The NHS refuses help for mental health problems of children because they are not considered ill enough.

Family doctors said children who were anxious, depressed or self-harming were denied help by NHS mental health teams.

Even children under the age of 18 with eating disorders or psychosis are denied treatment because they are not considered ill enough to require treatment.

In one case, an emergency team in Wales would not immediately assess the mental health of a child who was actively suicidal who was detained from jumping from a building that day, unless the GP provided a written referral.

The shocking state of NHS child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) is revealed in a survey of 1,001 family doctors in the UK for the charity Youth Mental Health4.

CAMHS teams have already been unable to cope with the pandemic, but they have been burdened even more by the impact on young people’s mental health.

The results of the survey, released by the Guardian, show that in some areas it takes up to two years for children and young people to receive help after being referred by their family doctor.

Experts say young people’s lack of access to treatment commonly further deteriorates their mental health, leading them to self-harm, drop out of school, and seek help in the emergency room.

Nearly one in five (18%) doctors interviewed know of a patient who attempted or committed suicide after being refused treatment.

In fact, a handful of primary care doctors said the situation was so bad that they stopped referencing teenagers to CAMHS altogether and instead ordered them to go to the emergency room, although it was inappropriate.

“It’s so terrible in our area that it might not even exist,” said a doctor from Yorkshire and the Humber.

Dr. Nihara Krause, consultant clinical psychologist and founder of stem4, called the wait times “really shocking.”