Childline reports record rate of children calling with suicidal thoughts

The NSPCC has warned that the number of children contacting Childline over suicidal thoughts has risen to 19,481 in 2015/16, more than twice the amount of calls made in 2010/11.

The charity claimed it had referred many callers to the emergency services, with service receiving around 53 calls a day relating to suicide.

The NSPCC’s annual report cautioned that a lack of support was leading children to reach a crisis point. It cited that increasing numbers of callers told the charity's service they were dealing with problems on their own.

It identified an 87 per cent increase in young people struggling to access professional help, reporting 3,250 calls from children who said they were struggling to access mental health support, due to lengthy waiting lists for services, a lack of information or a refusal to help.

The report said: "The chronic shortage of support is forcing many children to wait until they reach crisis point, when they feel the only place they can turn to is Childline."

Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said: "We have to understand why so many children are reaching such a desperate emotional state that they feel they have no option but to end their lives.

"As a society, we cannot be content that a generation of children feel so worthless, alone and cut off from support. It is up to all of us to help them feel that life is worth living. Children shouldering mental health problems often feel left in the shadows.

"Their pain is not obviously visible and their injuries cannot be mended with bandages. We must listen to them, find out what is troubling them, and help them overcome their problems."

A Department of Health spokesman commented: "We have made huge strides in the way we think about and treat mental illness - moving from a society that locks people away in asylums to one giving mental health equal priority in law - but we must do more.

"It is positive that more people feel able to discuss their mental health, but this must be matched by the right support, which is why we are investing a record £1.4 billion to help young people in every area of the country before they reach crisis point."