Mental Health Problems in Young People

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:13 pm on 9 October 2018.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 2:13, 9 October 2018

I remember some years ago there was a spate of suicides in Bridgend—I'm sure the Member will remember it—stoked, I have to say, by the media coverage of the time, which, there's no doubt in my mind, led to so some young people taking their own lives. That was a very difficult time for the people of Bridgend, and not just the town but the entire county. So, I've seen what can happen when there is a panic in terms of suicides. I had to deal with that myself in my own constituency.

In terms of Childline Cymru, what's not clear, and never can be clear with these things, is: does that mean that there are more young people who are feeling suicidal or does it mean there are more young people who are reporting the issue even though the numbers may well be steady? We can't know the answer to that question, but either answer is possible. She asked particularly what we're doing for young people. Well, again, we have school counselling, we have the money that we put into CAMHS, and it is right to say that the waiting list for CAMHS was unacceptably long at one point. It was 112 days at one point, now it's 28 days from referral. So, performance has improved significantly since 2017, but, of course, more work needs to be done now in, as I said earlier on, plugging the gap between the school counselling services and the specialist medical help, or psychiatric help, that CAMHS can provide. What, then, can we do for those who fall between the gap at the moment?