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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/27/safeguarding-young-peoples-mental-health
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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Safeguarding young people’s mental health | Safeguarding young people’s mental health |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| Letters | |
| Wed 27 Sep 2017 19.33 BST | |
| Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 16.19 GMT | |
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| It is very disappointing news that the number of child and adolescent psychiatrists has fallen almost 7% since 2013 (Number of NHS psychiatrists for children falling, 25 September) in the same year that the government pledged “focused action” to improve mental health support to help “our youngest and most vulnerable members of society receive the best start in life”. The government has pledged 100 more child and adolescent psychiatrists to help meet their target of treating 35% of children and young people with mental illness – which in itself is just the tip of the iceberg. The only way we can begin to tackle this unmet need is by persuading more trainee doctors to choose psychiatry. The government is trying to make it as easy as possible for trainee doctors to choose a career in child and adolescent psychiatry. | It is very disappointing news that the number of child and adolescent psychiatrists has fallen almost 7% since 2013 (Number of NHS psychiatrists for children falling, 25 September) in the same year that the government pledged “focused action” to improve mental health support to help “our youngest and most vulnerable members of society receive the best start in life”. The government has pledged 100 more child and adolescent psychiatrists to help meet their target of treating 35% of children and young people with mental illness – which in itself is just the tip of the iceberg. The only way we can begin to tackle this unmet need is by persuading more trainee doctors to choose psychiatry. The government is trying to make it as easy as possible for trainee doctors to choose a career in child and adolescent psychiatry. |
| We are working closely with Health Education England to devise a range of measures aimed at boosting staff numbers. One example is a new training pathway that makes it easier for trainee psychiatrists who know they want to work with children to choose this speciality at the start of their training. The government acknowledges that half of all mental health conditions become established in people before the age of 14. Failing to value children and young people’s needs now risks leading to more long-term, costly problems in the future.Professor Wendy BurnPresident, Royal College of Psychiatrists | We are working closely with Health Education England to devise a range of measures aimed at boosting staff numbers. One example is a new training pathway that makes it easier for trainee psychiatrists who know they want to work with children to choose this speciality at the start of their training. The government acknowledges that half of all mental health conditions become established in people before the age of 14. Failing to value children and young people’s needs now risks leading to more long-term, costly problems in the future.Professor Wendy BurnPresident, Royal College of Psychiatrists |
| • We were interested and saddened to read that girls from mixed-race backgrounds were more likely to be depressed than all other groups (Fears of hidden mental health crisis as ‘one in four girls depressed at 14’, 20 September). This is a worrying but not unsurprising finding. As we say in our book Mixed Experiences, where other risk factors are present in the lives of mixed-race young people, the experience of being mixed adds to the challenges those young people face, and can be a contributing factor to the development of mental disorders. This is not to say that these young people are inherently mixed up – which is a common fallacy, as new research in progress from People in Harmony shows – but that the racism and prejudice from both white and black groups can combine to ostracise young people of mixed race. Unless society’s institutions, and more specifically social and education services, reach out to mixed-race young people and positively acknowledge mixed identity, these figures are unlikely to change.Dr Cathy Street and Dr Dinah MorleyLondon | • We were interested and saddened to read that girls from mixed-race backgrounds were more likely to be depressed than all other groups (Fears of hidden mental health crisis as ‘one in four girls depressed at 14’, 20 September). This is a worrying but not unsurprising finding. As we say in our book Mixed Experiences, where other risk factors are present in the lives of mixed-race young people, the experience of being mixed adds to the challenges those young people face, and can be a contributing factor to the development of mental disorders. This is not to say that these young people are inherently mixed up – which is a common fallacy, as new research in progress from People in Harmony shows – but that the racism and prejudice from both white and black groups can combine to ostracise young people of mixed race. Unless society’s institutions, and more specifically social and education services, reach out to mixed-race young people and positively acknowledge mixed identity, these figures are unlikely to change.Dr Cathy Street and Dr Dinah MorleyLondon |
| • I read your excellent articles on a double-page spread about the mental health of girls and the pressures they live under, including body image. I turned the page and was faced by a large photograph of five supermodels. Enough said really.Adam SpringbettReigate, Surrey | • I read your excellent articles on a double-page spread about the mental health of girls and the pressures they live under, including body image. I turned the page and was faced by a large photograph of five supermodels. Enough said really.Adam SpringbettReigate, Surrey |
| • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com | • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com |
| • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters | • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters |
| Mental health | |
| Health | |
| Young people | |
| Psychiatry | |
| Race issues | |
| Medicine | |
| letters | |
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