Hafal & Young People

Although not directly providing services to children under 18, Hafal welcomes the involvement of young people in the development of its services. Indeed, Hafal has many young adults among its membership and is aware that as many as 10% of children and young people will experience some kind of mental health problem requiring professional help.

In addition to providing services to adults with a serious mental illness, Hafal provides services for carers throughout Wales. In mid Wales, Hafal provides a service designed specifically for young people aged 18 and over, offering advice and support to carers and families; this service also provides the mental health component of a service to young people aged 10 - 17 years in partnership with Powys Carers Services.

An independent Advisory Group set up to advise the Welsh Assembly Government on Child and Mental Health Services in Wales has estimated the scale of mental health problems and disorders in children and young people in Wales. They estimate:

• More than 40% of young people have recognisable risk factors
• 30-40% may at some time experience a problem
• Up to 25% have a disorder (depending on environment and circumstances).

Some children and young people are at greater risk of developing mental health problems. Risk factors include: poverty; unemployment or crime; death and loss, including loss of friendship; and genetic influences, such as a family history of mental health problems. For a comprehensive list of risk factors visit the Mental Health Foundation website at www.mentalhealth.org.uk

Other risk factors are associated with children and young people who live in the same family environment or act as carers for siblings, parents or older adults who have mental health problems.

The range of most common mental health problems that may affect children and young people include:

• developmental disorders — delay in speech or bladder control
• habit disorders — sleeping problems, soiling and tics
• emotional disorders — anxiety, phobias and depression
• conduct disorders — defiance, stealing, fire-setting, truancy and aggression
• hyperkinetic disorders — attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
• eating disorders — anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa
• post traumatic syndromes
• psycho-somatic disorders — chronic fatigue symptoms
• psychotic disorders — schizophrenia and manic depression

Childhood onset of schizophrenia (below the age of 12) is a rare condition, estimates range between 0.14 - 1.0 per 10,000 population. The consensus is that rates of psychotic illnesses, including schizophrenia rise sharply during adolescence, although "representative epidemiological data on the distribution of childhood schizophrenia do[es] not yet exist" (Dan Hayes, Early Onset Psychosis, childhood and adolescence, EI DOH working group).

According to the Welsh Assembly Government's Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services Strategy document Everybody's Business: "Substance use by adolescents in Wales is endemic and the rate of misuse is predicted to be higher than in England and is related to indicators of deprivation, alienation and social exclusion".

For general information on mental please make use of www.mentalhealthwales.net and www.hafal.org and for further details on issues of substance misuse, self-harm and suicide in young people you may find it useful to look at www.mentalhealth.org.uk

If you are worried about your own or your child's mental health we recommend that you contact your GP or the school nurse. Hafal is happy to offer advice and support directly to young people aged 18 or over and can also provide advice for younger people indirectly through parents, schools and youth organisations.

Links

http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/Documents/441/EnglishNSF%5Famended%5Ffinal%2Epdf – This National Service Framework (NSF) sets out the quality of services that children, young people and their families have a right to expect and receive.

http://www.youngminds.org.uk – Young Minds is the national charity committed to improving the mental health of all children and young people.

http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/CG28/?c=91523 – NICE clinical guideline on depression in children and young people for healthcare professionals, patients, carers and the public.

http://www.rcn.org.uk/members/downloads/child-young-people-mental-health.pdf – Aimed at nurses, this Royal College of Nursing guide looks at children and young people’s mental health.

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinformation/childrenandyoungpeople.aspx – The children and young people page from the Royal College of Psychiatrists offers loads of information and advice on mental health to young people and their carers.

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/information/mental-health-a-z/children-and-young-people/ – Information and advice for young people and their carers about mental health from the Mental Health Foundation.

http://www.mentalhealthshop.org/products/rethink_publications/childhood_mental.html – A factsheet from Rethink about mental illness in childhood.

http://www.scmh.org.uk/80256FBD004F6342/vWeb/pcKHAL6H3DPF – Activity sheets from the Sainsbury Centre to help parents and their children talk about feelings and emotions.

http://www.nelmh.org/search2.asp?search_string=young%20people&tlc_id=0&x=515 NHS – National Electronic Library for Health: a range of factsheets about mental disorders in young people.