Government urged to tackle the youth mental health crisis

Dr Alex George, the UK Youth Mental Health Ambassador, has urged the Government to take immediate action to tackle the youth mental health crisis. Dr George said Britain’s children are among the unhappiest in the developed world and warned that the Government “needs to act now” to alleviate the “growing epidemic” of mental ill-health among youngsters. In a letter to ministers, Dr George called for mental health training in schools, experts in all schools, universities and workplaces who can spot mental health problems, and a network of support hubs for youngsters. He added: “If it is mandatory to have fire drills; you can’t argue there are no grounds to have people who can intervene to prevent a suicide.” It comes after a survey of teachers from mental health charity YoungMinds found 78% say pupils’ mental health has got worse since they started teaching. The analysis of 1,001 primary and secondary school teachers also found that two-thirds of those who started their career during the pandemic believe children’s mental health had deteriorated in that period.
Source: Sunday Express