Tag: Coronavirus

Let them play…

On By Paediatric Mental Health AssociationIn Ideas, News, ReportsLeave a comment

Allowing young children to play with their friends must be prioritised as soon as possible when lockdown is eased.

This was the argument made by this really interesting post published recently on the ACAMH Blog.

The article discusses the fact that while the Covid-19 pandemic has posed a lower risk of physical health problems for children, it has transformed the social lives of children more rapidly than anyone could have imagined.

A recent rapid systematic review concluded that loneliness and social isolation adversely affect children’s short- and long-term mental health (Loades, M. E. et al). 

You can read the full post on the blog by clicking here.

Guardian Article about Covid-19 and mental health

On By Paediatric Mental Health AssociationIn Ideas, News, ReportsLeave a comment

There was an interesting article about the Coronavirus and mental health in the UK published in the comment section of the The Guardian today. Have a read and tell us what you think…

Has the pandemic really caused a ‘tsunami’ of mental health problems?

Richard Bentall, Professor of Clinical Psychology: University of Sheffield

“With a team of experts from the Universities of Sheffield, Ulster, Liverpool, UCL and Royal Holloway and Bedford College I have been monitoring the mental health of the UK population since the beginning of the crisis. Looking at our findings, we think that this tsunami narrative is misleading. If accepted uncritically, it could undermine efforts to protect the health of the population and also our ability as a nation to recover once the crisis is over. Here is why….

Click here to read the complete article

Children’s Mental Health Week, 1-7 February 2021

On By katyacerticIn Events, Ideas, NewsLeave a comment

The PMHA is delighted to be supporting #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek, organised by the charity @Place2Be. Of course, for those of us in the PMHA, every week is Children’s Mental Health Week, but this yearly event is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of this issue more widely and start some important conversations at work and at home.

This past year has been an incredibly difficult one for many families, and we are starting to see more and more evidence about the effects that COVID-19, lockdown and school closures have had on children and young people in the UK and around the world. A poll at our annual meeting last week found that 97% of attendees had seen a change in children and young people presenting in acute crisis during COVID-19, with more than 7 in 10 seeing both increased numbers and increased complexity of presentation. And for every child presenting to hospital, there are likely countless more struggling at home.

“Express Yourself”

The theme of this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week is “Express Yourself”. Many of us can find it hard to talk about mental health, particularly with children and young people. Place2Be have compiled an excellent set of resources – available at https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/schools-and-youth-groups/ – to help start these conversations and empower children to express themselves in different ways.

Many young people may wish to seek support outside their immediate friends and family. @YoungMindsUK has compiled an excellent list of support services available by phone, text, email and web chat, available here: https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/get-urgent-help/ 

Of course, it’s not only children who need help and support during these challenging times. @LittleGoodDeed is a campaign aimed at helping parents and carers who may be struggling during lockdown. If you can, try to take the opportunity this week to reach out to a friend, colleague or family member who may be struggling. If you’re struggling yourself, see https://www.littlegooddeed.org.uk/getsupportnow for a list of useful resources you can access online or by phone.

We at the PMHA will continue to share useful resources throughout this week and beyond, so don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook and, if you haven’t, sign up to become a PMHA member. We look forward to hearing more about how you’ve marked Children’s Mental Health Week and – crucially – how you keep that important work going in the weeks and months to come.

Paediatricians warn parents to be alert to signs of eating disorders

On By Paediatric Mental Health AssociationIn Education, Ideas, News, Resources, TrainingLeave a comment

Paediatricians have seen a huge rise in cases of anorexia nervosa and other food restriction disorders in this age group, with some reporting a doubling, tripling or even quadrupling of cases compared with the same period last year.

For more information, please go to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) website by clicking here.

Help and support

BEAT eating disorders charity has a lot of useful information on their website and their helpline is open over the festive period.

Attend ACAMH’s 2020 Events Online

On By Paediatric Mental Health AssociationIn Ideas, Research, Resources, TrainingLeave a comment

Did you know that you can now see a lots of ACAMH events from wherever you might be at the moment?

With the global spread of the coronavirus, many organisations across the world are changing working practices to ensure everyone’s safety. One such organisation is the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH), which will not be staging physical events for the rest of 2020, but instead is bringing events online as live webinars, many of which will be free.

There are also a number of recorded webinars already available for view, including:

More will be added to the ACAMH website’s Freeview section, which contains a whole host of other past lectures.

The RCPCH’s Spring Meeting 2020 has become an Online Conference

On By Paediatric Mental Health AssociationIn Education, Events, News, Posters, TrainingLeave a comment

The RCPCH’s Spring meeting, scheduled for April 2020, was regretfully cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But now the the meeting will go ahead online, with different sessions running between the 25 September and 13 November 2020.

PMHA Joint Workshop: ‘Difference and Self’

The PMHA had planned a joint workshop with the British Association for Paediatricians in Audiology, themed ‘Difference and self’.

This workshop will now be delivered in webinar form. Chaired by Dr Winfred Baddo and Dr Sheila Peters, this free, live online event will feature guest lectures and abstract presentations, with opportunities for delegates to ask questions. 

Date: Tuesday 13th October
Time: 2 – 5 pm

To register, click on the link below:

https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/events/conference-webinar-difference-self-mental-health-audiology

The posters which had been accepted for the workshop, are now available to view online. Visit this link:

 https://eposters.rcpch.ac.uk/ 

(You’ll need to register but RCPCH membership is not needed for this).
You’ll find the posters in the ‘mental health’ section.  Please view the posters, register for the webinar, and spread the word!

Dr Sheila Peters: Immediate Past Convenor of PMHA

Reimagining the future of paediatric care after COVID-19

On By Paediatric Mental Health AssociationIn Ideas, ReportsLeave a comment

Last month, the RCPCH published an interesting report ‘Reimagining the future of paediatric care post-COVID-19 – a reflective report of rapid learning‘. The report is the first in a series of reports from the Paediatrics 2014 Project.

“This report, published on 26 June 2020, is the first in a series from the Paediatrics 2040 project that will inform RCPCH’s vision for the future of paediatrics in the UK. We summarise our learning from this period of rapid change, focusing in particular on the elements of new practice that we want to keep and take forwards into the future…

To read the report, click the link below:

https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/reimagining-future-paediatric-care-post-covid-19-reflective-report-rapid-learning

The Importance of Human Contact Today

On By Paediatric Mental Health AssociationIn Events, Ideas, News, ResearchLeave a comment

During the interval of a recent concert by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Dr Dickon Bevington, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, gave a thought provoking, and topical talk:

The Importance of Human Contact today, about Mentalization, Attachment and Kindness.

About Dr Dickon Bevington:

Dr Bevington is the Medical Director at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families and a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS FT where he leads CASUS, an outreach service for complex substance using youth. He is also a Fellow of the Cambridge and Peterborough CLARHC, a collaboration based in Cambridge University dedicated to developing leadership and research in health and social care.

Dr Bevington’s consultant career started in adolescent in-patient psychiatry, but he now concentrates on developing and delivering innovative home-based or street-level out-reach interventions for complex, co-morbidly burdened young people who are socially excluded, using mentalization to underpin both the therapeutic and the organisational approach to this work. In this respect, together with Dr Peter Fuggle, he is the co-lead for the Adolescent Mentalization-Based Integrative Treatment (AMBIT) project.

Dr Bevington trains and lectures internationally on MBT and AMBIT, and has published a number of papers and chapters in the eld of mentalization and multimodal outreach approaches, most recently with Dr Fuggle. He is also co-author of “ What works for whom: a critical review of treatments for children and adolescents” which is a review of all treatment trials in the past 10-15 years across the world.

Take a look at the Anna Freud Centre website for more information about this field of Child Mental Health.

For a great resource for on-line learning, click on link below: https://www.annafreud.org/mental-health-professionals/anna-freud-learning-network/

Staying Sane in the Times of Covid-19

On By Paediatric Mental Health AssociationIn Ideas, News, RequestsLeave a comment

An article by Dr Emma Blake, Consultant Paediatrician, now Chair / Convenor of PMHA

Well, in these crazy times – with universal maelstroms – all of us are trying to cope with our personal whirlpools. Being a front line medic, whilst coping as a “full time” parent and teacher; trying to keep yourself, your kids and everyone else around you sane – it’s not manageable, is it?

I wish I had all the answers. Medice, cura te ipsum. Heal thyself. But no-one knows the cure for Covid-19, no immunisation – even against the anxiety and psychological impact of it. As a paediatrician, mother of four, with “shielded” vulnerable relatives; suddenly homeschooling three children and trying to get a “gap-year” son trapped in Vietnam back to the family;  I, like the rest of us, am trying to juggle all the balls whilst wearing minimal / flimsy PPE.

At the PMHA (Paediatric Mental Health Association) we are trying to find resources to support parents who are doing the best they can to care for their children’s health, education and emotional needs at home. A popular PMHA Facebook post (which has currently reached over 9.6 million people!) suggests taking the pressure off ourselves with regard to home-schooling or children; to try to take the stress out of the situation as much as possible.

Enjoy the time together – “cuddle up and read, read, read” etc. The best way to de-stress kids is to de-stress ourselves (often easier said than done). Obviously older kids (GCSEs and A Levels) need more structured work (thank you teachers!), but the principle is the same – our kids will remember what this felt like at home. They will remember the emotions and relationships.

We are seeing an increase in mental health presentations to paediatric wards – when we are doing our best to keep people safe at home. However, not all young people are safe at home. Abuse is escalating, domestic violence and parental mental health / substance abuse difficulties are worsening. As paediatricians, we need to be more aware of mental health and safeguarding issues, more than ever. The most vulnerable children are more hidden from view – and we are waiting for a tsunami (not only from Covid-19 ventilated elderly – but also young people who have had to cope with the “perfect storm”at home).

In addition to our Facebook page; the PMHA, along with Serena Haywood (St Georges) and Simon Chapman (Kings) have also developed a website – Indoor Explorers – to try to bring together resources to support parents at this difficult time.

If you have any useful resources for parents or professionals at this time – please share them with us at ContactPMHA@gmail.com

Dr Emma Blake,
Child Mental Health & General Paediatric Consultant,
Designated Doctor for Safeguarding Children, Isle of Wight,
Vice Chair PMHA and Chair of Child Mental Health (CSAC) at the RCPCH