Depression increases among British children

MORE than a million children in Britain could be suffering from anxiety or depression.

A survey of parents found three-quarters (75%) said peer pressure and stresses at school had the biggest impact on their child’s emotional health.

Youngsters were also prone to stress, panic attacks and depression, according to a fifth (17%) of the 400 parents questioned by Norwich Union Healthcare.

The Growing Pains study also found that 5% of parents were worried their child was at risk of developing an eating disorder.

Other concerns highlighted by the parents, all with children between the ages of five and 15, were not wanting to go to school (33%), nervous habits like nail-biting (16%) and stomach problems (11%).

Three-quarters (74%) of parents said they worried lack of communication in families could contribute to problems with youngsters.

Dinah Morley, director of children’s mental health charity YoungMinds, said: “The results of the study clearly show mental health problems are rising among adolescents in the UK. As for why this is occurring, we can only point to a number of contemporary factors which impact on adolescents, undermining their plans for the future and setting goals which are virtually unattainable.”

The survey also found that more than half (58%) of parents admitted they would not know where to go for help.