benign brain tumour, known as a colloid cyst, removed.
Sporting a bruised left eye, McCall said she is being “brilliantly” looked after by her boyfriend, hairdresser Michael Douglas, and stepmum Gabby and is “just trying to sleep a lot” and “get better”.
Earlier this week, the star said she was suffering with short-term memory problems, due to the operation. But on Wednesday, she said that her memory is now “improving”.
“My short-term memory is really improving a lot every day,” she said, adding: “It has been an example to me of how much sleep helps me recover from everything.
Pic: Instagram/Davina McCall
“If I feel a bit confused or I’m struggling to concentrate, I just got to sleep, and I wake up just completely renewed and refreshed.
“I know that my brain needs lots of sleep.”
The 57-year-old ended the update by thanking fans for their “ongoing support”.
‘Out of the woods’
Speaking during a livestream on Tuesday, McCall’s partner Douglas said the star is “definitely out of the woods” during her recovery.
McCall with her partner Michael Douglas and her daughter Holly Robertson. Pic: PA
“She’s quite tired at the moment. She sleeps really well at night and goes to bed at 10pm and has a nap in the morning, and sleeps for two or three hours in the afternoon,” he said.
He added that the presenter is off work until mid-January and has “a lot of time to relax and recuperate”.
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Douglas told fans: “It’s been a very, very emotional and quite an incredible experience. We’re definitely out of the woods.”
McCall rose to fame presenting on MTV in the mid-1990s, and later on Channel 4’s Streetmate, before becoming a household name as the host of Big Brother from 2000 to 2010.
She has lived with Douglas since 2022, and together they present a weekly lifestyle podcast called Making The Cut.
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