The number of children attending A&E with mental health problems has risen by more than 50 per cent since the beginning of the so-called covid crisis. An investigation by The Telegraph newspaper revealed that over 2,200 children were referred for emergency health treatment in May of this year compared to just over 1,400 children in May 2019.
According to The Telegraph:
Experts say children have struggled with schools being closed and without face-to-face interaction with their peers. NHS data reveal that nearly 27,000 children are being prescribed antidepressants each month, up more than eight per cent from 2019. While most are teenagers, 25 a month are aged six or under, and more than 1,000 are aged seven to 11.
Waiting lists for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have jumped by more than a third in some regions, according to NHS England Trusts.
The number of children admitted to acute wards with eating disorders more than doubled in the three months to June 2021, when compared with the same period in 2019.
NHS chiefs have warned of a mental health pandemic among children, which they predict will unfold over years rather than months, as the effect of successive lockdowns take their toll.
The numbers of children self-harming and becoming preoccupied with thoughts of suicide have risen sharply, according to research by the mental health charity, Place2Be.
NHS officials have warned of children as young as five having panic attacks about playdates. Cases of children being admitted to hospital with acute eating disorders have more than doubled.
This is grim stuff. Back in April (and reported here), the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) reported that lockdowns are having a devastatingly negative impact on child development. Data from 50,000 pupils and a survey of schools across England, revealed that an increased number of four and five-year-olds needed urgent help with their language skills.
The EEF said that the lockdowns deprived the youngest children of social contact and experiences essential for developing their vocabulary. Sally Miner, a head teacher at a school in Walsall said:
“All the research shows that if a child does have issues with language at that age, by adulthood they’re four times more likely to struggle with reading, three time more likely to have mental health issues, twice as likely to be unemployed and have social-mobility issues, so getting this right at such an early age is literally the key to children’s futures.”
Lockdown is child abuse by other means. Those who impose them are child abusers.
