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Key statistics

Key statistics about children and young people's mental health

Children's mental health is everybody's business

  • 1 in 10 children and young people aged 5 - 16 suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder - that is around three in every class1.
  • Between 1 in 12 and 1 in 15 children and young people deliberately self-harm2 and around 25,000 are admitted to hospital every year due to the severity of their injuries3.
  • Over half of all adults with mental health problems were diagnosed in childhood. Less than half were treated appropriately at the time4.
  • Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer from severe depression5.
  • Over 8,000 children under 10 years old suffer from severe depression6.
  • 45% of children in care have a mental health disorder - these are some of the most vulnerable people in our society7.
  • 95% of imprisoned young offenders have a mental health disorder. Many of them are struggling with more than one type8.

Sources

1 Office for National Statistics (2004). Census 2001: national report for England and Wales. London: Office for National Statistics.

2 Mental Health Foundation (2006). Truth hurts: report of the National Inquiry into self-harm among young people. London: Mental Health Foundation

3 Fox, C. & Hawton, K. (2004). Deliberate self-harm in adolescence. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

4 Kim-Cohen, J., Caspi, A., Moffitt, TE., et al (2003): Prior juvenile diagnoses in adults with mental disorder. Archives of general psychiatry, Vol 60, pp.709-717

5 Office for National Statistics (2004). Census 2001: national report for England and Wales. London: Office for National Statistics.

6 Office for National Statistics (2004). Census 2001: national report for England and Wales. London: Office for National Statistics

7 Meltzer, H., Gatward, R., Corbin, T., et al. (2003). The mental health of young people looked after by local authorities in England. London: Stationery Office.

8 Office for National Statistics (1997): Psychiatric morbidity among young offenders in England and Wales. London: Office for National Statistics.