Dr. Sarah McGuire:

In terms of the mental health, as I said about 60% of children and teenagers have a mental health component to their presentation. It is very complex. The children we see present also with a lot of internalising problems. They may have anxiety, for example, or become very withdrawn.

Sometimes they might refuse to attend school or leisure activities that they once loved. As much as 75% of that population experience some form of bullying with 10% of that being very severe, which has a huge impact on self-esteem. It is very difficult for families to be armed with education but then be expected to manage all of these issues. Parents are tasked with supporting those issues as well. They have a huge role to play in managing those issues and spearheading some of the management at home. That is why the unit is more family orientated and parents attend as well. Children with low self-esteem and maybe suffering anxiety too cannot be expected to run with all of this matter. There is an onus placed on parents to support their children throughout the process.