Teenage mental health patients quizzed over use of the web

 
Similar circumstances: Tallulah Wilson, 15, was found dead on the tracks at St Pancras
19 February 2014

Teenagers seeking help for mental illness are being quizzed routinely about their use of the internet, the Standard has learned.

Experts at one of London’s biggest mental health trusts say it has become crucial to probe the “digital lives” of young patients.

The Tavistock clinic in Hampstead, which treated schoolgirl Tallulah Wilson in the run-up to her suicide, has led studies into the influence of the web and self-harming blogs on patients.

Dr Richard Graham, an expert in adolescent patients at the Tavistock, said questions about exposure to the internet were asked as a matter of course.

He told the Standard: “This is embedded in the lives of young people. You can’t really think about them without thinking about their digital lives.”

After the inquest last month into Tallulah’s death in 2012, her mother Sarah Wilson said the 15-year-old had “been [in the] clutches of a toxic digital world”.

Dr Graham said there was a need for experts to learn about how and why teenagers used sites. He called for adults to guide children on how to react to what they found online.

Dr Graham said: “I think if you are receptive to what they are doing, that can help.”

He added: “I think there are advantages and disadvantages to the online world. Sometimes there is a sense of privacy... that does allow you to... discuss issues that might be sensitive to you.”

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