"A Volcano Inside of Me" - Generation Next

“A Volcano Inside of Me”

“A washing machine tummy”; “a volcano inside of me” – these are some of the ways young children can describe anxiety and other mental health issues, according to staff at YoungMinds, a mental health charity. In 2016, Childline reported a 15 per cent in suicidal calls, with children as young as 10. There has been a steep rise in self-harm among girls aged 13 to 16. Increasingly, there is talk of a crisis in child mental health.

“We have certainly seen a real increase in demand,” says Jo Hardy, head of parent services at YoungMinds. Parents call the charity’s helpline after struggling to deal with cases of anxiety, depression and self-harm.

While mental health problems are associated with adolescents – and the bulk of calls YoungMinds receives are about teenagers – Hardy increasingly hears from parents with children aged just eight, nine or ten.

Such children tend to lack a medical vocabulary. Instead, parents who call the helpline describe their child’s outbursts or inability to recover from low moods. They may also talk about a change in circumstance, such as bullying at school, the pressures of a friendship breaking down or a school move.

– Julia Rampen

Image by Fernando from Unsplash