General Article The child mental health crisis: ‘I felt like a failure, but it was school who failed me’

Topic Selected: Mental Health Book Volume: 415

By Sarah Ingram

During the Easter holidays last year, five-year-old Harry had a panic attack and said he didn’t want to live any more.

‘He was saying he didn’t have any friends and that he was ugly,’ remembers his mum, Sophie*, who adds that of course neither was true. Her son then told her: ‘I want to die mummy.’’

Hearing these words from anyone is hard enough, but from someone so young is harrowing, especially in the knowledge that suicide is the main cause of death in people under the age ...

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