Key statistics about Children

Children suffering form mental health problems usually find the situation difficult to understand especially if they are young and haven't heard of mental distress. They will therefore often keep their feelings and thoughts to themselves and suffer alone because they don't know what they're experiencing. Below are some useful statistics from Mind about children and mental disorders.

In 2002, the population of the UK was an estimated 59.2 million. Children aged up to 16 made up 20 per cent of the population (11.8 million), while young people aged 16-24 amounted to 11 per cent (6.5 million). [1] In 2000, the total minority ethnic population of those under 20 in Great Britain was 1.48 million (10 per cent of the population in this age group in that year). [2]

A survey published in 2000 showed that 10 per cent of children aged 5 to 15 had a mental health problem. [3] The three most common groups of childhood mental health problems are:

emotional disorders (such as depression, anxiety and obsessions)

hyperactivity (involving inattention and over-activity)

conduct disorders (involving awkward, troublesome, aggressive and antisocial behaviour).

Less common mental disorders include autistic spectrum disorders, neurological disorders such as Tourette’s Syndrome, and eating distress.

There is evidence that more mental health problems are being diagnosed. However, some doctors believe this is due in part to an increasing trend towards ‘medicalising’ distress, classifying ‘ordinary’, often transient problems as illness. [4]

(Statistics from Mind.org.uk)

The information below consists of statistics that concentrate on the affects of child abuse during adulthood and the mental disorders that occur as a result of this abuse. If you would like to find out more about the types of abuse please Click Here.

Child abuse

Research studies show that between one third and a half of abused children develop psychiatric disorders or other problems in the short or longer term.

Some three thousand children and teenagers under 18 years are, at any time, named on child protection registers in England. Almost twice this number are registered at some point during the course of a year.

Around 40 per cent of these children are considered at risk of physical injury and some 22 per cent are at risk of sexual abuse. A further unknown, and probably large, number of young people experience abuse that does not come to the attention of the child protection agencies. [43]

More than 2,300 people were convicted in English courts during 1994 for sexual offences involving children under 16 years of age, and a further 1,700 admitted guilt and were cautioned. [44]

Over 15,000 children and young people telephone ChildLine to talk about sexual and physical abuse. [45]

The percentage of adults who experienced sexual abuse as children and have had long-term side effects is not known. However, in one British study, 13 per cent of the sample of such adults reported that they had been permanently damaged. [46] In another study, 20 per cent of women who had been exposed to sexual abuse as children were identified as suffering from mental health problems, predominantly depressive in type, compared with 6.3 per cent of the non-abused population. Similar increases in mental ill-health were found in women who had been physically or sexually assaulted in adult life. [47] Another study found that almost half of the psychiatric in-patients studied, including both men and women, had histories of physical or sexual abuse or both. [48]

(Statistics from Mind.org.uk)

Unfortunately, suffering from Abuse as a child is extremely common and many sufferers are emotionally scarred for the rest of their lives. There are many support groups dedicated to helping children who have been abused but children often keep their experiences secret, due to either embarrassment or not understanding the situation. Click Here to find out more information about Abuse.