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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2016/dec/09/childrens-mental-health-services-are-struggling-can-teachers-help
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| Children's mental health services are struggling. Can teachers help? Children's mental health services are struggling. Can teachers help? | |
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| When you train as a teacher, one thing you rarely consider is what you’d do if you were confronted with say a confused teenager convinced they were a religious prophet, or being on a school trip and finding a student carving the word DIE into their forearm. Any job that exposes you to the great stream of humanity will force you into proximity with the misery that runs through it. And the problem is, as a teacher you’re expected to do something about it. Few, in my experience, do. | When you train as a teacher, one thing you rarely consider is what you’d do if you were confronted with say a confused teenager convinced they were a religious prophet, or being on a school trip and finding a student carving the word DIE into their forearm. Any job that exposes you to the great stream of humanity will force you into proximity with the misery that runs through it. And the problem is, as a teacher you’re expected to do something about it. Few, in my experience, do. |
| Are mental health problems among the young getting worse? In 2014 the Commons health committee reported that data was so out of date that those planning and operating child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs) were operating in a fog. Some indicators, like 2016 reports by NHS Digital of self-harm rates among 16- to 24-year-olds increasing between 2007 and 2014, might suggest things are getting worse. Others, like UK suicide rates, which have been decreasing for the last 30 years especially in the young [pdf], might suggest things are getting better. | Are mental health problems among the young getting worse? In 2014 the Commons health committee reported that data was so out of date that those planning and operating child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs) were operating in a fog. Some indicators, like 2016 reports by NHS Digital of self-harm rates among 16- to 24-year-olds increasing between 2007 and 2014, might suggest things are getting worse. Others, like UK suicide rates, which have been decreasing for the last 30 years especially in the young [pdf], might suggest things are getting better. |
| Maybe, as Dr Stanley Kutcher, an expert in adolescent mental health and leader in mental health research in Canada, puts it, “we’re tending to confuse mental distress ... with mental illness”. | Maybe, as Dr Stanley Kutcher, an expert in adolescent mental health and leader in mental health research in Canada, puts it, “we’re tending to confuse mental distress ... with mental illness”. |
| As a lone teacher, your personal experience will vary from your colleagues. I worked with mental health services three times in one year, while the teacher next door didn’t. Whenever I’ve needed them, they’ve been fantastic, but because funding is so scarce at a local level for this kind of provision it usually takes something dramatic before a school will lift the phone. And in many ways who can blame them? Identifying, assessing and treating mental illnesses are some of the most specialised, highly trained professions imaginable. This isn’t an area for amateurs, however well-meaning. We only usually notice when students have gone beyond struggling. Even then, it isn’t easy to tell. | As a lone teacher, your personal experience will vary from your colleagues. I worked with mental health services three times in one year, while the teacher next door didn’t. Whenever I’ve needed them, they’ve been fantastic, but because funding is so scarce at a local level for this kind of provision it usually takes something dramatic before a school will lift the phone. And in many ways who can blame them? Identifying, assessing and treating mental illnesses are some of the most specialised, highly trained professions imaginable. This isn’t an area for amateurs, however well-meaning. We only usually notice when students have gone beyond struggling. Even then, it isn’t easy to tell. |
| As a teacher you can feel so helpless; what pupils need is so much more than just a teacher who cares. They need specialist help, and there are very few ways we can spot and help students in advance of the chronic phase of a mental illness. One of the best, sweetest students I’d ever taught, sank into a depression. He was rational, and good as ever, but the world had no colour for him, and watching him drift out of his studies when he had been so alert, nerdy and fascinated by everything broke my heart, mainly because I could do nothing. | As a teacher you can feel so helpless; what pupils need is so much more than just a teacher who cares. They need specialist help, and there are very few ways we can spot and help students in advance of the chronic phase of a mental illness. One of the best, sweetest students I’d ever taught, sank into a depression. He was rational, and good as ever, but the world had no colour for him, and watching him drift out of his studies when he had been so alert, nerdy and fascinated by everything broke my heart, mainly because I could do nothing. |
| What can schools do? There are no simple solutions to a complex, society-wide problem. We find it just as hard to spot mental health problems in school as we do in society at large. Teacher training is often cited as good place to start, but from experience I know how packed that is. Certainly, some basic awareness of early signs, strategies and procedures would be useful. Schools usually funnel these issues through their child-protection officer, a designated and trained adult responsible for communicating with external agencies. Any training needs to be focused on that role. | What can schools do? There are no simple solutions to a complex, society-wide problem. We find it just as hard to spot mental health problems in school as we do in society at large. Teacher training is often cited as good place to start, but from experience I know how packed that is. Certainly, some basic awareness of early signs, strategies and procedures would be useful. Schools usually funnel these issues through their child-protection officer, a designated and trained adult responsible for communicating with external agencies. Any training needs to be focused on that role. |
| Sadly, I’ve never seen a school intervention based on wellbeing, positive thinking and self-esteem demonstrably improve matters for staff, long-term. That’s because the pressures on teachers are real, not a matter of self-belief. The Scylla and Charybdis are workload and behaviour management. Crazy in-school policies on book marking have made things even harder for teachers. But one of the ways we could reboot this battlefield of bruised ghosts would be through a report I’m working on right now with the DfE: finding and sharing best practice on how leaders create calm, civil school cultures. Many schools do amazing work to protect the dignity and safety of all of their members. And when children are less anonymous, subtle warning cues can be caught rather than missed. | Sadly, I’ve never seen a school intervention based on wellbeing, positive thinking and self-esteem demonstrably improve matters for staff, long-term. That’s because the pressures on teachers are real, not a matter of self-belief. The Scylla and Charybdis are workload and behaviour management. Crazy in-school policies on book marking have made things even harder for teachers. But one of the ways we could reboot this battlefield of bruised ghosts would be through a report I’m working on right now with the DfE: finding and sharing best practice on how leaders create calm, civil school cultures. Many schools do amazing work to protect the dignity and safety of all of their members. And when children are less anonymous, subtle warning cues can be caught rather than missed. |
| Schools could use more robust research into this field, commissioned by the NHS to better understand the real needs of the school community, and a requirement that only trained professionals be allowed to work with pupils and staff in this misunderstood field. Few schools retain a nurse anymore, but perhaps we should look into mental health visitors as an intermediary device to facilitate better communication between providers and need. | Schools could use more robust research into this field, commissioned by the NHS to better understand the real needs of the school community, and a requirement that only trained professionals be allowed to work with pupils and staff in this misunderstood field. Few schools retain a nurse anymore, but perhaps we should look into mental health visitors as an intermediary device to facilitate better communication between providers and need. |
| Changing societies is a long game. But real change for the better takes time. | Changing societies is a long game. But real change for the better takes time. |
| Join the Healthcare Professionals Network to read more about issues like this. And follow us on Twitter (@GdnHealthcare) to keep up with the latest healthcare news and views. | Join the Healthcare Professionals Network to read more about issues like this. And follow us on Twitter (@GdnHealthcare) to keep up with the latest healthcare news and views. |