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The State of Children’s Mental Health
According to the 2023 Mental Health of Children and Young People in England report, it’s estimated that 1 in 5 children and young people in the UK have a probable mental health disorder. And it’s due to get worse.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health reports that “mental health problems in England are set to increase by 63% in 2030 if recent trends continue”. That’s 1 in 3 children and young people in the UK with a probable mental health disorder. Listening to my 16 year old and my 13 year old tell me about what’s going on with their friends, I’d argue that we’re nearly there already.
The Global Mind Mental Health Report conducted in 2023 ranks the UK at the bottom for mental health across 71 internet-enabled countries.
Read ‘The Mental State of the World in 2023’ report
But this is not just a challenge in the UK. Countries such as the US, Canada and Australia are also struggling with a crisis in children’s mental health. Australia is even looking at banning social media for under 16 year olds in an attempt to improve children’s mental health. Personally, I think they’re looking in the wrong place.
The Cost of Children’s Mental Health
This growing societal issue isn’t just impacting on families and healthcare services in the UK, but businesses too. A 2024 study conducted by the Nuffield Trust found that “two-thirds of parents take time off work due to children’s mental health issues”. 13% leave their jobs altogether (Deloitte UK, 2024).
In 2023, the total cost of mental ill health costs in England alone was £300 billion. Broken down, the total cost to individuals and families was £175 billion, the total cost to businesses was £101 billion and the total cost to the UK government was £25 billion. This was an increase from 2022.
Despite stacks of evidence pointing to an urgent need for early and preventative mental health care and the fact that prevention is much less costly than treatment, the majority of these costs were either on treatment or costs associated with mental health disorders.
The average cost of delivering six counselling or group CBT sessions in school is £229 per child. Once referred to CAMHS the cost jumps up £2,338. And these are costs for just treating the children with little support for parents or carers.
Solving the Children’s Mental Health Crisis
The children’s mental health crisis isn’t going to be solved by pharmaceutical companies or app developers. It’s not going to be solved in therapists’ rooms or in doctors’ offices. And, it’s not going to be solved by children taking a few deep breaths, practicing yoga or by playing by themselves on platforms designed to improve their own mental health. O
‘It’s your problem, it’s down to you to fix it’ isn’t going to work, and it’s not right to expect this of children. Therapy will work for a while, but not if the child isn’t supported by others close to them. We need to address the problems further upstream.
It comes as no surprise that researchers, mental health professionals, the NHS, the World Health Organisation and the Mental State of the World report all acknowledge relationships as a key determinant of mental health.
“(T)he risk of mental health challenges in adulthood are four times lower if you have close family relationships. Again, it was wealthier countries, such as those in the Core Anglosphere (UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand), that reported the lowest closeness to many adult family members (23%) and the least stable and loving childhood homes (39%).”
Mental State of the World report, 2023
It’s long been acknowledged that children who do well, even those who have experienced adversity, have a stable and committed relationship with at least one trusting adult. (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2015.p.1).
lumin&us® has been created alongside families by social workers, therapists, educators and mental health professionals as a cost-effective, early and preventative solution to the children’s mental health crisis.
“Thank you for creating these resources. It is lovely to see more play-based support for families, especially from a team who are very skilled and clearly care about improving well-being for children and parents.”
Counselor and Psychotherapist working with families
lumin&us® works by supporting parents and carers to provide professional, frontline early mental health and wellbeing support for their children through fun, therapeutic games and activities tailored to their child’s specific needs. Time spent playing with their children also helps to build, develop and strengthen their relationship, an essential for good mental health.
In clinical trials with families, 81% of parents and carers who used lumin&us® regularly reported an increase in closeness. 68% reported reduced conflict with their child.
Clinically-proven, certifed for use in the NHS by ORCHA and used by 32,000 families and professionals, lumin&us® is already changing mental health outcomes for families everyday – for less than 5p per day.
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This post was written by Lisa Merryweather-Millard, Director of Beacon Services Resources CIC, the research and development arm of Beacon Family Services CIC, and Co-Founder of lumin&us®. Lisa is an educator, former secondary school senior leader with a passion for children’s mental health.
