More than 60 children a day calling Childline with suicidal thoughts

A children’s helpline conducted more than 60 counselling sessions on suicide every day last year with children as young as 10 reporting suicidal thoughts, according to the NSPCC children’s charity.

The figures from Childline represent a 15% increase on the previous year.

The NSPCC pointed to widespread concern about the lengthy waiting times young people face before accessing mental health services, but said the statistics also suggested a greater willingness on the part of young people to seek help.

One 14-year-old girl told a counsellor: “I want to end it tonight. I’ve written a suicide note and have everything ready.”

More than 2,000 young people who called the helpline were considered “actively suicidal”, having taken initial steps to end their own lives, including writing a note, giving away meaningful items, or planning their death.

The youngest child actively planning suicide was 12.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said: “We have never seen figures like these before and they are a blunt wake-up call.”

Some young callers had already sought professional support, and asked Childline counsellors to act on their behalf to get help more quickly.

“Without appropriate support for young people, many are shouldering their troubles singlehandedly and turning to Childline only when they reach crisis point,” a spokesman said.

The statistics, published on Tuesday in Childline’s 2016-17 annual review Not Alone Any More, were described by helpline founder Esther Rantzen as “tragic”. She appealed for more volunteers to join the helpline which is currently only able to answer three out of four calls due to growing demand.

“When Childline launched over 30 years ago, I remember children usually felt suicidal because they were being hurt by someone,” she said. “Now young people tell us they are overwhelmed by mental health issues taking them to the brink of suicide.”

In 2016-17, Childline counsellors delivered 22,456 sessions about suicide, up from 19,481 the previous year. Of those, 2,061 counselling sessions involved a young person who was considered to be actively suicidal, a 9% increase on the previous year.

Young people were most likely to be counselled about suicidal thoughts on a Monday evening, and most preferred to talk online rather than by phone, with 70% of children talking to counsellors via the charity’s chat service or by email.

According to the NSPCC suicide is the third most common reason for girls to contact Childline, and the fifth most common for boys. Mental health issues, family relationships, and self-harm were other top three issues mentioned in suicide counselling sessions.

Other young callers raised concerns about sexual and gender identity. One 13-year-old boy, who came out to a friend and went on to be bullied at school, said: “I would tell a teacher but I don’t want to have to talk about my sexuality with school. It’s all got so overwhelming before that I’ve thought about just ending it all.”

Some said they were using alcohol and drugs to help them cope, while sexual abuse was also a recurrent theme. “I’ve attempted suicide a few times before and I’m having the urge to do something bad tonight,” one 16-year-old girl said. “I was sexually abused by my stepdad for years. When my family found out they disowned me. I normally cope by self-harming. Can you please help me?”

Wanless said: “We must face the painful reality that many young people feel so overwhelmed by their problems they have considered taking their own, precious lives.

“Young people must know life is worth living and they can lead a life rich in possibilities and happiness. When they are suffering from problems it’s vital they get the right help swiftly before these issues snowball into suicidal feelings or even attempts to end their lives.”

Case study

Calleigh, 18, first contacted Childline shortly after she moved to secondary school. She came from a small primary school and found the numbers at her new grammar school overwhelming. She also struggled with the pressure to do well.

“I remember getting an A in an exam and getting a detention and having to resit it because it wasn’t an A*. That pushy mentality along with being a perfectionist myself was not a good combination.

“I got more and more down. I felt numb like I couldn’t feel anything. That led to self harm. I was biting myself, scratching, pulling out my hair, banging my head.” She later started to cut herself, sometimes as often as four times a day, and began to have suicidal thoughts around the age of 12.

“I felt so, so low. Walking to school, I had to cross a railway bridge. I would stand there thinking I could quite easily go over. I didn’t want to tell my parents because I thought they would be disappointed and worried.

“I would go for walks to try to clear my head, but if your head is screaming at you ‘you should be dead’, that nice safe walk becomes not so safe.”

Calleigh contacted Childline via email and they promised to respond within 24 hours. “You can hang on until you hear back. It’s a reason to live. They listened to me. They tell people they are not alone and that it’s OK to feel how you are feeling.”

At one point she was emailing them every day when she got home from school, which helped her cope; she also received counselling sessions over a six-week period. “It was the first time I was able to talk to someone, and to open up.”

Desperate for help she also went to see her GP who told her come back in a few weeks. She approached a teacher at school who promised to follow it up with the pastoral team, but nothing happened. She finally went directly to the pastoral care staff and begged them to tell her parents.

She got an emergency appointment with her GP who this time made an emergency referral to the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). It took three months instead of the 18-month waiting list for a routine referral and she finally received treatment in the form of dialectical behaviour therapy and anti-depressants.

Calleigh is now at university studying psychology. She is stable, is still taking medication, and uses mindfulness to help her. She says she does not believe mental health problems are getting worse, but says it may be that more people are coming forward seeking help. Nevertheless she disagrees with the pressure in schools and says it is too difficult to access CAMHS.

“You have to be ‘bad enough’ to receive treatment. Telling someone who is really suicidal, ‘you aren’t that bad’, I feel it’s encouraging people to go and do something to prove they’re that bad.”

Childline in the UK can be reached on 0800 1111, or by confidential email via its website.

In the UK the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.