Yesterday I attended a research meeting about a project in which we are proposing a screening tool for identifying depression in young people. I became conscious of the reality of sorting out financial commitments before any research can be agreed. This is an area of difficulty as NHS organisations in the UK may not be able to fund research.
In the article by Appleton et al 2022 data from over a thousand young people was analysed to give four themes to help GPs in their thinking about supporting young people with mental health consultations for depression. These themes were:
1. Trusting relationship
2. Clinician to show empathy and take concerns seriously
3. Young person is given time to talk
4. Barriers still remain for young people in accessing mental health support and care
Alfred is now working as Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in the Young Peoples' Specialist Substance Misuse Treatment Service in Bristol for Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust where he has been employed since 2021. Before this he worked in the Wiltshire Outreach Service and the Melksham CAMHS Eating Disorders Service from 2016-2021, for Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. UKCP registration for Family Therapy stopped in 2020 during the pandemic but systemic practice continues as an essential part of the daily work.
Happy Easter! I have had a good day making Sri Lankan lamb with potatoes and greens. It was a peaceful day spent with family.
I have now moved my practice to the Young Person's Specialist Substance Misuse Treatment Service YPSSMTS in Bristol where I have been since May 2023.
In the last few weeks I have been thinking about the way Anorexia affects some girl very severely. In our clinic most will recover after one year but a handful develop a chronic course with more preoccupation with anorexic thinking, voice hearing and a more depressive experience.
In my professional role I have had to assess the risk of suicide for over twenty years. A holistic understanding of the young person is required in terms of their personal life, education progress and life at home, in addtion to the features of depression and anxiety disorders. In the forensic setting there is additiona emphasis on the risk a young person might posse to others in terms of offending behaviours.
Recently I was reading a blog entitled www. wiring the brain.com by Professor Kevin Mitchell of Trinity College, Dublin.
In the Victorian era the study of the skull contours was linked to theories of the emotional life and character of that person, giving way to a language of understanding the mind.
After Freud there was a great expansion in our language in understanding the mind in the modern age in relation to the great social and technological changes.
Young people frequently present to us in the context of the breakdown if their parents' relationship.
It can be a very sad time and have an enduring emotional impact on a young person for many years.