On Monday the NHS, with backing from the YMCA, launched their new campaign #IAMWHOLE which reaches out to young people with mental health problems. The launch coincided with World Mental Health day, a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy.
This year the theme is the importance of "psychological and mental health first aid for all". It seeks to take mental health out of the shadows so that people feel more confident in tackling the stigma, isolation and discrimination that plague people with mental health conditions, their families and carers.
YMCA research suggests 38% of 11-24 year olds with mental health difficulties feel stigmatised. Of this number, 54% felt stigmatised by their own friends while 56% said it made them less willing to seek support.
These statistics are of concern in that they demonstrate the challenges that young people face go beyond the symptoms of their mental health difficulties as they must also take on the day-to-day stigma attached. #IAMWHOLE seeks to reach out to young people who aren’t accessing services because they fear stigmatism and gives them a platform to share their views and stories. The campaign is running online and through social media, with an anti-stigma challenge initiative being launched in schools.
Growing up should be a positive time and mental health difficulties among children and young people can be both persistent and damaging. I am pleased supporting those with mental health difficulties is a Government priority and Ministers have legislated to ensure it is treated with the same importance as physical health.
The Government will spend an additional £1 billion on mental health by 2020-21 to improve access to services so that people receive the right care in the right place when they need it most. This includes increasing the number of people completing talking therapies and helping more people to find or stay in work through individual placement support.
Mental health is everyone’s business. We all have times when we feel down or stressed or frightened. Most of the time those feelings pass but sometimes they develop into a more serious problem and that could happen to any one of us. In general people feel uncomfortable talking about mental health but it is a growing public health concern and according to the Mental Health Foundation, if we do not act urgently, by 2030 depression will be the leading illness globally.
In her opening remarks on the steps of No 10 as Prime Minister, Theresa May promised to provide better life chances for those suffering from mental illness and I am pleased to be a member of a government that is tackling this issue.