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	<span style="font-size:12px;"><font color="#666766" face="Trebuchet MS, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 12px;">1 in 10 Irish children experiences mental health problems &ndash; and 1 in 25 will be severely disabled by it, a major conference has been told.</span></font></span></p>
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		<span style="font-size:12px;">More than 450 students representing 26 second-level schools took part in the conference, aimed at getting young people to talk about mental health issues and ask for help if they need it.</span></p>
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		<span style="font-size:12px;">Consultant psychiatrist Dr Claire Craven said that although the problem was prevalent, there were services that could be accessed and help was at hand.</span></p>
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		<span style="font-size:12px;">She was speaking at the Kerry Youth Mental Health and Well-being Conference in Killarney&#39;s Europe Hotel, the biggest one of its kind ever held in this country.</span></p>
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		<span style="font-size:12px;">Workshops were also conducted at the one-day event, the topics of which were dictated by the participants and included cyber-bullying, alcohol and drugs, stress management and sexuality.</span></p>
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		<span style="font-size:12px;">Organised by the HSE&#39;s Children and Family Services department, the conference was also supported by voluntary agencies working with young people and the gardai.</span></p>
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		<span style="font-size:12px;">Dr Craven, who heads up the HSE&#39;s child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) in north Kerry, said they were called on to help the 5pc of young people who were seriously disabled by a mental health issue and their clients ranged in age from five to 18.</span></p>
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		<span style="font-size:12px;">Her team also includes a clinical nurse, occupational therapist, a speech and language therapist, a social worker and a child psychiatrist.</span></p>
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		<span style="font-size:12px;">&quot;Ten per cent of children or adolescents can have a mental health problem at any one time but about 4pc to 5pc have a severe disabling mental disorder and their needs can&#39;t be met by primary care services,&quot; she said.</span></p>
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	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/mental-health/mental-health-problems-affect-one-in-10-children-29641583.html">http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/mental-health/mental-health-problems-affect-one-in-10-children-29641583.html</a></p>
