Pharmacy teams can be on hand to help people who are experiencing mental health problems. This requires each member of the team to have an understanding of how mental health conditions can affect people at different stages of their lives, and to take appropriate training to be knowledgeable and confident in supporting people. 

Mental health conditions can affect anyone at any time, including children and young people. NICE defines children as those aged five to 11 years and young people as aged 12–18 years.  A child or young person can present with all the same mental health conditions as adults. Factors associated with poor mental health in children and young people include being bullied, frequent quarrels with parents, being unhappy with their appearance and spending over three hours per day on social media.

Common signs of poor mental health include disturbed sleep, anger and aggression, poor concentration and over activity, mood swings and muddled thinking as well as unexplained physical symptoms. Remember that children and young adults may use different language to express their feelings.

When dealing with children, parents may also be present and so pharmacy staff will need to manage a three-way consultation and also think about the issue of consent, particularly in community pharmacy when the parent may come in without the child, which can present additional challenges.

Children and young people have grown up as part of the ‘instant generation’, so there may well be an increased importance on what is currently happening and treating it now. 

There are several ways in which children and young adults are treated differently when it comes to mental ill health, particularly when it comes to medication. Pharmacy professionals should be aware of the different first-line drugs, doses and licenses for children and this should be discussed with the appropriate team members so they will be confident in handling a prescription or patient query when needed. Other factors to consider include the faster metabolism of medicines in children and young adults, increased frequency of doses, frequency of monitoring and their sensitivity to side effects. Check who is monitoring this and that the medicine dose is started low and increased slowly.

Children and young people will also need information provided in an age-appropriate way that is relevant to them.

Consider your current practice: