FIGURES compiled by the charity YoungMinds indicate one in 10 people aged five to 16 have a diagnosed mental health disorder and as many as 80,000 young people suffer from have severe depression.
Many young people, and other age groups too, are still highly inhibited from wanting to address the situation and seeking the professional advice before it becomes too late.
For my generation, and gender also, suicide is the most likely killer ahead of many other tragic incidents.
When a tragedy does strike close, as in my case last month, it is frustrating to see a lack of action by those who could have helped prevent it steer the situation from this fate.
With so many friends who shared a connection with the individual, the burden of shock and then grief can be better understood and dealt with afterwards if support is available.
The shock and ability to understand it is made worse still when they played an active role in voluntary work and local politics too and seemed seemingly happy.
Where many can instruct a person to seek help, The prospects for effective mental health treatment for young people are not promising, as demonstrated by local CAMHS services being cut that are frozen in investment, or cut drastically in some places.
Shown by the number placed in adult services or waiting months on end to have a for counselling service, young people remain as vulnerable as ever to the challenges in life that come our way.
Whether the recent pledges by most political parties to invest more will have an effect remains to be seen, but even that cannot undo the losses that happen before then.
JACK WELCH
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