Young people getting 'lost' in the mental health system

Being a teenager is one of the most unpredictable times in someone’s life. The NHS mental health system is failing so many young people, when they turn 18, allowing them to fall through the cracks in the ‘underfunded adult system’.

There are many different views and interpretations of when a child becomes an adult. It can sometimes become confusing as to when they should start being treated differently in all areas of life. However, legally speaking, it is 18.

The funding for adult mental health services within the NHS is dramatically lower than that of the children’s unit ‘Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services’ or CAHMS that it is known as. This puts young people at an increased risk of becoming worse or relapsing after making significant progress when they are transferred to the adult sector. Depending on the severity of their conditions some people mentally cannot afford to be lost in the system like this.

One young person stated at a Q&A with Jeremy Hunt that “Some young people benefit from having an end point,” says consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist Rory Conn. “Transitions can be helpful to encourage change.”

When young people are transferred, they can easily feel misplaced, especially when they end up being around other patients so much older than them."This fragmentation leads to nobody being in charge and gaps in the system which our young people fall through” another person stated to Jeremy Hunt.

The mission is to alter the system in order to allow those most vulnerable to receive continued high-quality care. Too many people are being failed by the NHS’ inability to provide a continuity of care.

#youngpeople #mentalhealth #NHS