Children as young as 12 are attempting suicide after developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a shocking study has found.
One in 13 young people in the UK develop PTSD before the age of 18 following traumatic events such as assault or sexual violence.
A person is twice as likely to experience a mental health disorder following trauma, of which almost two-thirds (31 per cent) of people experience as a child, according to the findings.
Half of those suffering from PTSD had self harmed and were at higher risk of alcoholism, isolation and unemployment.
The figures, from King's College London are some of the first to highlight how common childhood trauma is in Britain's youngsters.
It's served as a 'wake-up call', experts said, as a large number of young people with PTSD are not getting treatment.
One in 13 young people in the UK develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before the age of 18, a shocking study by Kings College London has shown
The study, published in the journal The Lancet Psychiatry, looked at more than 2,000 children born in England and Wales between 1994 and 1995.
In total, 7.8 per cent experienced PTSD before reaching the age of 18.
However only one in five (20.6 per cent) of this group said they had received help from a mental health professional in the last year.
Symptoms of the anxiety condition include distressing memories or nightmares, avoiding things which remind them of their trauma, and feelings of guilt, isolation and detachment.
Traumatic experiences included direct experience of assault, injury or sexual violation, with 74 per cent of young people experiencing sexual assault developed PTSD.
It also included 'network trauma' - events which affected someone the young people knew, but which they did not witness in person.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events.
People with PTSD often suffer nightmares and flashbacks to the traumatic event and can experience insomnia and an inability to concentrate.
Symptoms are often severe enough to have a serious impact on the person’s day-to-day life, and can emerge straight after the traumatic event or years later.
PTSD is thought to affect about one in every three people who have a traumatic experience, and was first documented in the First World War in soldiers with shell shock.
People who are worried they have PTSD should
