We all know the statistic: one in four of us will suffer from a mental health problem during our life.
Knowing however, isn’t enough. In fact, we risk undermining every advance we have made if increased awareness of mental ill health is regarded as a substitute for improved treatment. We are supposed to be living in an age of parity between mental and physical health. But to date, warm words have been followed by little of substance.
We know that key to treatment of physical illness is early intervention. That is also true of mental ill health. Indeed, a statistic less frequently cited – in many ways far more stark – is that three quarters of all mental health problems are established by the age of 24. And half by just 14-years-old.
Real parity of esteem for children and young people, including early intervention with proper diagnosis and treatment, could avert so much misery and at the same time save much money across the NHS and other services.
Too many children and young people are suffering in silence – sometimes because they fear stigma, sometimes because those who love them do not notice the signs. As someone who has frequently talked the talk on mental health, I know I have not always walked to walk. I failed to notice the mental health problems that my own daughter Charlie was having as a teenager.
Having courageously sought help, she later suffered the most appalling consequences of post-natal depression, some of which could perhaps have been avoided. Charlie now works for a brilliant charity, ArtLift, which provides arts on prescription.
Whilst the statistics might be clear, there are multiple reasons for increased numbers of children and young people suffering mental health issues. I spoke to a young man recently who, having experienced his own problems, now works for The Royal College of Psychiatrists reviewing Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) inpatient units and community teams. He told me the main challenge was the increasing complexity of young people turning up to services.
Students are not snowflakes, delicate individuals who melt when the temperature of life rises but they are facing increased pressures. The transition from home to university can be overwhelming. And the unprecedented financial burdens of student loans and tuition fees is adding to the stress of having to succeed.
Alongside this, the government’s major cuts to local authority funding has led to the removal of safety nets like youth services, community outreach workers and libraries. As young people struggle to get help early on, more of them are approaching CAMHS at an acute stage of their illness.
The UK is close to the bottom of new league tables ranked by CAMHS provision. With regard to psychiatrists, we sit in 21st place with just 4.5 psychiatrists per 100,000 young people – an eighth of what the top ranking country, Finland, provides.
Then there is social media. An advance in so many ways but also a torment for those who cannot escape their foes, those who bully or demean them, those who wreck their self-confidence and make their lives a misery. The impact of social media upon the self-esteem of young people is enormous – feeding on obsessions about looks and clothes, weight or other physical attributes.
As principal of Somerville College, Oxford I have seen at first-hand the devastating impacts of mental illness. And across the university as a whole, the past five years has seen a five-fold increase in individuals reporting long-term conditions. It is an issue that has to be tackled head on across all of our higher and further education institutions, and I am pleased to say that Oxford is currently consulting on a well-being and mental health strategy to ensure our students’ needs are met.
At Somerville specifically, we have what I believe to be a good system which includes peer support, a part-time counsellor, a nurse and a full-time welfare support officer. We also have a development programme which helps to build resilience. But we can always learn more and do better.
Charities too have done a great job of supporting young people and raising awareness. But they cannot be expected to fulfil tasks and obligations that should rightfully be the duty of the state. A state that at the moment is abdicating its responsibilities in this and so many other areas.
Baroness Jan Royall of Blaisdon is Principal of Somerville College, Oxford, a Labour Peer and a former Leader of the House of Lords