Am I just paranoid...

[Melba]

..or am I right in thinking that somehow or other mental health checks for all seven year olds will turn into mental health checks for all 3/4 year old that early years staff can do for no extra money, support or respect!

 

Not that I think that the teachers who may have to do it at seven will get any money, support or respect either.

Edited September 26, 2013 by Melba

[Poohshouse]

Must have missed this news story?

[Upsy Daisy]

I haven't seen anything about mental health checks for children. Can you link to it Melba?

To be honest I can't imagine how you could screen for mental health issues in pre-school children if it involves asking them questions. They live in the moment at that age. Can you imagine the answers you'd get?

 

[Melba]

I saw it on the BBC news this morning and they discussed it on the Wright Show.

 

Surely this is a major part of what all of us are doing anyway. Do they imagine we would just ignore what we thought was a serious mental health problem?

[Beau]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24263452

 

Children as young as seven should be tested in school for their mental health, a Cambridge academic has said.

In an article for the British Medical Journal, Simon Nicholas Williams argues that screening pupils at that age would mean problems could be diagnosed and treated earlier.

 

[sunnyday]

Thanks for adding the link - not sure what to make of that really - isn't 'Mental Health' part of all teachers remit anyway? Perhaps not.......all very interesting.......

(Melba my biggest worry would be if they decided to test practitioners - I would be found wanting )

[Panders]

oh Sunnyday that was my first laugh out loud moment of the day, bless you for that and thank you

[Melba]

Good point, Sunnyday, not sure what the result of testing me would be!

[sunnyday]

oh Sunnyday that was my first laugh out loud moment of the day, bless you for that and thank you

 

My 'issues' are not a laughing matter! :blink:

[Susan]

Thanks for adding the link - not sure what to make of that really - isn't 'Mental Health' part of all teachers remit anyway? Perhaps not.......all very interesting.......

 

And when we do flag up worries and alerts, it takes as long as any other special need to be recognised and provision made, if at all.

[hali]

you with issues sunny?????? - never :ph34r:

[Guest]

I'm not sure a test is the right term but a screening just like they do for other health issues may be something that would flag this up so it wasn't such a forgotten and stigmatised illness. I also think that if this did happen it should be done sensitively and by a health professional.

My daughter changed her personality from yr3 it was very hard to get this flagged up with doctors, school etc lots of excuses hormones has something happened at home. She had an eating disorder this went then self harm the list was endless and by the time she left school she was seeing a councillor all to no avail. She fell pregnant at 17 after a hard teenage path she had another child a year later then her relationship broke down she had a nervous breakdown . We eventually looked after our grandchildren for 2 yrs while she saw different doctors and substance abuse councillors she had become alcohol and drug dependent and made several attempts to take her life. She was diagnosed with a personality disorder in her twenties( there are several types hers can give her paranoia an addictive personality and make unreliable decisions when in full flow) but with help is a brill mum in a good marriage and proud mum to 6 children. If there had been something there when she was young perhaps the whole trauma would not have been so extreme.

Perhaps there should be an indicator scale as with other syndromes ect so that practitioners can say mmm little Joe who is strange/extreme/introverted touches 5 out of 10 boxes we need to keep an eye on this and refer when needed. Signs and symptoms are often overlooked or lumped in with behavioural problems and they are those problems but with other things less tangible tagged on. I am not sure if I explain this well if it was adhd or autism as a whole we would as practitioners be aware of the indicators and do what we do best but mental health in children is hard to spot so would it not help if it was flagged up more not by a test but overall training etc.Our Lea has introduced some training on childhood mental health issues but only for older children but it is a start. I am very passionate that mental health should be recognised and treated fairly not as a second class illness.

Now having said that if Ofsted turn up tomorrow I would probably have several indicators !

[Upsy Daisy]

Thank you for sharing your personal experiences, suewhit.

 

Your comments make a lot of sense. Practitioners should be trained to recognise the indicators of a disorder or mental health problem and know how to make an appropriate referral.

It's the referral part I have a problem with. I have a friend who was asked today by her child's head teacher how she should go about referring the child to a community paediatrician.

Also, once the referral is made, lots of children are turned away from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. In some areas children are only accepted for treatment if they are at very high risk of causing serious harm to themselves or others. In our area the child needs to be in crisis but to have lived in a stable home for at least a year and they won't deal with anything observed in school because the Ed Psych should pick that up.

Until there is a decent system to refer to which will assess and, if necessary treat, children who are showing only subtle signs of mental health problems there is little point in screening the children.

 

There seems little

[sunnyday]

Thank you for sharing Sue x

[Guest]

I agree with you Upsy Daisy if there is not a good infrastructure to refer to and ensure the treatment there would be little point. However things are changing be it very slowly any changes that bring it to the attention and promote discussion right or wrong cannot be a bad thing.