MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS: Teenage Self-Harmers `Left in Limbo' by Lack of Psychiatrists and In-Patient Beds

Maxine Frith Social Affairs Correspondent, The Independent (London, England)

CHRONIC SHORTAGES of treatment facilities and trained psychiatrists to care for young people who self-harm are leaving many vulnerable children and teenagers at risk, experts warn today.

Some of the most damaged people - in their teens and early twenties - are being left "in limbo" because they are deemed too old for adolescent mental health services and too young for adult psychiatric units. Doctors and charities called for a huge increase in funding to tackle the growing epidemic of self-harm in Britain.

The calls come as the Government's drugs watchdog issued the first guidelines on treating people who self-harm.

A study by the Mental Health Foundation …

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Publication information: Article title: MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS: Teenage Self-Harmers `Left in Limbo' by Lack of Psychiatrists and In-Patient Beds. Contributors: Maxine Frith Social Affairs Correspondent - Author. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: July 28, 2004. Page number: 12,13. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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