A mental health crisis: experiences of young people, parents and carers, and professionals
Publication Date
July 22, 2026
Creator
Hills, Danielle
Abstract
Introduction: With a shift away from inpatient care for young people, the delivery of community-based crisis care has become a priority. There is a lack of conceptual clarity regarding what constitutes a mental health crisis which has significant implications on the accessibility of crisis services. There is also a paucity of research exploring the experiences of mental health crisis for young people. The aim of this research is to explore the conceptualisation and experience of mental health crisis for young people from the perspectives of young people, parents and carers, and professionals.
Methods: A qualitative approach was used. Participants were recruited from CAMHS teams across two regions. Semi-structured interviews with professionals (n=5), parents and carers (n=4), and young people (n=1) were conducted either remotely or in-person. Reflexive Thematic Analysis was used for analysis.
Results: Four themes relating to the conceptualisation and experiences of mental health crisis for YP were identified: (1) Early triggers: viewing the crisis in context, (2) The battle for support, (3) The tipping point: a time of high risk, and (4) The aftermath: containing the crisis.
Conclusions: Findings demonstrate YP and parents/caregivers conceptualise crisis differently to professionals, which often impacts accessibility to services. Most professionals conceptualised crisis as a time of ‘high-risk’ behaviours, whereas YP and parents/carers tended to consider the risks incidents happening in response to the crisis, which occurred due to wider relational and contextual factors. The relational themes of connection, communication, responsiveness, and availability were present throughout the crisis experience for YP.
Item Type
ethesis
Thesis Type
DClinPsy
Supervisors
Subjects (LC)
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Name
Danielle Hills- Final Research Portfolio.pdf
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5.65 MB
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Adobe PDF
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