The government has announced extra funding to help children caught in the middle of family break ups, reports The Guardian.

An extra £60 million will be put into 1500 schools for counselling services and peer mentoring, as well as £5.5 million for local support for couples going through a separation.

With 350,000 children experiencing family break ups and separation it’s hoped the extra money will help provide them with they support they need. The children’s secretary Ed Balls said: “Too often in the past we have focused on supporting adults when they are breaking up but we have not thought enough about the impact on children. We are pioneering a new approach here in thinking about this particular group of vulnerable children.”

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There is not enough support for those with mental illnesses in employment, says a new report, highlighted over at The Guardian website.. The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (SCMH) and the College of Occupational Therapists have just released a new joint report which says that those with mental illnesses are not getting the help they need to find and keep a job.

The report follows a call from four mental health organisations that any changes in the welfare system gives the best possible support for those with mental health problems.

In a statement supporting the launch of the report, both organisations said: “People with mental health problems will be one of the largest groups affected by the welfare reform agenda. Support should be offered to everyone, no matter what mental health problem they have, with a minimal threat of benefit penalties.”

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According to a recent article in the Guardian, mentally ill children are still receiving inappropriate treatment on adult wards. The children’s commissioner for England, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, led a study that found only 15% of NHS trusts are treating children on appropriate wards, and warned that “much still needs to be done to ensure young people placed on adult wards have the appropriate level of care and support they need.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “Spending on mental health services increased by 31%, or £1.2bn, in the past five years, allowing the NHS to invest in the services and staff needed to transform mental health provision. This has included a commitment that, by November this year, no under-16 will be treated on an adult psychiatric ward and that by April 2010 all under-18s will be treated in an age-appropriate environment in hospital.”

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According to an article in the Guardian, the Government has released details of its £170m plan to train 3,600 more psychological therapists in response to the study questioning the use of anti-depressants. According to the Department of Health, about 900,000 more people will be treated for depression and anxiety under the plan, and an estimated 450,000 of these will be cured.

Mental Health Groups accept that doctors have had little choice other than to prescribe anti-depressants due to the shortage of therapists. Alison Cobb, from Mind, said “Nine out of 10 GPs say they’ve been forced to dish out drugs because they don’t have proper access to ‘talking treatments’ such as cognitive behavioural therapy”. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) recommends that talking therapies should be tried before drugs are prescribed, but with the shortage of therapists, this is difficult.

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A government health report has revealed that almost one in five children drink the equivalent of a bottle and a half of wine each week. The problem is particularly serious in the North-east and the report will put increased pressure on the Government to tackle the problem.

Experts believe the children are likely to have difficult home lives and need more help than they’re currently receiving. Once again the legal age for drinking has come into question, with many backing the plan to increase the age from 18 years to 21 years.

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A new study conducted at St Thomas’ Hospital in London compared overnight visits to A&E before the 24-hour drinking law was introduced, and after. Results showed that the new law may have trebled alcohol-related admissions in inner city areas. Critics believe this cannot be applied to the whole of England and Wales, however the researchers claim their study was representative of inner city areas across the country.

The researchers did accept that one of the reasons for this increase could be due to the increased awareness among A&E doctors about alcohol related problems. A spokesman for Alcohol Concern said “It was always unlikely that a change in opening hours alone was going to move us to a continental style of drinking”.

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The Lancet medical journal has reported that many aspects of mental health care are neglected. The special report coincided with the passage of the Mental Health Bill last week and stated that many of the mental health wards in the UK are at best untherapeutic and at worst unsafe.

The journal reported that access to psychological treatments remained “pitiful”, even after a ruling by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) that cognitive behavioural therapy should be made available on the NHS.

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According to statistics, alcohol-related deaths for men have doubled since 1993. In 2005, 3,884 men died from alcohol-related diseases, up from 1,776 men in 1993. However these figures only relate to death certificates, and charities have suggested the real figure is more likely to be around 22,000.

The Government launched The Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy in 2004 to improve early identification and treatment of alcohol problems, however the charity Alcohol Concern said the plan “lacked muscle”.

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Research conducted by University College London (UCL) has revealed that men and women of lower occupational grades experience a faster deterioration of health in later life. The study was carried out on 10,308 civil servants aged between 35 and 55, over a period of 20 years.

While mental health was found to improve at a later age, the research also found that the rate at which it improves was slower for those who worked in lower levels of employment. Researchers have voiced their concerns about how their findings will affect the UK’s ageing population and how it will have important implications for government policies tackling health inequalities.

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Controversial new laws which will allow mentally ill people with severe or violent personality disorders to be held against their will even if they haven’t committed a crime are to be debated in the Commons later today. Ministers say the proposals will help to keep the public safe, but this has been attacked by the Tories, the Lib Dems and mental health experts, who argue the new bill will prevent sufferers from seeking help.

In an article over on the BBC Website, Shadow health minister Tim Loughton said “this will only add to the stigma of mental health. It will drive people underground and prevent people from getting the help that they need.”

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A national survey has found that the number of teenagers drinking alcohol and using drugs in England is falling. Government ministers have commented that these results were “encouraging”, but vowed to cut the numbers further. The survey of 8,200 11 to 15 year olds found:

Caroline Flint, public health minister said, “Despite these promising figures, we are not complacent - just one young person smoking or misusing alcohol or drugs is one too many.” The government also plans to raise the legal age that individuals can but tobacco products from 16 to 18 years.

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According to an article on the BBC, individuals claiming incapacity benefit because of mental illness has hit an all time high of £1.1m. The government said spending on mental health had risen by 25% in five years.

Figures show that claimants are now younger and more likely to be female and that drug and alcohol problems, eating disorders, stress and depression are increasingly becoming reasons for claims.

Spending more money on early intervention in mental health services was suggested to save money spent on benefits.

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Experts are now seeing younger and younger children with eating disorders such as anorexia. There has recently been lots of media attention on “size zero” models, and the government has even attacked fashion for undermining the confidence of girls. But is fashion really the cause? An article written on the BBC explores the thoughts of young girls suffering with anorexia.

One young girl, Natasha, believes models and fashion have nothing to do with why she stopped eating, and it is her own personal view of herself that is important to her. Natasha was admitted to Rhodes Farm Clinic after her weight fell to less than four and a half stone. Since Rhodes Farm clinic opened 16 years ago it has seen the average age of clients drop, and now even treats those as young as eight.

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Laws allowing those with untreatable personality disorders to be detained, even if they have not committed a crime, are to be revived according to an article on BBC News.

Jane Harris from Rethink mental health charity, said “If the government pushes ahead with this it will mean people with mental health problems have fewer rights than someone suspected of burglaries”.

Detailed proposals are expected in the next few weeks …

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Only 20% of those with severe mental health problems have jobs compared with 65% who have physical problems according to a new report. Employers are apparently far less likely to employ people with mental illnesses than those with physical disabilities, so the government is launching a new initiative urging employers to improve conditions for those with mental health problems.

Statistics show that up to 90% of people with mental health problems want to work, compared with 52% of disabled people generally. Work and Pensions Minister Lord Hunt said “Work is important and beneficial to our physical and mental well-being. Because of this, it is essential that we remove the barriers that prevent people starting, returning to, or remaining in work.”