Nine months ago, the University Hospital and the Children's Aid Foundation launched a special offer of help for children in mental distress: a contact point for concerned families hoping for a quick assessment of the situation.

Psychotherapists in private practice, who would normally be suitable contacts, are often fully booked months in advance.

The Psychological Emergency Aid Frankfurt guarantees a half-hour appointment within two weeks, easy to arrange online, even without a referral from a doctor.

Monica Ganster

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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The offer hit a nerve.

So far, 245 children and young people and their parents have received advice there.

In the beginning, the focus was mainly on teenagers, but since the beginning of the year, children from the age of six can also be presented.

The needs that bring the young people to the outpatient clinic are diverse: fears, eating or sleeping disorders, behavioral problems such as constant restlessness.

"The visit was not superfluous for anyone seeking advice"

Significantly more girls (157) than boys (88), mostly between the ages of twelve and 16, sought advice from emergency psychological help, reported Christine Freitag, director of the Clinic for Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents, at the presentation an interim review of their work.

Most children and young people suffered from fears and worries (34 percent), around a quarter from persistent sadness (26 percent).

Self-injurious behavior, eating disorders, and sleeping disorders are less common.

The parents who turned to the counseling center with their children had cause for concern.

"The visit was not superfluous for any of those seeking advice," Friday clarified.

Among them were many with moderately severe mental illnesses, very few with severe ones.

The latter could usually be helped at short notice in the adjoining child and adolescent psychiatric ward - another advantage of the connection of the outpatient clinic to the university hospital.

However, those who were not so seriously affected would not only be sent home with a suspected diagnosis, but would also receive a lot of information about possibilities for self-help and treatment, said Freitag.

The families can thus be helped directly with practical advice.

“And with evidence-based tips that actually help.

Early and short-term help

Because prevention remains one of the most important tasks in order not to allow severe courses in the first place, explained Freitag.

The Hessian Health Minister Kai Klose (Die Grünen), who also came to present the interim report, agrees.

"Parents must have the opportunity to obtain a professional assessment at short notice," said the minister.

Then the chances would be good to prevent "chronification of the disease in young people".

The doctor wants to evaluate the emergency aid with an accompanying study.

She is convinced that early and short-term help in many cases already offers a solution for the affected families.

Freitag also indicated that it is not only a lack of financial resources that is preventing the children from being cared for quickly, but also the distribution of resources: "Those who are in the system often get too much help for too long."

Start-up financing of 400,000 euros

The medical director of the university hospital, Jürgen Graf, also complained that prevention plays a subordinate role in the catalog of standard services in the healthcare system.

He found drastic words for the overall condition: "We pay for a repair shop." Health Minister Klose pointed to a pool of health insurance companies for prevention projects, but at the same time admitted that projects were limited in time.

The Psychological Emergency Aid Frankfurt hopes to be able to scientifically prove with their study that their prevention work for children and young people could represent a sensible long-term investment in the health care system.

The Frankfurt Children's Aid Foundation has enabled start-up financing of 400,000 euros from donations for the next three to four years.

The foundation was able to win sponsors such as the BMW branch and the Rotary Club Frankfurt, the Allianz Offenbach and anonymous donors.

"The figures so far make it clear that our idea of ​​a low-threshold offer for young people with mental disorders was correct and important," said Michael Henning, CEO of the Frankfurt Children's Aid Foundation.

He expects the number of children and young people who seek help from the advice center to double by the end of the year.

The chairman of the board of directors of the Children's Aid Foundation in Frankfurt would like to expand the project.

In his opinion, a telephone hotline would mean a further improvement, as would advice in different languages.

The offer is currently only available in German.

Free dates and further information are available at https://psychologische-soforthilfe-frankfurt.de.