My child has depression – how do I support them?

According to a recent report by the Children’s Commissioner ^[1], one million children were referred to mental health services in 2024-25. This was up ten per cent on the previous year, and almost double the number of referrals in the pre-COVID years.

Anxiety-related conditions accounted for 16% of the total.

The Royal College of Nursing reckons that professional help is usually slow to arrive. Its figures show that children and young people wait an average of 128 days for specialist support, though some can wait years.