Mental Health…. an astronomical issue that many young people and children all over the UK are having to face with not much support or anywhere to turn if these issues do arise. A whopping 16 million adults suffer from mental health and 3 out of 4 of three issues start in childhood.

But why have so many young people fallen victim to this and why is it so important for us to try and tackle these issues?

Drawing from my own personal experience in this area I can easily say that the services offered for young people are at an all-time low and something needs to be done to improve the system. Growing up I didn’t know much about mental health, there wasn’t a lot of information out there and whatever was available wasn’t easily accessible for young people. When I started to reach adolescence certain feelings and emotions began to arise that I had never experienced before and when I reached out for help I felt like I was instantly shut down and now had nowhere to turn. Mental health wasn’t exactly a topic you could just start talking about, it wasn’t normal to have conversations like that and so I kept it all in and let it build up inside until inevitably… I had a meltdown. This feeling of being isolated stuck with me through everything I done over the years and held me back in ways I can’t explain, it took me years to overcome my personal problems and this is why it is so important for us to try and tackle mental health, these are the problems that young people should not have to face in this day and age. It’s this lack of understanding and the stigma around mental health that lead to young people to feeling isolated. If we take steps to raise awareness about mental health and show young people that there is support, advice and a safe place to go it could have a major impact on the number of children having to face this alone. Mental health affects how we think feel and act, being a young person and going through the process of growing up is hard enough, we need to encourage our young people to be active members of society, to be confident and successful in everything they do, not chip away at whatever self-esteem they do have. Having conversations and educating young people from an early age about mental health, showing them that there is support and advice available and giving them a safe place to express themselves and be who they want to be is paramount in tackling mental health.

The message we need to be sending our young people is that it’s okay if you need help and it is okay for you to ask for it. No matter your struggle I promise you that there is a way out, there is a light at the end of the tunnel you just have to be strong enough to keep going.

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start”

– Nido Qubein