Children as young as 12 presenting to mental health charity with thoughts of self-harm
Anxiety From Isolated, To Their Fearful More Support And Future Jigsaw, Anxious Young Struggle Who Jigsaw Get At The Day The The We Often Services To About And More Only Feeling Sarah That Adds Picture: Fuller/pa They Of And Cullinan, ' 'every People Are Deserve Hear Wire Need Said: Director They Distress Gareth And At Fact
Children as young as 12 were among the 1,083 young people seen by Jigsaw who expressed a desire to hurt themselves, according to research looking at presentations over a seven-year period.
The study looked at the presentations of 9,673 young people to the countrywide mental health service, with issues including levels of psychological distress, age, and gender.
Researchers from the Schools of Psychology at University College Dublin and Ulster University found 11.2% of all those young people had expressed a desire — at some stage — to hurt themselves; something lead author Neil Mac Dhonnagáin said was "quite alarming".
It found participants who had thoughts of self-harm were aged as young as 12.
The presentations took place between September 2013 and February 2019, with those attending ranging in age from 12 to 25.
Mr Mac Dhonnagáin said the main reason for presenting to Jigsaw was anxiety — something which impacted more than half of those who attended Jigsaw.
Low mood — seen as one of the indicators of depression — was cited by 40% of those who presented to Jigsaw, while other reasons for presenting given by the young people included stress, sleep changes, anger, family problems, isolating from others or withdrawal, self-criticism, low self-esteem, and panic attacks. Those contacting Jigsaw could give several reasons for doing so.
The levels of 'risky behaviour' cited by young people presenting with Jigsaw over the period was relatively low — 4.2% for alcohol and 3.7% for drugs.
Expressing suicidal thoughts is not sufficient to be seen by Camhs and Mr Mac Dhonnagáin said there was international recognition "of what is known as the 'missing middle'.
"There are a lot of people who fall between what primary care [including Jigsaw] and secondary care [including Camhs] offers.
"The My World Survey 2 from 2019 [The National Study of Youth Mental Health in Ireland] gave insight into mental health in the general population of young people. Their data showed self-harm was prevalent among young people in first year of secondary school, although it was more common among older pupils.
"They actually had higher levels of self-harm in their sample than we saw among young people coming to Jigsaw — this is to be expected to some degree as Jigsaw is more focused on mild to moderate mental health difficulties arising for young people."
Last month, Jigsaw launched its annual report and said it offered an increasing number of appointments to young people last year, alongside its highest-ever number of referrals.
Referrals to its community-based services were up by 24% year-on-year, and there was an increase of 54% in appointments offered, as well as a 104% increase in demand for its online live chat service, and a 144% increase in demand for its email support.
Jigsaw also said Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis had meant mental health services were now stretched like never before.
Sarah Cullinan, director of Services at Jigsaw, said: "Every day at Jigsaw we hear from more and more young people who are feeling isolated, fearful and anxious about the future. The fact that they often struggle to get the support they need and deserve only adds to their anxiety and distress."
- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.