Mental health services for adolescents

Abstract

The provision of separate and clearly identified mental health services for adolescents is a matter of recent development. In the early 1990s they are still far from widespread and their distribution across the UK is uneven. The psychiatric disorders of children and adolescents do not feature prominently in the early history of psychiatry. In the late nineteenth century, however, serious medical interest began to be shown in the emotional and intellectual problems of young people and in the importance of a developmental perspective in understanding disorder. After the Second World War, the number of clinics continued to grow until the 1970s, when a point was reached when most towns, boroughs, and counties had at least out-patient services. The natural and positive tendency for individual professions to concentrate on developing their own skills, autonomy, and differentiated identities has improved expertise.