Head of Global Communications | Journalist | AI Prompting specialist | LLM user | Partnerships | Education Communications
The first thing to know about young people´s mental health, indeed anyone´s mental health, is that much like physical health, you don´t appreciate it until it takes a hit. Ever been temporarily or long-term affected by... - back pain? - migraines? - toothache /ear ache? - IBS? You know, those kinds of things that you just can´t escape while they´re flaring up but can also lie in the background with you managing to function. Mental Health problems aren´t like cutting your knee or finger, sorted out with a BandAid or a dab of TCP.... or getting up in the night with cramp that you can solve with some stretches. They can come and go, give you okay days, so-so days, bad days, and some days - or even weeks or months - that leave you completely unable to function. Our young people may have visible symptoms; they may be experts at hiding symptoms all through the so-so days until they suddenly can´t function. We KNOW that the pandemic left a lot of young people with mental health issues and that cases are on the rise. In 2024 we must do ALL we can to support and enable change and positive impact. Proud to be working for an education group Globeducate that takes its students´ mental health seriously, with robust training including regular webinars for staff and parents, workshops for students, and tight guidelines on how we safeguard. I wholeheartedly support YoungMinds and their work.
A general election is on the horizon. Young people’s mental health is in a state of emergency - it’s time to address the root causes and radically improve support services. Politicians need to step up and do more for young people.
