Childline anxiety calls spike as children express fears over global events

The number of children seeking help for anxiety has risen sharply in the last year, a leading charity has said, with increased exposure to global affairs on social media suggested as a possible cause.

The NSPCC’s Childline service handled 11,706 counselling sessions for anxiety over the past year, a 35% increase on 2014-15. The charity said: “Worryingly the problem appears to be getting worse.” It dealt with 6,500 contacts in the last six months where anxiety was cited the main issue – an average of 1,000 a month or 36 a day.

Research showed an increasing number of children and young people were concerned about world affairs such as the EU referendum, the US election and the conflict in Syria.

Childline figures

The rise is said to be down to a combination of personal and political issues, with some young people talking to counsellors about problems in their day-to-day life, while others cited disturbing events seen in the media and on social media as being the source of their worries, the charity said.

As Childline marks its 30th anniversary, it has created a webpage, launched in September, called Worries about the world, which has already received almost 5,000 visits.

Childline’s president, Esther Rantzen, said: “Seeing pictures of crying and bewildered toddlers being pulled from bomb-damaged homes upsets all of us. Often we fail to notice the impact these stories are having on young people.”

She said the fact they turned to Childline enabled them to express their anxiety. “Sometimes these stories also reveal related concerns in their own lives, such as being subjected to racist bullying.”

Being listened to and reassured, she said, meant if they suffer from other problems, “such as abuse or neglect, self-harm or cyberbullying, they will also turn to us for help”.

Esther Rantzen meeting volunteers at the NSPCC’s Glasgow office. Photograph: Julie Howden/PA

Peter Wanless, the chief executive of the NSPCC, said: “The world can be a worrying place but we need to ensure our children are reassured rather than left overwhelmed and frightened.

“It’s only natural for children and young people to feel worried sometimes, but when they are plagued by constant fears that are resulting in panic attacks and making them not want to leave the house then they need support.”

Children as young as eight have contacted Childline to talk about their fears, with girls seven times more likely to get in touch for help with anxiety than boys.

There has been a marked shift in how the service is used. More than two-thirds of users now communicate with counsellors online.

Children and young people can contact Childline for free, confidential support and advice, 24 hours a day on 0800 1111 or at childline.org.uk.

Childline anxiety calls spike as children express fears over global events

Express yourself: how a charity is using dance to improve mental health

Ten young people from Manchester mental health charity 42nd Street are struggling to spin their legs round their bodies while keeping their hands anchored to the studio floor as they’ve been shown. Instructor Kevin Turner stops them and explodes into his own demonstration of high-speed repetitions of the sequence, while they watch in astonishment.

“Look, my legs are all over the place,” Turner pants mid dance. “They are going like crazy. When I was ill, I often felt that things were happening that were out of my control. Can anyone else relate to that?”

Turner, 34, sits down, perspiring, among the group of young people aged 16 to 25. Several hands go up hesitantly, and a young woman quietly says, “I can”.

Turner founded Manchester-based Company Chameleon in 2007 with his friend Anthony Missen. Their was aim to make hard-hitting contemporary dance exploring the reality of being male in greater Manchester. Turner has bipolar disorder, as does at least one of the youngsters in this workshop, and he has told them his diagnosis.

Kevin Turner’s workshops help young people to use dance to explore their mental health problems.

Three years ago, Turner was sectioned and spent more than a month in hospital and almost a year working his way back to the physical and mental health he needs to perform.

He wants the young people he’s teaching today to see that they can use dance to explore their own mental health problems, and the impact on the people around them. Most of them have never danced before, but 42nd Street is convinced that dance can help build trust and confidence, without the need for words.

Turner’s latest work, Witness, performed by Company Chameleon’s five dancers, portrays his own experiences of his breakdown and the perspective of his friends and family. It is premiering at Plymouth University on 19 October, and touring until the end of November. Each performance will be supplemented by a workshop with schools, colleges and youth groups.

Sitting in his baggy trousers and T-shirt, this “lad” from Stretford, is clearly in control of himself and is a powerful image of hope for the young people he teaches. His demonstration was not some kind of ego trip, but to help them tap into the shared emotions of breakdown and give them the confidence to use their bodies to tell their own stories. They start by using exercises, sections from Witness and their own moves.

Turner and mental health charity 42nd Street believe dance can build trust and confidence.

“Where dance is different from simply doing exercise – which of course makes you feel good because of the endorphins – is that it helps you to use the physical to experience your internal world,” says Turner.

He believes his own mental health problems started when he was a teenager, but he did not recognise depression and tried to ignore it until it was no longer possible.

Dancing helped him handle the pain of his parents’ divorce from the age of eight, when he became a member of the Trafford Youth Dance Theatre. He argues that young people need to be aware of how creative movement can support good mental health.

There is nothing fluffy about this. Dance work like this should be recognised as a pre-crisis intervention

Simone Spray

Recent figures suggest that last year, nearly a quarter of a million children and young people were in contact with mental health services for issues such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders. But research also shows that 28% of children referred for support in England – including some who had attempted suicide – received no help in 2015.

The number of referrals to 42nd Street is high. The charity, which has been running for almost four decades, is commissioned by the NHS to provide mental health support, including counselling, to young people across Manchester. However, advisers are having to tell suicidal young people they will have to wait more than four months for one-to-one support.

“It’s not something we are happy about,” says chief executive Simone Spray. She also worries about the short length of therapy, when it does happen, leaving young people without support before they are properly well. The charity’s solution is to invest heavily in the arts – including the new Horsfall Centre for performance, opening in December – to give young people what Spray calls “wrap-around support”.

Spray says: “There is nothing fluffy about this. Dance work like this should be recognised as a pre-crisis intervention, because it has such a positive impact on some young people.” In her view, it can prevent them needing to access therapy at all, or at least keep them feeling better until more formal help is available.

The young people in Turner’s workshop seem relaxed and focused. Kelly (not her real name) has bipolar disorder and was initially afraid she would not be able to do the exercises, but now she is beaming and keen to continue. “This has really drawn me in. At first I thought OMG! But now I’d like to do it again. People see bipolar as a joke, but Kevin has shared what happened to him and it’s helped us express the way we feel.”

• In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.

Join the Social Care Network to read more pieces like this. Follow us on Twitter (@GdnSocialCare) and like us on Facebook to keep up with the latest social care news and views.

Express yourself: how a charity is using dance to improve mental health

Optical Express loses bid to near laser eye surgical procedure critic"s web site

Optical Express says rigid recommendations hold the problems charge in laser eye surgery quite low. Photograph: Alamy

High street optician Optical Express has misplaced a battle to have a internet site that strongly criticised its record in laser eye surgical treatment closed down more than what it claimed were defamatory attacks funded by a industrial rival.

The company’s attorneys tried to have the domain area of the internet site, Optical Express Ruined My Existence, eliminated, but the bid was thrown out by the business that registered the campaign site’s identify. Nominet, the web registry company, stated Optical Express’s primary charge – that the site had been set up and funded by its major competitor, Optimax – was “really significant” and not verified.

Optical Express Ruined My Existence (OERML) was set up in April 2012 by Sasha Rodoy, a campaigner searching for tighter regulation of laser eye surgical treatment with the help of Labour MP John McDonnell. Rodoy had previously run a site referred to as Optimax Ruined My Lifestyle, right up until she came to a confidential settlement with the company.

Dismissing Optical Express’s declare, an specialist panel formed by Nominet said allegations manufactured by the firm had been designed to “impugn the honesty and integrity” of Rodoy, who was named as the respondent in the situation.

It mentioned the substance of the allegation was “that the OERML website is not, as it seems, a bona fide protest website operated by the respondent as part of her campaign against what she perceives as deficiencies in the way refractive eye surgical procedure is practised and regulated.

“As an alternative the complainant alleges that the OERML website and/or the respondent are currently being covertly funded by its bitter competitor Optimax, and this is element of a covert campaign meant to harm the complainant and, presumably, to benefit Optimax.”

But it extra: “The panel is unable to attain a discovering that both the OERML website or the respondent are covertly funded by Optimax.

“If the complainant wishes to pursue an allegation of that nature, it should do so in a forum much more appropriate for identifying significant and disputed allegations of integrity and dishonesty against someone who, on the encounter of issues, appears to be pursuing a bona fide protest campaign.”

Rodoy welcomed the choice and said she had set up the internet site after becoming inundated by complaints about the company, which has 93 stores and 54 consultation centres and is the UK’s greatest practitioner of laser eye surgical procedure.

A single complainant, the Observer has realized, is Ken Cocking, 75, founder, with his sons, of the West Cornwall Pasty Firm, which the household offered in 2007 for £40m.

Cocking, who has asked solicitor Geoffrey Simpson-Scott of law firm Colemans to act for him, says Optical Express failed to notice that he was suffering from glaucoma (which is now sophisticated) in the weeks and months after it replaced lenses in his eyes. He informed the Observer that his daily life was “ruined, utterly ruined”.

He explained: “I advised them that my sight was terrible following the operations and they informed me that there was no dilemma. If they had spotted my issue, I could have been caught early.”

A spokesman for Optical Express said it was “very disappointed” by Nominet’s rejection of its case and was unable to comment on Cocking’s claims.

The spokesman additional: “We think we had a really robust case. We are now actively contemplating our choices with regard to pursuing our challenge by means of other avenues.

“While we can’t comment on the specifics of person patient instances due to confidentiality rules, in a case such as this we would offer ongoing clinical care and do every thing in our electrical power to obtain a optimistic outcome for the patient.

“Laser eye surgery vastly improves the day-to-day lives of hundreds of 1000′s of sufferers in the United kingdom each and every year. In a latest survey of more than 97,000 Optical Express patients, much more than 99% mentioned they would suggest Optical Express to household and friends.

“This is demonstrated by the thousands of thank-you cards, emails and tweets we obtain from grateful individuals each and every 12 months.

“Nevertheless, all surgical procedures carry a danger of complication. Due to Optical Express’s stringent guidelines our complication rate is extremely minimal – .7% in a recent analysis of virtually 27,000 laser eye surgical treatment procedures carried out by our surgeons.

“People patients are managed by a crew of clinical authorities that offer skilled and compassionate care, with 96% of them proceeding to obtain 20/20 vision or better as a consequence.”

Nominet’s choice is the most recent blow to Optical Express, which right up until last summer season was feared to be the next huge name on the substantial street to encounter monetary collapse.

The business, which owed a lot more than £30m to RBS, had a request for a even more loan rejected. The largely state-owned financial institution threatened to seize the firm and promote it to recoup its debts till founder David Moulsdale, who is now chairman, agreed to get the group’s exceptional debts.

Optical Express loses bid to near laser eye surgical procedure critic"s web site

Health chiefs express "deep regret" more than death of man soon after ambulance delay

The Welsh ambulance service chief mentioned a amount of improvements had been because March 2013, when Pring died. Photograph: Christopher Thomond

Overall health chiefs have expressed “deep regret” that an elderly guy died much more than forty minutes right after his wife first dialled 999 and asked for an ambulance to come to his aid.

Fred Pring’s wife, Joyce, rang for support 3 far more times as her husband cried out in ache but in the course of her fourth contact informed the operator: “It is as well late now, he is gone, he was 74. There is nothing at all you can do for him now. You are as well late, I am sorry.”

At the end of his inquest in Ruthin, north-east Wales coroner John Gittins stated modifications must be created to aid reduce the chance of potential deaths.

He said even though it could not be established with certainty that Pring, who had heart and pulmonary disease, would have lived if the ambulance had reached him sooner, it was “probable” that he would have at least got to hospital alive if the ambulance had met its target response time of eight minutes.

In a joint statement, Elwyn Price-Morris, chief executive at the Welsh ambulance service, and Professor Matt Makin, healthcare director of Betsi Cadwaladr University health board, mentioned: “It is with deep regret that on this occasion there was no ambulance offered to send to Mr Pring in a timely manner.

“It is our responsibility to guarantee we have a safe, powerful and higher-good quality urgent care program, and with each other we are operating tough to minimize any delays in transferring patients to hospital. We have presently produced a quantity of enhancements considering that March 2013 [when Pring died].

“We are strengthening the coaching for on-call managers and making sure that handover and choice-generating procedures are clear for all employees across our organisations. We are also revising operating practices to make sure that we have proper staffing amounts for the duration of intervals of large demand.

“The urgent healthcare method across Wales is facing unparalleled strain, with high demands on the two the ambulance services and on hospital emergency departments. We are taking a variety of actions to guarantee that our active ambulances and emergency departments are offered for people who want them most urgently.”

The efficiency of the ambulance services has lengthy been higher on the political agenda in Wales. In November it emerged that a patient had waited in an ambulance for much more than 6 hrs before currently being admitted to a Welsh accident and emergency department.

After the inquest Joyce Pring, who is from Flintshire in north-east Wales, explained: “I sincerely hope that my husband’s death will lead to enhancements in the way the Welsh ambulance trust and the hospitals manage their providers.”

Health chiefs express "deep regret" more than death of man soon after ambulance delay

Pill class action: about 600 Australian girls express curiosity in joining situation

About 600 Australian ladies have expressed an interest in a prospective class action against the manufacturers of the contraceptive tablets Yasmin and Yas, reporting adverse reactions which includes blood clots and strokes after taking the drugs.

The females approached the Adelaide law firm Tindall Gask Bentley following employees posted a discover on their web site calling for expressions of interest last 12 months. About 600 females have considering that responded, some of whom have had reported substantial reactions right after taking the drugs, the company mentioned.

A lot of of the females who have approached the law company have had experiences following taking Yasmin or Yas that do not relate to thrombosis (clotting), and may possibly not be element of the class action, must it go ahead.

“The critical thing to understand is the important complications that some girls have had with blood clotting following taking either of these tablets,” Tindall Gask Bentley lawyer Tim White advised Guardian Australia.

“What we’re speaking about are issues like deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, stroke or heart attacks. They’re generally the sorts of factors that have resulted in a great deal of these women who have approached us being hospitalised.”

Studies in excess of the final number of years have mentioned the well-known contraceptives have a risk of blood clotting up to two or 3 times larger than other contraceptives.

Professor Michael Permezel, president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Ranzcog), advised Guardian Australia that the research getting cited had been retrospective, and while there was an elevated chance of thrombosis with oral contraceptives, the threat was little, and actually far increased in the course of pregnancy.

“I believe on stability most medical professionals would feel there is a slight increase of danger with newer contraceptive drugs than older ones,” he stated.

“The main issue is that all oral contraceptive capsules carry a modest chance of thrombosis. The chance is quite little, probably much less than 1 in 1,000 women per 12 months. Nevertheless if you’re the 1 in one,000 … it can be very essential.

“Given that we’ve acknowledged for around forty many years that the oral contraceptive increases the threat [of thrombosis] a bit, are there some capsules that boost it far more than other folks? That stays controversial.”

Women could aid minimise their risk of thrombosis by not smoking, steering clear of excessive bodyweight gain, and taking precautions such as keeping up motion for the duration of long travel and informing doctors that they are on the pill before undergoing procedures, he mentioned.

Permezel mentioned Ranzcog’s position was that a woman’s determination to get an oral contraceptive was a “risk-benefit equation” to be made with a medical doctor, as pills have various side-impact profiles, some of which suit a lot of girls.

Some US legal proceedings towards producer Bayer more than reported adverse reactions right after taking the tablets have resulted in settlements.

“We are [confident]. They are extremely diverse laws that are governed in the US compared to Australia. But it’s precisely the exact same medicine,” stated White.

“What 1 of the central issues in Australia – as in the US – was was regardless of whether or not consumers had been totally informed of a amount of prospective dangers … the far more considerable danger becoming the blood clotting.”

In December, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration explained it would investigate Bayer in excess of claims the company breached laws which prevented it advertising and marketing the pill Diane-35 as a contraceptive. Diane-35 was temporarily banned in France last yr following a number of deaths there.

In Australia it is only permitted to be prescribed as a quick- or medium-phrase treatment method for acne and hormonal circumstances, ABC reported.

Pill class action: about 600 Australian girls express curiosity in joining situation