COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an epidemic of mental ill health among 5-to-18-year-olds
● Two-thirds (73%) of teachers warn that mental health provision in schools and colleges across the UK is nearing collapse. Mental ill health among students is rising while access to NHS mental health services is declining. As a result, many students are left with little or no mental health support.
● Daily downloads of stem4‘s NHS-approved mental health apps, aimed at managing the urge to self-harm and symptoms of anxiety, rose by 20% in 20201 and went up to 12,000 a day during the A-level exam results fiasco and at the start of the school term in September – sadly they’ve now recorded over 600K downloads over the last year.
● Students mental health have been affected by isolation and loneliness (68%), family difficulties (41%), academic worries (47%), friendship breakdowns (33.5%), and food poverty (33%), say teachers
● 45% say that high levels of staff absences mean that there are not enough teachers available to respond to students’ mental health needs by signposting, referring and then following up with NHS mental health services for appointments.
● With some 378,000 children stuck on waiting lists for NHS mental health treatment (CAMHS) in 2018/19, untreated mental health conditions are costing schools nearly £50 million a year, a new report by Pro Bono Economics for stem4 finds.
● Teachers warn CAHMS is overwhelmed due to pandemic
– 34% of teachers say referrals are rejected by CAMHS because they do not meet the threshold of severity; 31% say waiting lists are closed in their area; 29% of teachers say referrals are refused because local NHS mental health services have not resumed to full capacity as a result of the pandemic.
● Dr Nihara Krause, CEO and Founder of Youth mental health charity stem4, says “The government needs to take urgent action NOW if we are to turn the tide of mental ill health among this younger generation.”
■ What teachers are saying
Teachers’ views on mental health provision in schools and colleges, CAMHS and local commissioned services designed to support children’s and young people’s mental health needs:
“We are fighting a losing battle. There is never enough time to deal with the mental health of students, we can’t afford extra counsellors, the NHS waits are too long.”College, South West
“Woefully inadequate and not fit for purpose when the threshold for treatment from CAMHS is so high – you have to be suicidal before they will do anything.”Further education college, Yorkshire & The Humber
“Mental health provision in schools has been cut drastically for a number of years and the current restrictions have made the situation come to crisis point.” Primary school, West Midlands
“The government have failed children with mental health issues. Teachers have been left with the additional task of treating mental health issues for children in schools. We have no training for this, no additional time given and no money.” Primary school,Scotland
“Teachers have needed to become front line social workers and mental health specialists as well as educators and this is not sustainable or healthy for the young people or staff.” Secondary school, South East
“CAMHS is very understaffed and overused, and NHS mental health provision is simply not available.”Secondary school, London
■ Major new survey on mental health in schools
Two-thirds (73%) of teachers warn that mental health provision in schools and colleges across the UK is nearing collapse. Mental ill health among students is rising while access to NHS mental health services is declining. As a result, many students are left with little or no mental health support.
The pandemic is exacerbating an existing crisis. Unless the government takes urgent action NOW to increase and ringfence mental health budgets in schools and colleges, while concurrently improving access to NHS mental health services, this young generation will be destined for a future of mental ill health. These are the major new findings of report, based on a survey of teachers, by stem4, a charity which works to prevent mental ill health in teenagers.
To help the growing number of students experiencing mental health difficulties, half (49%) of teachers say their school or college has increased its mental health provision and its capacity, while 40% have seen an increase in their mental health budget. But most teachers say budgets remain both insufficient and inadequately ringfenced; levels of staff absenteeism are high; there are limited referral pathways for the most vulnerable students; NHS waiting lists continue to grow as schools bear the mounting costs of children’s and young people’s untreated mental health condition,
Half (48%) of teachers now say existing health and social care services for students with mental health problems are very or extremely inadequate, with six in ten (57%) teachers fearing that their young students with mental health problems will come to harm while waiting for treatment.
It is not only students who are experiencing mental health difficulties. More than half (54%) of teachers say their own mental health has deteriorated over the last four months, and most feel unsupported by government in their role as teacher. When asked to rate how supported they feel by current government on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is “not at all supported” and 10 is “fully supported”, teachers gave an average score of just 3.85 – 17% of teachers gave a score of “0”, saying they feel completed unsupported.
A primary school teacher from Scotland, commented:“The government have failed children with mental health issues. Teachers have been left with the additional task of treating mental health issues for children in schools. We have no training for this, no additional time given and no money. This has had a detrimental impact on teacher’s mental health, and it has massively increased an already unmanageable workload. Not to mention the pressure that we may not be helping the child at all and even making the situation worse (we are not trained psychologists).”
■ Students experiencing mental health difficulties has risen by 20% compared to pre- pandemic levels.
Prior to the pandemic, teachers estimated that four students in every class of 22.5 students experienced mental health difficulties. This figure has now skyrocketed, according to a new survey of teachers, conducted by stem4, a charity which works to prevent mental ill health in teenagers.
Eight in ten teachers (80%) say that, since returning to school and college in September 2020, the number of students experiencing mental health difficulties over the last three months has risen by 20% compared to pre- pandemic levels. (13% among pupils aged 5 to 11; 24% among students aged 11 to 18).
Nine in ten (88%) of teachers say that, over the last three months, they have seen a rise in the number of students with anxiety:
● Nearly half (46%) of teachers have seen an increase in students with depression;
● Four in ten (41%) have seen an increase in emotional and behaviour disorders (ADHD), aggression and concentration issues;
● One in five (21%) are seeing more young people showing signs of self-harm.
Teachers have also witnessed an increase over the last three months in students with mental health conditions such as eating disorders (22%), suicidal behaviours (16%), addiction (12%), obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) (11%), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (8%).
More than half (54%) of teachers say that their students’ mental health has suffered negative effects as a consequence of the pandemic. Students have been affected by isolation and loneliness (68%), family difficulties (41%), adjustment back to school/academic worries (47%), friendship breakdowns (33.5%), and food poverty (33%).
