More than a million children are suffering from anxiety or depression according to parents, new research reveals today.
More than a million children are suffering from anxiety or depression according to parents, new research reveals today.
Three-quarters (75%) of the nation’s parents say peer pressure and school stresses such as bullying and exams have the greatest impact on their child’s emotional health and wellbeing.
And combined with societal pressure about body image, kids across the country are prone to stress, panic attacks and depression according to nearly a fifth (17%) of mums and dads questioned in Norwich Union Healthcare’s "Growing Pains" study.
Commenting on the findings, Dinah Morley, director of children’s mental health charity YoungMinds, said: "The results of the ‘Growing Pains’ study clearly show that mental health problems are rising amongst adolescents in the UK - many young people feel desperately anxious about how they are going to take their place in the adult world. 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 study of more than 400 parents of children aged five to 15 was commissioned by Norwich Union Healthcare as it launches a national initiative to help parents get the best support for their child’s emotional and physical wellbeing.
Working with Dr Foster, the health insurer has developed an online information guide to children’s health services as part of its www.personalhealthmanager.co.uk website. It’s designed to help the increasing numbers of worried parents who feel unsupported.
More than half (58%) admit they wouldn’t know where to go for help because of a lack of information and over a fifth (21%) think that seeing their GP about their child’s mental health would be a waste of time.
Again, more than half (55%) of parents questioned don’t think there’s enough health services specifically for children in their area and seven in 10 (69%) believe the Government should be investing more in the provision of mental health services for children and young people.
Dr Doug Wright, clinical development manager at Norwich Union Healthcare, said: "It’s often the case that while children’s services are available locally, parents don’t know where to look for information and advice on what they can access in their area.
"By developing this online information facility we’re aiming to provide parents with the tools they need to support their children through times of anxiety."
The Norwich Union Healthcare "Growing Pains" study also found:
- More than three quarters (78%) of parents say their children are under far greater pressure than they were when they were growing up
- One in 20 (5%) parents worry their child is at risk of developing an eating disorder as a result of today’s pressures. Other worries also include not wanting to go to school (33%), nervous habits such as nail biting (16%) and unexplained stomach problems (11%)
- 70% of mums are more likely to talk directly to their child than dads (61%) if they think there’s a problem - four per cent say they’d do nothing unless their child asked them directly for help
- A quarter (24%) of parents say they feel out of touch or distant from their child and three quarters (74%) worry that lack of communication in families could be contributing to problems
- More than half (52%) of parents say that knowing what health services are available for their children in an area would play a part in their decision on where to move
- Regionally, bullying is the biggest issue for kids in London (19%)
- While parents in Scotland fear that the pressure of exams and school work is the biggest issue for Scots children (25%).
Personal Health Manager includes information on the emergency department, inpatient and surgical services available at NHS hospitals across the country, as well as details of paediatric consultants. Parents can also search for child and adolescent mental health services across the UK.*
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Media contacts:
Jo Misson, Charlotte Ruddlesdin or Matt Buchanan at QBO Bell Pottinger on 020 7861 2424.
Norwich Union press office contacts:
James Evans 01904 452791 Out of hours 07800 699 525
Louise Soulsby 01904 452617 Out of hours 07800 699 526
David Gwyer 01904 452828 Out of hours 07800 699508
Notes to editors:
*Non customers are eligible for one month’s free trial of the Personal Health Manager but the 24 hour GP helpline and stress helpline is not part of this trial.
Norwich Union Healthcare commissioned TNS Global to question a representative sample of parents across Great Britain. The survey among 415 parents of 5 to 15-year-olds took place between August 2004.
About Norwich Union Healthcare
- Norwich Union Healthcare was founded in 1990 as the healthcare arm of Norwich Union and now provides a range of income protection and private medical insurance products that cover over 750,000 lives. It is one of the largest providers of income protection and private medical insurance in the UK
- Norwich Union Healthcare is a member of the General Insurance Standards Council, the Association of British Insurers and the Financial Ombudsman Service
- Norwich Union’s news releases and a selection of images are available from Aviva’s internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media.
About Dr Foster
- Dr Foster is the leading independent authority on healthcare quality in the UK. It publishes information which is accessible to the general public and provides information analysis to the professional healthcare community
- An independent Ethics Committee with substantial powers to enforce editorial and research integrity oversees the organisation
- Further information is available at www.drfoster.co.uk.
About YoungMinds
YoungMinds is the national children’s mental health charity, based in London and working across the four countries of the UK. It works to improve the recognition and understanding of children’s mental health, as well as advocating for good child and adolescent mental health services. It provides information, training and consultancy to all professionals working with children, information material for parents and young people as well as a parents telephone helpline. Further information about children’s mental health and YoungMinds can be found on www.youngminds.org.uk.