A teenage boy who barricaded himself into a home in Letterkenny for a number of days with access to firearms and ammunition is receiving medical assessment at a Garda station in Co Donegal.

According to details released under the Freedom of Information Act, more than 50 kids have been on the list for more than two years.

New research has found that parents of teenagers who self-harm or have suicidal ideation can deal better with associated stress by partaking in a 16-week course that includes mindfulness.

10% of Child and Adolescent Mental Health appointments were unattended last year.

A Vision for Change – a strategy document published in 2006 that set out the direction of mental health services in Ireland - recommended the establishment of 48 rehabilitation teams based on the current population.

Specialist services are needed for children and teenagers with autism. It should encompass other conditions that come with it, writes Victoria White

Mental health inspectors have criticised the HSE for a series of failings at adult inpatient psychiatric units including admission of children, inadequate physical assessments and occupational therapy and for not labelling residents’ personal property.

Elisha’s mother Grainne, has kept her late daughter’s Facebook page as both a memorial to Elisha and for young people and adults who suffer with mental health difficulties to help guide them through their distress.

Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on Mental Health, James Browne, says Government funding needs to be managed carefully.

A HSE mental health unit in a Dublin hospital where patients could not access a variety of health services and where communal rooms had a “stark” appearance has been criticised by the Mental Health Commission (MHC).

Children as young as nine have contacted a new legal helpline run by the Children’s Rights Alliance.

The body which reviews the deaths of children known to care services has urged the government to address the lack of adequate mental health services after outlining how it has been a factor in some of the cases it has reviewed.

"He told me he was unhappy because he was so bold all the time and he wanted to go to heaven so he wouldn't make me sad anymore."

Mental health services are at crisis point as staffing shortages are expected to worsen, a psychiatric watchdog has warned.

There can hardly be an area where hope, where optimism can be such a catalyst for recovery as it is when individuals or families are confronted with mental health difficulties.

The staffing deficit in the specialist teams that are treating children who have mental health difficulties is so great that €40m would be required to bring them to the levels recommended by the Government’s national mental health policy.

Mental health supports and recovery options are just a phone call or a text away.

The HSE figures, obtained by Fianna Fail, show include almost 400 waiting longer than 12 months.

Opposition leader Micheál Martin is to raise the staffing crisis that has led to the closure to new referrals of a specialist service for children undergoing a mental health crisis in Cork in the context of his party’s confidence and supply arrangement with the Government, which Fine Gael is seeking to extend.

Mental health campaigners have said the latest critical report on the state of services should act as a wake-up call to government.

The Mental Health Commission has said the buck stops with the Government and health minister after its latest annual report said continuing failings in the mental health system indicate “a lack of interest and motivation” from those in authority.

There were 86 admissions of children to adult psychiatric units in 2017, a jump of 28% on the previous year.

There is a commitment to provide an additional €55m for mental health services next year, Health Minister Simon Harris has said.

Some of those working in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are “pessimistic” about its future and are frustrated with aspects of how it works.

Where a child lives is dramatically impacting on how quickly they receive vital public health services, with children in Cork and Kerry at a serious disadvantage.

A lack of sensitivity and use of confusing clinical language are among the challenges identified by young people using mental health services, according to a new report from the Ombudsman for Children.

Children are being let down by public bodies such as the HSE and Tusla who fail to keep their best interests at heart and by a mental health service where psychiatrists are not routinely available to suicidal young people.

Almost 2,700 children are now waiting to be seen by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, with a 10% increase in just one month in the number of young people waiting for more than a year.

Reviews into the deaths of children in care criticise how some cases were allowed to “drift” before meaningful action was taken, and the lack of coordination between social workers and other professionals such as Public Health Nurses and mental health services.

The HSE has defended its efforts to recruit staff in mental health care following criticisms that it was too accepting of chronic vacancies and shortages in the sector.

Health bosses have been accused of “abusing” children with mental health issues by neglecting their needs.

WE SAID we would do better. Time and time again, we have said we will do better, writes Joyce Fegan

Overdosing on drugs as a means of adolescent self-harm is a strong predictor of suicide, and understanding the probable triggers can help with prevention strategies.

A mother whose 14-year-old daughter took her own life last month is calling for a self-care programme to be introduced in primary and secondary schools nationwide.

Seventy children of school-going age died by suicide last year as mental health professionals begged for more staff.