More than one million children in England were referredreferred/rɪˈfɜːrd/L2被转介；被推荐（给专家或专门机构）sent to a specialist or a special service for help or advice to mental health services last year. This is a 10% increase from the previous year. Anxietyanxiety/æŋˈzaɪəti/L2焦虑；担忧a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome was the most common reason for referral. It made up 16% of all cases. Also, suspected autism cases rose by almost 50% in one year. Other conditions like ADHD also increased by nearly a quarter.
However, many children face long waits for help. Over a third of them are still waiting for treatmenttreatment/ˈtriːtmənt/L2治疗；疗法the process of giving medical care to a patient to make them better. More than 60,000 children have waited over two years. This number increased from 44,000 the year before. Fewer than one in five children with suspected autism received support. Those who did get help waited about a year on average.
Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza called the figures "stark". She said there is a "colossalcolossal/kəˈlɒsəl/L2巨大的；庞大的extremely large or great in size, amount, or degree challenge" facing mental health services. She wants better joined-up services across health, education, and social care. In addition, black and Asian children are less likely to be referred. When they are referred, they are often in more severe distress. For example, one in four black children were in crisiscrisis/ˈkraɪsɪs/L2危机；紧要关头a time of intense difficulty, danger, or trouble that needs immediate action when referred. This compares to 7.4% of white children.
