Five-year-olds treated for depression and anxiety

[davieG]

BBC

Children as young as five are being referred for treatment for depression and anxiety, the BBC has found.

Figures showed mental health teams in Sussex are working with more than 1,000 under-18s while in the Solent 324 young people were referred for therapy.

Prescriptions for Fluoxetine, more commonly known as Prozac, have risen 26% in Oxfordshire and 13% in Berkshire from April to September last year.

MPs recently announced an extra £22m to tackle child mental health treatment.

Experts said children are coming under increasing stress because of unemployment, financial problems and substance abuse among their parents.

In February, the NHS Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Sussex estimated it was working with about 330 under-11s and about 830 12 to 18-year-olds with anxiety and/or depression.

Plastic animals

With the approval of health professionals and his family, the BBC was given access to a therapy room in Sussex, where eight-year-old "Jack" was receiving treatment for anxiety.

Having developed a deep-seated fear of leaving his mother he has been seeing child behaviour experts since he was 18 months old.

"The anxieties, I think started probably very soon after he was born," said child psychologist Jo Russell.

During his therapy, the BBC observed "Jack" wind up a large ball of sticky tape around his hand and tie up his toy plastic animals with string before dangling them out of the window, 30ft above the ground.

"In his mind he's putting that little creature in a position of insecurity," Ms Russell said.

"Will that little creature manage to get to the ground or not? Through that play, this little boy and I have been able to think and talk about how people cope with feeling very insecure."

Jack's mother "Joy" said she knew her son, who has thrown things at her and put holes through doors, was "different" from other children at a young age.

"He gets very like a spring, he gets wound up and explodes," she said.

"He can be very loving and caring and when it's like that it's absolutely amazing but you have the other side which goes along."

After several years of therapy, his mother said "Jack" had improved, but could still be "up and down."

NHS Solent, which covers Southampton and Portsmouth, saw 324 young people with a problem of depression referred to it between September 2010 and August 2011, the youngest of whom was five years old.

It also revealed 378 patients, aged 16 and under, were referred for a range of mental health therapies not just for depression, including cognitive behaviour therapy, anxiety management and art and play therapy.

'Entrenched problems'

Its youngest patient, a two-year-old, was referred for specialist child psychotherapy.

Barbara Inkson, child clinical psychology at Solent NHS Trust, said it was seeing an annual rise of about 10% in referrals.

However, its database can only record a reason for referral and not subsequent diagnosis.

"What is clear is that levels of emotional disorders, including depression as well as anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders, are rising in line with other referrals to CAMHS here in the city," she said.

The charity, Young Minds, said it wants more treatments based in school and the community rather than in mental health units, which it says can be intimidating for children.

The government recently announced an extra £22m funding to tackle child mental health over three years, to expand state-of-the art psychological therapies and extend training for community workers.

Nationally, one in 10 children aged between five and 16 years old has a clinically diagnosable mental health problem and of adults with long-term mental health problems, half will have experienced their first symptoms before the age of 14.

Sarah Brennan, chief executive of Young Minds, said: "Intervening early when a child or young person starts struggling to cope is proven to reduce the likelihood of that young person developing much more severe and entrenched mental health problems.

"It is vital that we invest in children and young people's mental health in order to prevent a generation of children suffering entrenched mental health problems as adults."

"There were other difficulties in the family, some stresses around employment and finances, and then his parents separated when he was just a toddler."

[davieG]

Where children in the past depressed, certainly their lifestyles could be described as significantly worse than those of today's children where 'real' poverty was the norm for many. What with large families, many children sleeping in one bed, large numbers in small households by comparison today's kids have never had it so good.

Or have they? Something is surely wrong.

[Rincewind]

Just skimmed through it. It seems they are referring to child behavior that has alwys been around. I have no children of my own but I would have though an under five child will always and seek attention partly for security and normally from the mother. If the love is not forthcoming or if they are separated for long periods it may lead to problems. I don't see it as depression at five years old and that headline is just there to shock.. 5-10 years old I would look at other resons.

[1964FOX]

It's all about expectation to be a certain way. Even young children are bombarded by messages from every outlet possible. Easy to blame the media but it's us that feed and encourage what the media does.

[Rincewind]

Exactly. Animals in the wild are the same The young soon learn if they do some thing wrong.

Had to smile at that live planet when an older monkey kept whacking a young one around the head. It was sayin I'm the boss and don't forget it.

Society has changed over the years rgarding raising childre. If it is a lone child it may be best to put them in a day nursery at a younger age than if having brothers and sisters just to get used to having other people around.

[pSinatra]

How did we ever cope without the nanny state?

[Rincewind]

Well in the old days mothers used to stop at home to raise the kids and if you had money you hired a....

nanny

[pSinatra]

I sometimes think that a large proportion of people are neurotic about the 'protection' of children, to the point of mollycoddling.

[Daggers]

So because children never used to be diagnosed with mental health problems it must mean it never existed?

So because mental health issues are being highlighted and dealt with it must mean children are being mollycoddled?

I sometimes think that a large proportion of people are really fvcking stupid.

[pSinatra]

I'm not saying it has never existed. It has always existed & there are a lot of people who have been seriously let down. It's right that every parent should do the very best for their children, but is feeding them prozac the best answer? Is the behaviour of the parent an issue that needs addressing first?

[Zingari]

Psychiatry is just a modern form of juju and most problems that used to be described as being possessed by demons etc now just have trendier sounding scientific names

Of course psychiatrists will diagnose people with all sorts of made up convincing sounding syndromes ,they get paid handsomely for it, but it’s mostly jumble bolloxs .

Did the “Thud Experiment ” prove nothing to the gullible masses ?

http://www.cchrint.org/videos/videos-we-like/psychiatry_is_fake_science/

[Daggers]

...but is feeding them prozac the best answer?

What would be your solution for a maltreated 5yr old presenting a combination of depression and anxiety symptoms? Leave them in situ while social workers try to improve the abilities of the parents as they attend parenting classes?

Maybe you missed the point at the end of the article: Sarah Brennan, chief executive of Young Minds, said: "Intervening early when a child or young person starts struggling to cope is proven to reduce the likelihood of that young person developing much more severe and entrenched mental health problems."

[Bellend Sebastian]

Psychiatry is just a modern form of juju and most problems that used to be described as being possessed by demons etc now just have trendier sounding scientific names

Of course psychiatrists will diagnose people with all sorts of made up convincing sounding syndromes ,they get paid handsomely for it, but it’s mostly jumble bolloxs .

Did the “Thud Experiment ” prove nothing to the gullible masses ?

http://www.cchrint.o...s_fake_science/

The Scientologists got to you, then. Was it Travolta?

[Daggers]

Psychiatry is just a modern form of juju and most problems that used to be described as being possessed by demons etc now just have trendier sounding scientific names

Of course psychiatrists will diagnose people with all sorts of made up convincing sounding syndromes ,they get paid handsomely for it, but it’s mostly jumble bolloxs .

Manic depression and anxiety is "mostly jumble bolloxs"?

[purpleronnie]

The Scientologists got to you, then. Was it Travolta?

Nah I reckon he thinks its a big conspiracy by the government to make us all zombies so we can all be easily controlled and never find out what really happened to WTC 7.

[Jaspa]

Lets get them all tons of Prozac !

Yayyyy !

[Bellend Sebastian]

It's better than any of the illegal drugs I've tried

[Zingari]

Yes , in the same way that “being possessed by demons” was jumble bolloxs , and that it was only holy men and witch doctors who could cure these problems

And that’s all white coated shrinks are ,

People believed the witch doctor diagnoses at the time, but now it’s a scientific disorder name and instead of witch doctors not curing them, we now have over paid quacks not curing them.

If anyone want’s to believe that there are wonder drugs or therapy etc to cure them of life’s stresses etc , then so be it , but the problem just get’s pushed back further into the cupboard .

[Parafox]

I have had personal experience of a child with mental health issues. She was from an abusive parenting background, taken into care, left for 2 years without contact with birth parents (because of the risk).

She showed early signs of anxiety and difficult behaviours which I wont go into on here but CAMHS were involved from age 4 and she was diagnosed with Attachment Disorder for which there is no treatment only anti-depressants. 15 years late she continues to suffer and is still on medication.

I can state confidently that children do need early intervention and support when they show signs of mental health problems

[Zingari]

i wasn't being totally serious

[Parafox]

Yes , in the same way that “being possessed by demons” was jumble bolloxs , and that it was only holy men and witch doctors who could cure these problems

And that’s all white coated shrinks are ,

People believed the witch doctor diagnoses at the time, but now it’s a scientific disorder name and instead of witch doctors not curing them, we now have over paid quacks not curing them.

If anyone want’s to believe that there are wonder drugs or therapy etc to cure them of life’s stresses etc , then so be it , but the problem just get’s pushed back further into the cupboard .

Sorry mate but you're showing your ignorance here. There often is NO cure for mental health illnesses, only support and control, often with medication and therapy

[Captain...]

Stress in a child as young as 5 can only really come from one source, its parents/guardian, I think we would be better off tackling the cause of the stress than giving them anti-depressants, and I'm talking stress here, not hyperactivity or attention deficit.

We are much better off in this day and age, in some respects, but we also seem to heap more pressure and stress and strain on ourselves.

Life is essentially very simple, not dying, but we spend so much of our lives worrying about inconsequential things, getting caught up in such worries, such as status and wealth that we overlook the basics in how to make life more manageable and easier, and we project that onto our kids.

[Parafox]

Stress in a child as young as 5 can only really come from one source, its parents/guardian, I think we would be better off tackling the cause of the stress than giving them anti-depressants, and I'm talking stress here, not hyperactivity or attention deficit.

We are much better off in this day and age, in some respects, but we also seem to heap more pressure and stress and strain on ourselves.

Life is essentially very simple, not dying, but we spend so much of our lives worrying about inconsequential things, getting caught up in such worries, such as status and wealth that we overlook the basics in how to make life more manageable and easier, and we project that onto our kids.

May I respectfully refer you to my earlier post #19.

This is inherently untrue. Stress has many triggers and many sources. I agree, in an ideal world small children should be happy and free without cares or worries. I would bet that Syrian children right now are feeling extreme levels of stress.

[Captain...]

May I respectfully refer you to my earlier post #19.

This is inherently untrue. Stress has many triggers and many sources. I agree, in an ideal world small children should be happy and free without cares or worries. I would bet that Syrian children right now are feeling extreme levels of stress.

I don't think the original article was about Syrian children, but I see your point, of course some extreme events can have very traumatic effects on young children, but even so a child can overcome these things much easier than adults.

I don't think that stress and depression are genetic traits, they are learnt and developed over time and can be avoided, the raise in cases of child stress and depression is not caused by War, such as in Syria, but by changes in lifestyle, especially in the West, with things like the global economic crisis, recession and high unemployment, life is very stressful in the "developed world" people have low job security and have extra pressure put on them by trying to maintain their lifestyle and status. All of this gets passed onto kids and can cause them to get stressed.

[Parafox]

I don't think the original article was about Syrian children, but I see your point, of course some extreme events can have very traumatic effects on young children, but even so a child can overcome these things much easier than adults.

I don't think that stress and depression are genetic traits, they are learnt and developed over time and can be avoided, the raise in cases of child stress and depression is not caused by War, such as in Syria, but by changes in lifestyle, especially in the West, with things like the global economic crisis, recession and high unemployment, life is very stressful in the "developed world" people have low job security and have extra pressure put on them by trying to maintain their lifestyle and status. All of this gets passed onto kids and can cause them to get stressed.

I know the OP wasn't about Syrian kids, I was using that as an example of how stress has more than a simple trigger of parental lifestyles.

I can't fault anything else you said above, though. I do maintain that, in the case of my adopted daughter, her stresses are caused by early life trauma which she continues to struggle with and this is the case for so many adopted children.

If only people knew...