Suicidal Young Girls Need More Help
Young girls are crying out for help – last year one in six calls to a 24 hour mental health helpline came from young girls considering suicide. Depression, eating disorders sexual abuse and bullying seemed to be some of the main problems affecting young girls – according to the article on the BBC website, rates of depression and anxiety have increased among young people in the UK by 70% in the last 25 years. That’s a huge percentage, and an extremely worrying one.
Joelle Leader, assistant director of ChildLine said “At the moment, there are simply not enough therapeutic services for children with these problems, and we are urging the government to give this issue urgent attention.”
March 26th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
I own and run one of the biggest sites in the U.K, http://www.anxietynomore.co.uk which deals with the subject of anxiety and panic. I am forever getting emails from children that are still at school who suffer from anxiety and panic. They are under so much pressure at achool through exams and a need to be in with the crowd. They may be bullied or have trouble at home.
One or more of these factors can bring on feelings of anxiety or panic. The child then has trouble finding the help they need. Doctors will advise a little rest. Their parents may tell them to pull themselves together or the child may feel the need to not mention anything, to suffer in silence.
My hopes in the future is to bring more attention and awareness to the subject of anxiety in children. Until we do something far too many will continue to suffer in silence.