Children's Mental Health: A Growing Priority

Throughout 2022, Theodora Giggle Doctors saw growing numbers of children and young people experiencing mental health difficulties in hospitals nationwide. It’s an issue which has also become a familiar story for the NHS staff we work, and one which is present in the media more and more. Consequently, understanding more about this issue and how we can train and support Giggle Doctors to best help these children is an ongoing priority.

20% of children and young people in the UK have a probably mental health difficulty (1). In some areas, prescriptions for medications to treat anxiety and sleep disorders rose 91% between 2015 and 2021 (2). With the continuing cost-of-living crisis, we can expect the situation to continue to worsen. Children from the most deprived neighbourhoods are double as likely to be affected by mental health difficulties as those from the least deprived (2), and health visitors are reporting ‘epidemic levels of poverty’ (3) as more families struggle to put food on the table.  

While in hospital, a child’s mental health suffers due to separation from family, school, friends, and the lack of opportunities for play (4).

Giggle Doctors help mitigate these additional risks. They help children take control of their situation through play, creating opportunities for children to take the lead and make autonomous choices (5). Crucially, Giggle Doctors always focus on the child and not their illness – they are not a mental health treatment, but rather a play intervention which supports a child’s overall wellbeing. Whilst they do see children who have a diagnosed mental health difficulty, they see many more who are at risk of their mental wellbeing deteriorating. For this group, seeing a Giggle Doctor can represent something akin to an early intervention support, helping them build up their resilience in relation to their wellbeing. Not only are these interventions significant for the young person, they also reduce future demand on already overstretched mental health services (6).

This challenge our children and young people are facing is not going to go away and remains a key focus for us. In 2023 we’ll be prioritising training for our Giggle Doctors to enable them to give the best experience to these children and young people.

Reference List

1. Newlove-Delgado T, Marcheselli F, Williams T, Mandalia D, Davis J, McManus S, Savic M, Treloar W, Ford T. Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2022. NHS Digital, Leeds.

• Ball, W.P., Black, C., Gordon, S. et al. Inequalities in children’s mental health care: analysis of routinely collected data on prescribing and referrals to secondary care. BMC Psychiatry 23, 22 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04438-5

• Health visitor survey finds that more babies and young children are missing out on the government’s promise of the ‘best start in life’. 2022. Available from: shorturl.at/fikE0  

• Martin King-Sheard, Marianne Mannello, Theresa Casey (ed) Access to Play for Children in Situations of Crisis: Play: rights and practice: A toolkit for staff, managers and policy makers. 2018.
• https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2018.1540771

• Le H, and Rainer C, Children and Young People’s Mental Health in 2022: What does the Data tell us? Centre for Mental Health Blog. 2022. Available from: https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/blogs/children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-2022-what-does-data-tell-us