The Times offers advice to those worried about how to distinguish between the slightly aberrant behaviour of many adolescents and the first signs of schizophrenia or allied conditions:
After adolescent drug use, characteristics that would otherwise have remained covert become overt and the patient displays seriously odd, even psychotic, behaviour. If any parent or teacher has doubts, they should consult a psychiatrist who is accustomed to dealing dispassionately with adolescents from all backgrounds.
I’m sure this is the right advice, but the question is whether the interface between teachers (or parents) and mental health services is strong enough.
Speaking at a NCB conference yesterday Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families made the point:
Only recently, I was hearing about a year 7 boy, whose father committed suicide while in prison. The boy was deeply distressed and exhibiting severe behavioural problems. The school’s response to this was to contact local health services, to get this boy some expert help before his problems escalated. They told the school to contact CAMHS, because it was too serious for them to deal with and he needed expert help. CAMHS told them there was a nine month waiting list. The school explained this boy’s situation again, only to be told by CAMHS that he would have to attempt suicide before he could be moved up the waiting list. This is not early intervention.
I understand the pressure many services are under. But Every Child Matters cannot work if some parts of children’s services work on principles of early intervention and others are in crisis management mode.
The question for the Secretary of State will be how the government help local services to square the circle. Perhaps the £60 million he announced to help schools and mental health services work together more closely will make a difference. He said he wants that money to:
improve the emotional wellbeing of pupils. In particular, getting mental health experts working with teachers on the school site to identify problems and provide children and young people with support.
Filed under: mental health
