1 in 10 Children Has A Mental Health Problem That Needs Treatment

I was going to discuss the Independent's summary of the British Medical Association's Board of Science report  that 1 in 10 Children Has A Mental Health Problem That Needs Treatment. However, Shinga has reviewed the summary and associated comment and finds them striking for their "poverty of imagination".

I agree with Shinga that the report tells us nothing that would startle anyone's granny. Children don't have the luxury of time. Speaking to the Independent, Avis Johns of YoungMinds, the mental health charity, said:

The majority of adults with mental illness are able to trace their symptoms back to childhood. It is essential we act now to prevent generations of children being blighted.

I couldn't agree more - but what is Avis Johns proposing? Sure Start isn't working. Hand-wringing isn't working - but then, it's not supposed to. The extra investment isn't working (but like the expensive Sure Start programme - that's getting to be old news). UnLtd funds lots of innovative projects that are aimed at improving family life or the physical, emotional and cognitive well-being of children. Do we need more seed-corn projects like that?

The cost of doing nothing is vast. So is the cost of achieving nothing.

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project