If young people are to overcome conditions including depression and anxiety, they need professional help
It is no surprise to learn that GPs in England are increasingly prescribing antidepressants to children, breaking National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidelines. The pressures on children’s mental health services mean that accessing specialist treatment on the NHS is harder than ever before. Similarly, a decision by Nice to recommend the use of cognitive behavioural therapy apps, as a treatment for young people, points to the lack of any other way to meet rising demand.
The NHS’s guidelines are clear: under-18s should only be prescribed antidepressants in conjunction with talking therapies, and with the approval of a psychiatrist. The sole exception is in cases of obsessive compulsive disorder. But long waiting lists and unmanageable caseloads mean that many children are struggling to access the kind of help they need – and the kind of attention from qualified professionals that is most likely to make them better. Staff in overstretched children and adolescent mental health services describe a situation in which almost all clinicians’ time is spent identifying problems and managing risks – and very little of it directly helping children.
