CHILDREN as young as five are being treated for serious depression and anxiety in Ayrshire.

Thirty five kids aged under 10 were diagnosed with a mental illness in 2014 - more than double the year before.

Bullying, school pressure and abuse are some of the reasons little ones have low moods according to NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Iona Colvin, director of the local Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “Children and young people can suffer from depression and anxiety for a number of reasons, including pressure at school, bullying, personal relationships, underlying medical conditions, family issues, abuse or trauma.

“The increase in referrals may be, in part, due to the reduction of stigma and greater knowledge of mental health issues, along with better detection of symptoms within other services, especially education.” A total of 74 youngsters below the age of 10 have received therapy or anti-depressants from the board’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) between 2012 to 2014.

Ms Colvin continued: “The treatments for anxiety or depression are agreed in partnership with the family depending on the needs of the child. Some of the more common treatments include guided self-help, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and family work.

“Anti-depressant medication may also be prescribed depending on the severity of the young person’s depression. However this is not a first line treatment and is not used routinely.” The board’s CAMHS team see youngsters who are experiencing the most severe mental health problems and have been referred.

Twenty young children needed help in 2012 while 19 were treated in 2013.

Elaine Chalmers, Service Head HELPLINES, for NSPCC Scotland said “Over the past year Childline recorded a 36% increase in online contacts from children and young people with family relationships and low mood/ unhappiness the most talked about issues in 2014/15.

“A child contacts ChildLine every 20 seconds and some are going through the toughest times of their lives.They talk to us about things like family problems, bullying, self-harm and depression. Problems that children often feel they can’t talk to anyone else about.”