Depressed teens in some areas wait 11 weeeks for treatment

MORE young people are seeking help for depression, anxiety and self-harm, and waiting times to get help average 11 weeks in certain areas, new figures show.

Figures released yesterday from the Teen Counselling Service, run by the Dublin Diocese Agency, showed a 25% increase in the number of referrals for psychiatric assessment.

However, the report also showed problems with waiting times to refer young people to psychiatric help, despite Health Service Executive funding.

In Clondalkin, Dublin, one client had to wait 306 days to be seen, while the average waiting time was 77 days.

The service provided help to 400 families facing crisis in 2006. It said half of those who used the service were in second or third year in secondary school.

The proportion of teenagers in contact with the service who had behavioural problems almost trebled from 7% of the total in 2005, to 20% last year.

Family conflict was the most significant reason for contacting the service accounting for 21% of cases. The service expressed serious concern about the incidence of self-harm, which was the main reason for 8% of calls.

A further 14% of teenagers, who used the services had suicidal thoughts, while 9% had suicidal intent or had made a definite plan to take their own lives.

Mood and anxiety problems were noted in 29% of cases — an increase of 6% since 2005.

In the north Dublin area, 194 young people were on a waiting list last year, with 96% emerging as clients. In the same area, almost a fifth of clients reported that a parent was an alcoholic.

Half of all young people who were assisted by the service reported binge drinking at weekends, an increase of 7% on the previous year.

More than half of the teens came from broken homes, The report said that communication problems at home were the underlying cause of 43% of the problems reported.

Almost a quarter of clients used drugs (17% used cannabis). More than a quarter had smoked cigarettes, and the majority of these were teenage girls.

The report, launched by Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Vincent Jackson, showed that 55% of teenagers were referred by their mothers and the majority of referrals (67%) involved under-16s.

Crosscare director Conor Hickey paid tribute to the 400 teenagers and their families who put their trust in the service.

“They were brave enough to seek out our help when they were vulnerable,” he said.