Despite health services being for the patient, there are questions that need to be asked surrounding whether health services for under 18s are designed for the patient or for their parents.

Despite schools being 08:30 – 15:30, with it not being possible to leave school premises without a parent or guardians consent, health services are typically 9-5, including GPs; with many services requiring GP referrals to access the services. When in appointments, the practitioners typically speak to the parent, despite the child being in the room. When it comes to the administrative side of things, these too are typically catered to the parents. Letters for children under the age of 16 are addressed “To the parent/guardian of…”. 

Whilst, for many young people, they may prefer for the parents to be spoken to, the issue is, what if that is a problem for them? 

When I began experiencing depression at around 16, I was in fact already being seen by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Within the appointments, there was talk surrounding some of my behaviours, my restricted diet and talk of possibly being Autistic. The issue is, in all of the appointments, I was never spoken to. When I was approaching my 18th birthday, I was taken to the GP regarding being previously suicidal. Again, I was never spoken to (even after I corrected my mother regarding something). Within these appointments, there was talk of family situations that had no impact on my mental health being painted as a big stress in my life, assumptions being made regarding my behaviours and suggestions being given based off the back of completely false information. Despite my age, I didn’t feel like I could speak up. 

During my appointments, there was never a time I was directly spoken to and there was never the opportunity given for me to speak in private with the practitioner. I didn’t feel comfortable asking to speak alone because I knew this would raise questions when I got home. So I just sat there. 

Through my own experiences, I became motivated to change the way services are accessed and call for a review on the confidentiality of services. From a study I conducted of 1,438 12-25 year olds, 87% of young people think that under 18 year olds should be able to access mental health services without parents/guardians being informed. Despite this, only 25% think that this is possible. 

The issue is, even if services are able to be accessed confidentially, ensuring the young person has a voice is still key. There will be many young people who want their parent present but it is important to ensure that the young person is spoken to within the appointments and given the chance to speak in private, incase there is anything they wish to bring up privately. Both as a young person and an adult, in tens of appointments with a parent present where sensitive questions have arisen, whether it’s been about my mental health, if I’m pregnant or if I’m on any medications, I have never been asked if I want to speak privately.

From my own experience, physical health appointments tend to direct the questions about myself to me; so why isn’t that the same for mental health?

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