For Professionals

The rates of diagnosable mental illness in Children and Young People have been steadily rising. 17% of <18s would meet criteria for mental illness. Far fewer than this will have input from Mental Health Services, due to historic lack of investment, and a paucity of staffing, meaning many referrals are rejected or re-directed. Up to date statistics from NHS digital: https://digital.nhs.uk/news-and-events/latest-news/rate-of-mental-disorders-among-children-remained-stable-in-2021-after-previous-rise-report-shows NHS England have issued plans of their response to the ongoing challenge, to be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/cyp/supporting-children-and-young-people-with-mental-health-needs-a-joined-up-approach/
It is vital that professionals feel confident and able to speak with young people about distressing experiences, to sensitively explore thoughts, feelings and risk. I wrote a paper for the Student BMJ with specific advise on this subject, which can be downloaded below. I also very much recommend the We Can Talk online module, which is free to access here: https://wecantalk.online/about/
how-to-communicate-with-children-and-young-people-in-distress-bmjDownload
The single best go-to site on the internet will always be the Royal College of Psychiatrists. We have a very strong public engagement and engagement track record. See in particular the huge range of information leaflets on a range of conditions: https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/
A superb series of E-Learning Resources for professionals training in childrens’ mental health, supported by Health Education England: https://www.minded.org.uk/
ACAMH – An academic organisation, designed for sharing best evidence and improving practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health
https://www.acamh.org/

An example is the ACAMH learning resources on Eating Disorders, which can be found here: https://www.acamh.org/topic/eating-disorders/

Inside the teen mind: what’s happening to mental health?
The Health Foundation have published a fantastic podcast on this issue (May 2021), looking at mental health trends during the pandemic. https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/podcast/episode-08-inside-the-teen-mind
In 2017, The Department of Health produced a Green Paper entitled: Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision which can be dowloaded here:
transforming-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-green-paper-2017Download
The Mental Health Charity Mind have recently published a report about mental health support in schools – you can download this here: https://www.mind.org.uk/media/8852/not-making-the-grade.pdf
medically-unexplained-symptoms-professionals-guideDownload