Mental illness 'left untreated'

Friday, 27 June 2003 12:00 AM

Mental health disorders among children may not be being dealt with adequately, according to the results of a new survey by the Office for National Statistics.

The three-year follow-up study revealed that a quarter of children who had emotional disorders when first interviewed in 1999 had the same problems in 2002, while 43% of children who had conduct disorders had also not been able to recover.

Emotional disorders include phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression. Conduct disorders are characterised by aggressive, disruptive or antisocial behaviour. Boys are more likely to suffer from the latter, while older children are more at risk from both kinds of problem.

The mental health of the mother had a significant effect on the children's ability to deal with all disorders, while being shouted at or inappropriately disciplined, and having special educational needs were also major factors in conduct disorders.

Stressful life events, low parental income or unemployment, and having divorced parents, were also associated with mental health problems.

But as many as a third of parents with children with persistent disorders had not sought help prior to the interview, and only a quarter had used specialist health services.

Stigma, fear of making the problem worse, and lack of information about services, were identified as the key reasons for this.

Similarly, adults seem to have difficulty in shaking off mental health problems.

A separate report from the ONS, published today, showed that half of the people who had a common mental disorder - such as anxiety or depression - were still suffering with the same problems 18 months later.

Again stressful life events were a major cause of the persistent problems, as were financial worries and severe physical illness.

Only 29% of women and 17% of men had received treatment or used mental health services.

Those in lower socio-economic groups and the unemployed were less likely to recover, while the impact of persistent disorders had the affect of making employment difficult to find.

However, on a more positive note a survey commissioned by the Department of Health, also out today, has suggested that the UK is reasonably tolerant towards people with mental health problems.

The study looked at people's attitudes between 1993 and 2000, and revealed that nearly 90% of people believe that society has a responsibility to provide sufferers with the best possible care, while around three-quarters claimed that society needs to be more positive about people with mental health problems, and that mental illness is an illness just like any other.

However, 20% of respondents did suggest that something about people with mental illnesses made it easy to tell them apart from 'normal' people.

A study earlier this year suggested that people suffering from mental health problems were not being provided with appropriate care, as GPs were overstretched, and specialist services were often poor.

The alleged failure to invest in good services could be a false economy as a study last month claimed that the cost of mental illness to the UK as a whole is £77bn.

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