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BUDGET CUTS MEAN POOR MENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
In these times of budget cuts, austerity measures and economic uncertainty mental health would seem to be an main areas experiencing severe cutbacks and lack of funding.
One area particularly hard hit is mental health care for children and young people.
YoungMinds, the leading children and young people’s mental health charity, has revealed that millions of pounds have been cut from children and young people’s mental health services in the last year.
Research undertaken by YoungMinds has revealed that there has been a significant amount cut in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) budgets in the last year.
Further analysis from YoungMinds reveals:
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75% of Mental Health Trusts have frozen/cut their budgets between 2013/14 and 2014/15
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67% of CCGs* have frozen/cut their budgets between 2013/14 and 2014/15 (Clinical commissioning groups are NHS organisations set up to organise the delivery of NHS services in England.)
It has been estimated that the tens of millions in cuts equates to almost 2,000 staff that could otherwise be supporting mental health problems across the UK.
David Cameron has created a mental health crisis that can't be solved with £1billion worth of funding
Earlier this year, austerity policies were described as “profoundly disturbing” to the nation’s mental health in a letter signed by hundreds of psychiatrists, psychotherapists and other experts in the field ...demand for mental health services has risen by a staggering 20 per cent over the last five years - while mental health service budgets were cut by 8 per cent in real terms. The Tories have created a much bigger mental health crisis than they can make up for with £1billion of funding.
Mental health services currently receive just 13 per cent of NHS funding, despite accounting for more than a fifth (23 per cent) of the disease burden in the UK.
Mental health services for children and young people in England were cut by £35million last year – The Independent
NHS spending on children's mental health services in England has fallen by more than 6% in real terms since 2010, equivalent to nearly £50m.
Child and adolescent mental health services are under increasing pressure, juggling tight resources and with increasing demand.
In November, a 16-year-old girl from Devon spent two nights in a police cell as no psychiatric bed was available.
There can be unacceptably long waiting times too – The BBC
Children can wait years for mental health care.
One child was kept waiting for more than four years. In another case, a 13-year-old girl killed herself after a long wait for an appointment. Youngsters have succumbed to self-harm and eating disorders and been excluded from school while waiting to see a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) specialist.
Figures obtained from some regional healthcare authorities indicate that children referred to CAMHS can wait anything from days to years for their first assessment, depending on where they live – The Sunday Times
Concerned parents too are naturally feeling under increased pressure. T
Parents in the UK are more likely to worry about their children's mental well-being than any other health issue - Some 40% of parents said their children's emotional well-being was a primary concern - The BBC
During the last year I have noted a 60% increase in teenagers under the age of 16 coming to see me, and a 30% increase in children under the age of 11.
As a result I considered it necessary to increase my expertise in this area, and in June of this year I achieved a Diploma in Paediatric Hypnotherapy.
If your child is experiencing any kind of mental, emotional or behavioural problems please contact me immediately for an informal chat. It could take a load off your mind.
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MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness is a very simple form of meditation that was little known in the West until recently. Appropriated from ancient Buddhist roots, mindfulness meditation has been promoted and and championed as a therapeutic tool in recent years by Jon Kabat-Zinn and others.
Mindfulness could be described as a philosophy incorporating many differing styles of meditative technique. A typical meditation might consist of focusing full attention on your breath as it flows in and out of the body. Focusing on each breath in this way allows you to relax into a meditative state and to observe your thoughts as they arise in your mind. By simply observing, experiencing and accepting the subjective experience by degrees, it is possible to let go and to stop struggling with thoughts and feelings.
Through the process of experience and acceptance you come to realise that -
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thoughts come and go naturally of their own accord.
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you are not your thoughts. You can watch and be aware as thoughts appear in your mind seemingly from thin air; and watch again as they disappear like soap bubbles bursting.
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thoughts and feelings are transient. Whether negative or positive thoughts and feelings come and they go. Ultimately you have a choice about whether respond or to act on them or not.
Mindfulness is about observation without criticism.
Mindfulness is about being compassionate with yourself.
Mindfulness is a way of letting go of negative thoughts and feelings.
Mindfulness allows you to be aware of negative thought patterns and to let them go before they tip you into a downward spiral.
Mindfulness begins the gentle process of allowing you to control your thoughts and feelings, and therefore your life.
When unhappy or anxiety provoking thoughts hover overhead you learn to simply accept their presence and to regard them as if they were black clouds in the sky; to simply observe them with open-minded curiosity as they drift past.
Over time, mindfulness can bring about long-term changes in mood, levels of happiness, and feelings of well-being.
Scientific studies have shown that meditation and the practise of mindfulness can not only prevents depression, but also positively affect the patterns underlying day-to-day anxiety, stress, irritability and other 'negative' mood states.
Other studies have shown that people who meditate regularly can enjoy long term health benefits. They see their doctors less often and spend fewer days in hospital. Memory and concentration improves, creativity increases and reaction times become faster.
Despite these proven benefits, however, many people are still a little wary when they hear the word meditation. It is important to note that although mindfulness meditation may be associated with some eastern religions, is not itself a religion, it is simply a method of mental training. You do not have to subscribe to any religious beliefs or sit cross-legged on the floor, although you can if you want to. I usually recommend people who come to my classes sit comfortably in a chair.
It is also possible to practise mindful awareness wherever you are and whatever you are doing: at home or at work, on the bus or a train. You can meditate more or less anywhere and I like to practice mindfulness while walking, or even whilst doing the washing up.
Meditation is not complicated, and it is definitely not about ‘success’ or ‘failure’. Even when meditation feels difficult and you think you are not moving forward you will find you have learned something valuable about yourself and the workings of the mind. You will have raised your own self-awareness and thus have benefited psychologically.
Meditation helps concentration and the ability to focus the mind. It is about seeing the world with greater clarity, and also being aware of how you truly feel so that you can take wiser and more considered action to change those things in your life which need to be changed.
Meditation helps cultivate a deep and compassionate awareness that allows you to assess your goals and find the optimum path towards realising those things in life that are most important to you.
I hold meditation classes at Oak Lodge, Fairlight every Tuesday morning at 10.30am. Please contact me for more information.
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