More children and young people are arriving at A&E because of mental health crises.
That fact alone should make us pay attention.
Recent figures reported by the BBC show a significant rise in mental health-related A&E attendances among children and young people in England. Between 2019 and 2025, attendances among six-to-17-year-olds increased by 36%, with young people arriving at hospital experiencing self-harm, eating disorders and severe emotional distress.
What is happening before a young person reaches that point?
Because crisis doesn’t happen in isolation and support shouldn’t begin there either.
What does the picture look like in Northern Ireland?
Research from Northern Ireland’s Department of Health found that more than half of 11-to-16-year-olds had experienced concerns about their mental health, either definitely or to some extent.
But there’s another figure that really stands out: around 65% of those young people hadn’t sought help.
For many, it was because they felt that they could deal with it themselves.
There’s a huge space between having a difficult day, beginning to struggle with your mental health and then reaching the point where you need specialist or emergency support. We need to be talking much more about what happens in that space.
We can’t wait for a crisis to start the conversation
When a young person needs specialist mental health support, they need to be able to access it. There’s no question about that but there’s also work that we can do much earlier.
- Can a young person recognise when they’re struggling?
- Do they have the words to explain what they’re feeling?
- Do they know what helps them when things become difficult?
- And do they know when it’s time to ask an adult or professional for help?
These aren’t things we automatically know how to do; they’re skills that we can build. That’s why conversations around resilience, emotional wellbeing and mental health need to happen long before somebody reaches crisis point.
It’s about giving young people something before they need it.
That’s a big part of what we’re doing through PEACE of Mind.
PEACE of Mind is a free PEACEPLUS-funded programme working with young people aged 11 to 25, across Northern Ireland and Ireland’s border counties.
At its heart, PEACE of Mind is providing young people with the space to have conversations about the things that affect them.
Mental health. Relationships. Identity. Emotions. Resilience. Coping when things don’t go to plan. Recognising when somebody else might need support.
Importantly, young people aren’t just being talked to — they’re a fundamental part of the conversation.
Through interactive sessions, co-design and peer facilitation, we’re creating opportunities for them to explore a variety of subjects in a way that actually connects with their lives.
Because early intervention isn’t only about identifying mental illness more quickly. It’s also focused crafting the tools that can help young people navigate difficult moments before they become overwhelming.
What happens before crisis matters
No single project can fix the challenges surrounding young people’s mental health and PEACE of Mind isn’t a clinical mental health service. That said, services like this have an important place in the bigger picture.
- If a young person understands their emotions a little better, that matters.
- If they have another way of coping when things become difficult, that matters.
- If they recognise that a friend seems a little down and know how to respond, that matters.
- If they feel able to say “I’m struggling and I need some help” before they reach breaking point, that really matters.
Behind the growing number of young people attending A&E lies a worrying reality: wellbeing among 11-year-olds is at its lowest point since 2016; more than half of 16-year-old girls and a third of boys experience probable mental ill health; and school pressure rises sharply with age, affecting four in five 16-year-olds.
The conversation can’t only concentrate on the moment when a young persons walks through the doors of an emergency department. It must be centred on everything that happens before it too.
Bring PEACE of Mind to your young people.