Poor mental health of children shows that our country is getting sicker - Mark Mon-Williams

Self-harm, eating disorders, anxiety and depression are becoming far too common in our children and young people. We need to start addressing the causes before it is too late. The death of a child is a parent’s worst fear, but the pain associated with knowing your child wanted to die because they could see no end to their problems is unimaginable. Tragically, a growing number of families don’t need to imagine the devastating impact of suicide because they have experienced firsthand the destruction wrought through mental health problems in children.

It has become fashionable to suggest crippling anxiety and depression reflect a lack of resilience, or are a ruse to claim benefits. This, the vilest form of victim blaming, is much easier than confessing that systematically dismantling support for children and young people has unleashed a plague of biblical proportions across the UK.

Mental ill health is but one sign of the sickness besetting the UK. Others include persistent school absences, an autism assessment crisis, a frightening increase in the number of looked-after children, poor physical health driven by an obesity epidemic, and over four million children growing up in poverty. These problems are intrinsically linked, and our report shows disadvantaged areas are hardest hit, with the greatest levels of need. Children in Yorkshire and the North of England are at greater risk of problems than their counterparts in the south.

During times of economic growth, children's health problems were concentrated in deprived regions. Now economic stagnation and the ever-worsening health of the UK's population mean the NHS is on its knees, affecting everyone in the UK - and these pressures prevent most children from getting the support they need. We must come together and find new treatments to address this pernicious disease.

Some appear to be proud that NHS spending has reached record levels. This is equivalent to boasting about huge spending on redecoration to deal with a leaky roof. We need to focus on fixing the roof and stopping the conveyor belt of childhood illness. A failure to address these problems with immediate effect is akin to maxing out a credit card and ignoring the bill that will need to be paid in the years to come. If we don’t heed our children’s cries then there will be a tidal wave of unemployment, homelessness, and crime that will afflict the UK for decades. The UK’s future now rests on us restoring health to the next generation and creating a healthy and happy population and workforce.

There is hope. Northern universities are coming together to help the UK read the thermometer and provide evidence about how to restore health to our society. Our report provides outstanding examples of successful approaches and evidence-based recommendations to help the next government nurture our country back to health. But alarm bells are shrieking and politicians from all parties must commit wholeheartedly to eradicating the mental ill health epidemic we describe in our report.

Professor Mark Mon-Williams, Professor of Psychology in the University of Leeds’ School of Psychology and Child of the North report series editor.