Berkshire-based youth counselling charity say demand for support has "skyrocketed"
No 5 youth counselling charity - which is based in Reading - say they've seen a "massive" increase in demand caused by anxiety over covid-19.
Since September their referrals are up 125% with many cases resulting in self-harm and dietary problems.
The charity's Carly Newman says demand has "skyrocketed" in the last 3-4 months:
"Young people are really struggling the demand we're seeing now is based on months and months of lockdown and a massive amount of increased anxiety based on the second lockdown, return to school and what the future is going to look like.
She continues:
"Young people are worried about bringing Covid home from school and being the reason why their families are unwell and young people are really receptive to the pressures going on at home, so where their families are experiencing financial pressures and job losses young people are much less likely to talk to their families about how they are feeling. That means young people internalise how they are feeling and by the time they talk about things they are in a much more severe experience of mental health.
Carly says anxiety often manifests itself in two ways:
"That (not opening up about their feelings) comes out in self-harm and disordered eating behaviours, it's the expression of internalised pain that comes out in physical ways. There's been a massive increase in self-harm and disordered eating.
No5 offers confidential listening to support children and young people and those around them, through a free counselling service for those aged 11-25 living, working or studying in Reading and the RG postcode area.
They offer a range of services to support children and young people, including;
- Free counselling for 11-25 year olds, offering tailored sessions with one of their counsellors.
The charity also run an outreach program which includes counselling sessions in local schools, and their Young Ambassador scheme through which they support and train young people to deliver talks, workshops and events directly to their peers.
Carly says to see more young people more quickly, they need to pay counsellors to deliver additional sessions from the three free sessions they currently offer:
"I don't really see an end to this surge in demand, we're obviously coming to the end of the second lockdown, young people will hopefully spend Christmas with their families, and then they'll return to school and the usual January pressures will increase, as well as the pressure about exams and what next summer will look like along with this added anxiety about Covid-19 and what the future will look like.
She worries that young people who've already struggled with their mental health for many months may face more delays once they come forward:
"We're asking young people to wait for longer possibly up to six months and that pushes them into crisis and then there's a massive demand for crisis intervention because early intervention services aren't able to see them quickly enough"
For more details about the services No5 offer go to their website https://no5.org.uk/