Statistics taken from the Mental Health Foundation (www.mentalhealth.org.uk):

• 1 in 10 children and young people suffer from a mental health problem.
• The most common health problems that affect children and young people are depression, self-harm, anxiety (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder, ADHD and eating disorders.
• 20% of adolescents experience a mental health problem in any given year.
• 50% of mental health problems are established by age 14 and 75% by age 24.
• Surveys suggest that more children and young people have problems with their mental health today than 30 years ago. This is due to the changes in growing up as a child – unhealthier diets, less exercise and outdoor play, more social and peer pressure in society etc.
• 10% of 5 to 16 year olds have a clinically diagnosable mental problem. However 70% of children and adolescents who experience mental health problems have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age.