The pandemic has taken an enormous toll on the mental health of the nation and in particular young people. Young people were already struggling as were CAMHS, primary care and schools in dealing with this mental health ‚’epidemic‚’. Despite that we have many experienced mental health charities and experience of a previous revolution in mental health delivery with the iAPT initiative that led to hundreds of MIND centres opening up across Britain. This had a hugely positive effect on my ability to provide shared mental health support to my adult patients when I was a GP.
Should the Government decide to support our expert youth charities to set up a similar system in schools or networks of schools this would be a golden opportunity to support young people either on a one to one or teach mental well-being strategies in groups, up skill teachers and parents and prepare young people for better mental health as they move to adulthood. There is a huge opportunity for long term savings and reducing the mental health burden of the nation.
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