YOUNG people across Glasgow say more support should be made available in schools to help them cope with the stress of Covid-19.

They are also calling for better access to CAHMS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health services) which is offered by the NHS to treat young people with emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties.

At present, any young person will get access to the service by referral – but there is a waiting list and Molly fears herself and her peers need access to the service now.

She said: “I don’t believe there is enough support available to young people. Waiting times of a year or more to get an initial appointment means many are not getting the help they need.

“Sometimes people don’t know how to get in touch with CAMHS or are too afraid of a mental health issue being placed on their record.

“There needs to be more support in place in schools especially at a time like this when exams have been cancelled for a second year in a row.

“They need to make sure people are aware of the services available and increase their availability.”

Her comments come after a report by Public Health Scotland recently revealed that 53.5% of the young people in Scotland waiting to be seen by CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) at the end of September 2020 had already waited longer than the target of 18 weeks.

It has also been pointed out that in order to keep school buildings ventilated, windows have remained open at all times during the winter months with the central heating turned off in a bid to tackle the spread of the virus.

Young people who attend school say their anxiety and stress has been heightened with worry that their peers might have coronavirus but are A symptomatic.

Her friend Millie added: “I have friends in other schools [in a different local authority area] and a lot of them have tested positive for Covid-19, but they were A symptomatic.

“They have then tested positive for coronavirus and have then had to say to everyone else they were in contact. It is quite stressful when you see people not sanitising or wearing masks properly because you don’t know if they are going to test positive tomorrow when they could have zero symptoms.”

A council spokeswoman said: “We totally understand why some of our young people are anxious during these difficult times and our schools and school staff are doing all that they can to support and reassure pupils.

“Our education psychologists have been working throughout lockdown and since the schools returned in August to share resources and coping mechanisms with staff and everyone will continue to do all they can to help our children and young people through ongoing challenges as we fight the worldwide health pandemic.”