West has country's highest incidence of teens with suicidal tendencies

The west of Ireland has the highest number of teenagers showing suicidal tendancies and self-harming being referred for psychiatric treatment.

The Western region also has the highest incidences of children with ADHD and other attentional disorders according to the latest statistics released by the HSE.

This week, the newly appointed Chairman of the HSE, Dr Frank Dolphin, launched their second annual report on the delivery of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

The report was presented by its author Dr Brendan Dooley in the newly built 20 bed facility on the grounds of Merlin Park and which will start providing psychiatric care for children and adolescents before Christmas.

The state of the art facility, which cost €8.8 million to build, will replace services currently being provided at St Anne’s in Taylor’s Hill.

The report provides a comprehensive update of the current stage of development of HSE’s CAMHS services nationwide.

The Vison for Change document shows the number of new cases seen, waiting times for patients and mental health problems presented by age and gender. In addition, the report provides data on the admission of young people under the age of 18 years for inpatient treatment.

See full story and photos in this week's Connacht Tribune.