NHS referrals for children with anxiety have doubled since pre-Covid
The number of children being referred to NHS mental health services for help with anxiety has hit the highest levels ever recorded at 500 a day – more than double pre-Covid levels – a new investigation has revealed.
Analysis of NHS data from The Guardian reveals that between 2023 and 2024 over 200,000 children were referred to mental health services with a primary cause of anxiety. In 2019-2020 – the year before the pandemic – it was just under 99,000. Between 2016 and 2017, there were just under 4,000 referrals.
Why are more children experiencing anxiety?
The causes of referrals for anxiety are not recorded by NHS data, but experts consulted by The Guardian named a range of factors behind spiking rates. Ever-increasing academic pressure, especially around exams; the influence of social media and cyberbullying; pressure around how people look; rising poverty levels and the cost of living crisis were all suggested.
In interviews with the paper, NHS leaders labelled the dramatic uptick in anxiety referrals 'staggering' and 'shocking.' The demand for care, meanwhile, is resulting in thousands of children being on 'unacceptably long' waiting lists for help.
Andy Bell, chief executive of charity the Centre for Mental Health, said: 'These stark figures underline the urgency of addressing children and young people’s mental health today. In the last few years, especially since 2020, there has been a sharp rise in the numbers of children and young people reporting diagnosable levels of mental health difficulties, including anxiety.'
Laura Bunt, the chief executive of YoungMinds, a children’s mental health charity, said: 'We know for many, growing up today is incredibly tough. Pressures are piling up from the cost of living crisis, devastating wars, the climate emergency and unaffordable housing. Add on intense academic pressure and an uncertain future, it’s no wonder more young people than ever before are struggling with their mental health.'
Emma Paveley, an interim assistant director of the NHS Confederation’s mental health network, said: 'These figures show a staggering rise in the number of children and young people being referred for anxiety treatment.'
Some of the increase in referrals could be a result of more data being submitted by NHS organisations and schools offering mental health support. Paveley, though, said that the number of children being referred had clearly increased: 'with a significant rise during the pandemic and following the cost of living crisis'.
Dr Victoria Tzortziou Brown, a vice-chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'This data tallies with what GPs are reporting from the frontline: increasing numbers of children and young people presenting with symptoms of anxiety and other related mental health conditions.'
Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s national mental health director, said that services are under 'unprecedented pressures.'
'The NHS is expanding services to treat more children and young people than ever before, including rolling out hundreds of mental health teams in schools.' Concerned parents or guardians should look at the Every Mind Matters website for advice, ask their GP for help or seek advice from their local mental health service, she added.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said that there are plans for walk-in mental health hubs in every community and specialist mental health support in every school. 'It is unacceptable that too many children and young people are not receiving the care they deserve, and we know that waits for services are far too long. We are determined to change that.'
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