Young people in Britain deserve a brighter future

This blog is written by May Gabriel, the Senior Organiser for Youth Mental Health at Just Treatment. 

This week is Children’s Mental Health week, and while I’m not a child now, I once was. I first entered mental health services when I was 6 for therapy, again when I was 8, and then again at 14 when I was put into a CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services) inpatient unit. 

Despite being in mental health services for nearly my whole life, it has taken 22 years to get the correct diagnosis. I have been passed around from service to service, with no one wanting to take responsibility for my care - and I am not alone. What’s even scarier, is that it’s only getting worse. 

When I was younger a referral to CAMHS might take a few weeks - now, children are usually offered an initial appointment within 18 weeks of referral. This doesn’t even mean treatment: that could take many months or years more to receive. 

And the demand for care is only growing. The number of children referred to emergency mental healthcare in England has soared by more than 50% in three years. In 2022 alone, 1.4 million were referred to CAMHS for treatment of anxiety, depression, eating disorders and other psychological problems.

 This growing crisis is being fuelled in significant part by the conditions that young people are being forced to live in. The policies, actions and greed of  corporations have driven this deterioration in living conditions for young people causing precarity, anxiety, poverty, burnout and trauma. 

Fossil fuel companies are creating a world defined by extreme weather events and unstable climate within the lifetime of young people. Property developers and private landlords are forcing young people to live in inadequate housing whilst plunging them into poverty. The school system is brutal for many young people, with companies profiting off oppressive behaviour management systems that exclude and stigmatise young people. Exam boards are making millions in profit overseeing systems that cause significant stress and anxiety to young people. 

Society has become much harder, and when I was a child, we didn’t even have social media. Whilst social media offers benefits in the form of opportunities for communication, learning and networking it has also been shown to worsen isolation, with increasing incidents of cyberbullying and cyber-aggression leading to negative emotional, mental and psychological effects, particularly in young people. In 2020 almost one in five children aged 10-15 years old experienced online bullying in the last 12 months, with those affected at greater risk from self-harm and suicidal behaviour. Even those that don’t experience cyberbullying report lower psychological wellbeing with excessive social media usage. 

Unprecedented numbers of young people are experiencing poor mental health, yet NHS provision is woefully inadequate. Millions are being denied access to the care that’s right for them - whether that’s through record-long waiting lists, unsuitable treatment, or neglect at the hands of a profit-making company.

Young people in Britain deserve a brighter future. To achieve it, we need to take collective action which challenges the companies fuelling misery and demands better care provision for all. We’ll be sharing more details on our patient-led campaigns very soon - so watch this space.