‘Frightening’ statistics on children’s mental health revealed in MPs cross-party report Nicole Weinstein Tuesday, April 20, 2021
One in every seven primary school-aged children had a diagnosable mental illness in 2020 and 75 per cent of mental illnesses begin before the age of eighteen, research from The All-Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood has revealed.
The report highlights the rise in probable mental health disorder among primary school children PHOTO Adobe Stock Register now to continue reading Thank you for visiting
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Tragic Big Brother star Nikki Grahame was the victim of a series of care failures that led to her entirely avoidable death from anorexia, those closest to the 38-year-old have claimed.
They have also revealed Nikki s desperate struggle to get treatment over the last six months, during which time she was discharged from hospital twice while severely unwell, on one occasion weighing just 22kg – the equivalent of a seven-year-old child.
The last time she was discharged, on Thursday April 8, she weighed less than 31kg. Just 12 hours later, she was dead. If she hadn t have been discharged, I think she d still be with us today, said one friend who has been closely involved with her medical case over a number of years.
Many people stopped doing in-person therapy during lockdown
Credit: Hannah Agosta
There are no tissues on the table, and I’ve forgotten to get a glass of water – because while I’ve previously met my therapist face-to-face in a serene office, successive lockdowns mean that, like everything else, mental health support has largely moved online.
More of us than ever sought out therapy during the past year, with NHS waiting lists lengthening daily, and private psychotherapists fielding a barrage of enquiries. According to a survey by the Royal College of Psychiatrists last May, 43 per cent of its members had seen an ‘alarming’ increase in urgent referrals since the Covid outbreak. And earlier this month, a University of Oxford study found that not only has the pandemic taken a toll on mental health across the board, but that 34 per cent of Covid survivors are at greater risk of anxiety and mood disorders.
People with eating disorders have faced a hellish time during the pandemic, socially isolated and facing reduced services, just when changes in routine have put them at their most vulnerable. The heartbreaking death of former Big Brother contestant Nikki Grahame at the age of 38 has only brought to the fore how many others have been silently suffering.
Grahame had struggled with anorexia nervosa since childhood. Just a week before her death, her mum Sue Grahame spoke of how lockdown restrictions had impacted her daughter’s mental health – from the social isolation to the closure of gyms.
“Last year really put the cap on it,” she told This Morning. “The isolation. it’s been really hard for her. Really hard. She felt very cut off and spending too much time on her own with not enough to think about other than food and that took a grip as well.”