We have seen and heard a lot recently in the news about
children who have been abused by MPs and celebrities. The clearest point which
has come out of these despicable acts is the need to protect our children. It
couldn't be clearer. But, one area of child protection which has not been
fully promoted via the media is that children need therapy and support. Children
with mental distress and Survivors of abuse need a clear and positive path to
recovery. Mental health problems usually bring about a complex set of emotions
which children have difficulty understanding. Children suffering from mental
distress may be unable to understand what they are experiencing and why they
are feeling the way they do, often keeping their thoughts and feelings hidden
away.
Here is a stark fact:
One in ten children between the ages
of one and 15 has a mental health disorder. (The
Office for National Statistics Mental health in children and young people in
Great Britain, 2005)
Why am I writing this article? To raise awareness of a
problem which we may not be aware of - The lack of quality therapeutic
resources for children.
The demand for quality therapeutic services for children far
exceeds the actual availability of these services. There is a huge gap between
what is available and what is needed.
Many children do not get the support and counselling they
need. There are very few excellent services, even fewer specialist services
especially for sexual assaults and rape. So why is there such a limited service?
The answer is simply a lack of funding.
Therapeutic counselling services have complex funding
arrangements, often having two or more sources of income that tend to be
short-term, unstable and insecure. Shortfalls from such unstable and short-term
funding are of significant concern to managers across all sectors of provision.
It hampers the nature of therapeutic work, which often needs to be long-term.
Let me put the above into a practical context - I am a
supporter of one particular therapeutic counselling service for children and
young adults based in Basingstoke - YPI Counselling. The manager ( who is also
a remarkable counsellor ) spends a lot of time trying to procure grants and
donations. YPI have a waiting list, a long waiting list of children waiting for
much needed counselling services and when they are able to obtain counselling,
it is for a limited time. I have often discussed this issue with the manager -
why the waiting list is so long and why the counselling cannot be for longer
periods of time. Her answer is always the same - MONEY. More money would mean
more quality counsellors. Due to shortfalls in funding and donations YPI find
it very difficult to employ more trained BACP accredited counsellors (http://www.bacp.co.uk/accreditation/).
More funding and donations would mean more staff sharing the workload, shorter
lists and the children would also get more therapeutic sessions.
£40.00 pays for 1 counselling support session.
We need to support all children. As a community of adults,
it benefits us all in the long term to help support our children and young
adults.
I am going to ask each one of you who is reading this
article now to consider donating to YPI Counselling. I have chosen YPI because
I know how hard working and dedicated the staff are - many of whom are
voluntary. I know how much support and help they provide children and young
adults. Please, ( you will not hear a Dominatrix say this word often ) please
consider donating and supporting YPI.
Services for children and young adults are not only too few
but those that do exist far exceed their capacity.
If you are an organisation or work for a company which
offers grants to small charities, please encourage them to donate
on behalf of all the staff. I am hoping that you will choose to support YPI and
the great work they do mending our children.
Below are the links for the YPI Counselling homepage and
their DONATIONS page. If you would rather discuss long-term funding through individual
donations or corporate donations, you can contact the manager:
01256 423 878 / 0800 910 1822
Thank you.
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Areas of mental distress common among children and young
people
Anxiety and Anxiety related problems
Anxiety is usually defined by heightened awareness,
uneasiness, nervousness and dread or fear of either real or imagined dangers.
Though it is entirely natural to feel a anxious now and then, perhaps before a
test or a big meeting, when it becomes excessive to the point it is impacting
our ability to go about our everyday activities this is an indication that it
is progressing into problem and help should be sought.
Below is a list of anxiety in its variety of forms:
Generalised anxiety disorder
In this situation there is nothing specific which is causing
or triggering the anxiety but there is an ongoing fear that something bad is
going to happen. In the instance of a child, they may feel like they have no
control over the situation which will result in physical side effects such as
stomach aches, headaches and sleeplessness and relationships may also be
affected.
Hypochondriasis
Hypochondriasis is the fear of having a fatal disease
despite there being no evidence indicating this may happen. Similarly to the
generalised anxiety disorder it can take on a physical form causing stomach
aches, headaches and nausea. Often associated with young adults.
Phobias
Fear of a certain object, person or situation etc that gives
the individual an overwhelming desire to avoid it despite it presenting no
danger. Phobias become a serious issue when they start preventing a person from
functioning on an everyday level.
Separation anxiety
Young children will often become distressed when separated
from their parents, but this kind of anxiety in older childhood or adolescence
may indicate a wider problem. This may occur when a young person experiences
change or an upheaval of some description such as divorce of their parents, a
bereavement or moving home and schools. Excessive crying when parents leave,
difficulty sleeping or refusal to go to school are also all symptoms.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
ADHD currently affects around 1.7 per cent of the UK
population, most of whom are children3. The condition causes its sufferers to
become easily distracted often with a short attention span. Children with ADHD
may also find it difficult to interact and play with other children as they
don't exhibit safety awareness or courtesy when it comes to taking turns and
often become aggressive. ADHD is directly associated with school failure,
exclusion and poor future prospects.
Autism
Though not a mental illness, Autism is known to cause
difficulties in communication and social interaction all of which affect a
young persons ability to understand emotions of others, social behaviour or the
concept of danger. The term also covers other disorders such as Asperger
syndrome.
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder otherwise known as manic depression is an
illness characterised by abnormal mood swings of periods of extreme highs and
euphoria often followed by deep lows and unhappiness.
Depression
Though we tend to associate depression with adults the
common condition also occurs in children and is usually noticed through a
change in behaviour and or feelings of despair. Currently almost 80,000
children and young people suffer from severe depression.
Additional symptoms include a change in eating habits,
sleeping patterns, school performance, motivation and concentration and often
manifests as anger and rage. If left to continue untreated many of these
symptoms progress and destructive habits such as self harm and substance abuse
(both of which are growing in this group). However, the condition is treatable
especially if early diagnosis is sought and support is given from friends and
family.
Eating distress
According to the Mental Health Foundation both anorexia
nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the most common forms of eating disorders,
affecting around 2 per cent of adult females. Various research suggests that
eating disorders tend to set in during teenage years, peaking around the age of
16.
Anorexia nervosa
A person suffering from anorexia nervosa often has an
extremely distorted body image and an intense fear of gaining any weight.
Though a sufferer may be hungry they inflict weight loss by banishing any
calorific foods and fats. The condition is more common among girls usually
beginning in mid teens and has very little to do with looking good and more to
do with deep rooted emotional problems and the need for an element of control.
Bulimia nervosa
Though this condition is more common among girls, the number
of boys affected each year is continuing to rise. The condition see's the
sufferer alternate between binge eating and self induced purging (vomiting or
use of laxatives and diuretics). Similarly to anorexia the condition is usually
indicative of a deeper underlying issue and the sufferer will more often than
not try to keep it hidden.
Binge eating
Binge eating is the term used to describe a disorder which
see's sufferers eat extreme quantities of food, often when not hungry.
Afterwards the young person will usually feel ashamed and embarrassed about the
eating and may feel as though they are out of control. If the condition
persists it is likely to cause weight gain which brings about additional
conditions both physically and mentally.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Obsessive compulsive disorder is essentially reoccurring
thoughts and obsessions which the sufferer will feel the need to carry out in a
repetitive and ritualised fashion, for example counting, repeatedly checking if
something is locked or closed, touching, excessively washing hands etc. Usually
the compulsive acts stem from a fear that something bad may happen if they are
not carried out.
Schizophrenia
Though schizophrenia is rare in young people there are cases
in which children exhibit signs early on. Symptoms include a fear of other
people, difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy, hearing voices and
delusions and generally sufferers will perceive the world quite differently
from others and are withdrawn and often devoid of emotion.
Self-harm
Self-harm is usually a sign and expression of a deep rooted
emotional problem and often young people use it as a way of coping with
difficult feelings they may be having. Self-harm often involves making cuts in
the skin with blades, glass or sharp objects and other methods such as rubbing,
burning, scratching and swallowing objects. It is estimated that 1 in 15 young
people have deliberately self-harmed, with additional evidence suggesting that
UK rates of self-harm are higher than the rest of Europe.
Suicide
Suicide in young people is usually linked with depression,
loss, abuse or other issues from which they feel there is no other way out.
According to a study cited in the Samaritans report on young people and
suicide, there are an estimated 24,000 suicide attempts made by 10 to 19 year
olds in England and Wales each year, which amounts to one attempt every 20
minutes.
Sleep problems
Difficulty sleeping may take the form of nightmares, night
terrors and or sleepwalking. Unlike many of the other types of distress listed
in this section a sleep problem is not necessarily an indicator of an
underlying issue and may have more to do with television programmes and eating
habits etc. However, if the problem does persist for an extended period of this
time this may indicate a deeper emotional cause.
Substance misuse
Alcohol, drug and substance misuse can often result in
serious physical consequences including that of addiction. Many young people
turn to these substances as a way of escaping from complex emotional issues and
mental health problems that would benefit from more appropriate interventions
such as counselling.
Child abuse
Figures compiled by the NSPCC Child Protection Awareness and
Diversity Department state that there were 31,919 children named on the child
protection registers on the 31st March 2006.
Additional figures from the NSPCC suggest that some 7 per
cent of children are physically abused by their parents or carers, 1 per cent
of under 16s are sexually abused by a parent or carer, a further 3 per cent are
sexually abused by another relative, 11 per cent are sexually abused by a non
relative and 5 per cent are sexually abused by a stranger.
Though the exact prevalence of child abuse is unknown,
researchers believe it to be far higher than the figures of recorded cases
suggest, with numbers such as the 112,000 children counselled by ChildLine in
2001/02 adding further weight to the mounting evidence. Of those 112,000
children, 21,000 sought advice about physical or sexual abuse.
