Young people need mental health support more than ever. Help us make it better by supporting our Headucation campaign.
50% of all mental health problems start by the age of 14 (with 1 in 6 school-aged children having a common mental health condition) but there is an average 10-year delay between showing the first signs and getting appropriate treatment.
According to research, the most common reason young people had for not seeking support was ‘not feeling like their problem was bad enough’. Because of this sentiment, it’s not surprising that nearly 70% of young people would prefer to not have to go through a GP for mental health problems but only 50% are aware of other routes.
Even when teenagers are referred to specialist mental health services such as CAMHS, they are often rejected or made to join a long waiting list as these services are massively overstretched.
It’s clear that young people need more mental health support alternatives to the GP and NHS providers.
How can young people get mental health support without a GP?
Mental health organisations for young people
Many organisations offer great advice and resources for young people struggling with their mental health that can be accessed for free online and therefore require no referral from a GP.
- YoungMinds
- Anna Freud National Centre for Children & Families
- The Mix
- Shawmind’s mental health guides and articles
- Hub of Hope can help you find local mental health support
There are also several great books on mental health available from Trigger Publishing that can help young people to learn useful techniques and draw from others’ experiences with mental health.
Mental health support in schools and workplaces
Many of the problems around young people’s mental health support come down to a lack of knowledge, a lack of accessibility and existing stigma around the topic. We can overcome these issues by making mental health support available within schools and young people’s workplaces.
Training a Mental Health First Aider or providing basic mental health training to staff can help to:
- Increase awareness of the causes of mental health problems in young people
- Spot the early warning signs of mental health problems in young people
- Provide early intervention and initial support
- Signpost to appropriate professional mental health support services when needed
Our Headucation campaign aims to provide fully-funded mental health training to teachers so that they can provide this mental health support to young people in schools.
All proceeds from our workplace mental health training programmes go straight into our Headucation fund.
Mental health peer support groups
Peer support groups are the perfect way for young people to support each other with mental health, normalise the conversation and reduce stigma for future generations.
Mental health peer support can take place in person or online and are offered by many mental health organisations
Mental Health Helplines
Young people must know about a few mental health helplines so that they can access support in critical times or outside of other organised support events.
By helping young people to access alternatives to GP mental health support, we can reduce the number of young people in need of intense clinical support and enable professional services to provide fast and efficient critical support for those who still need it.
Help us improve mental health support for young people by supporting our Headucation campaign – buy a product from our store, enrol on one of our courses or donate to our fundraiser.
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