Mental Health: Young Lives in Crisis

With unique access to the biggest mental health service in the UK and some of its young patients, Panorama reveals the challenges faced daily by clinicians as demand for services reaches unprecedented levels in the wake of the pandemic. In 2017 it was estimated that in England one in nine young people had a diagnosable mental health condition. Now it’s one in six.

Dealing with growing waiting lists, staff shortages and more and more young people turning up at A&E in crisis, staff at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust open up about the pressures they face, while three young people with a range of complex needs and their families offer a rare insight into what it means to live with mental health conditions.