Ten years ago, I was nearing the end of my time at a high-ranking all-girls’ school widely known for two things: its excellent academic results, and its high volume of pupils who suffered from eating disorders.
The two traits were unavoidable; the former, proclaimed to us at every opportunity – a stern warning, should one of us dare be the sorry soul who let their standards slip. The latter, noticeable in the pallid faces of girls who skipped lunch, spending their free hour instead writing essays in the library or smoking Marlboro Lights down the road.
Don’t get me wrong: I absolutely loved school. Loved the friends, loved the lessons – a poster girl for teacher’s pet supremo. But I look back at my time there and memories of teachers’ inaction when it came to tackling depression and self-harm slowly come to mind, smashing the nostalgia in its tracks.
Meaningful mental health education, I now see with hindsight, was sparse and ineffective. While intermittent PSHE lessons offered the “holistic” side to our curricular pursuits - normally in the form of a cringeworthy self-help manual - no one really took notice. How could we? We were too busy stressing about our GCSEs.
Likewise, I always heard rumours of a school counsellor, but he or she remained mythical and aloof, like the abominable snowman hiding in our school halls. Besides, who would actually go on the hunt for such a fabled being? The shame – which, I’m afraid to say, can still be attached – to seeking therapy was, for most people in need, simply not worth the trouble.
The fact is, my school was far from unique. And leaving it for Cambridge University – where one college held all its students under “suicide watch” during exams season – only highlighted the problem further. Young people are under incomprehensible levels of stress from their earliest years. We know that 75 per cent of all mental health problems start before the age of 18; so why isn’t more being done to stop it at its source?
Mental health campaigner Jonny Benjamin had the very same question and, I am very pleased to say, has set in motion a phenomenal scheme to put the matter right. You might remember Mr Benjamin from the extensive coverage he received two years ago, when he launched his Find Mike campaign. The then 26-year-old had begun a manhunt to locate the man who had saved his life six years prior by, quite literally, talking him off the ledge.
At the time, Mr Benjamin had been ready to take his life by jumping into the River Thames from Waterloo Bridge – so alone and lost he had become in his recently-diagnosed schizo-affective disorder.
On Thursday, Mr Benjamin launched ThinkWell , a national campaign to bring mental health education into every classroom in the UK. He and his team will now aim to visit every school that signs up, delivering a workshop that will provide a space for open and honest discussion. The bottom line? It is OK to not be OK.
The stats are undeniable: today, more young people than ever before are being admitted into hospital for conditions like eating disorders, self-harm, depression and other psychological disorders. Meanwhile, school, exams and university pressures abound. As Mr Benjamin asked me last week: “Why is physical education on a school’s weekly timetable, but there is no time allotted to mental education?” The answer is a no-brainer.
Personally and professionally, I could not be more excited about this new school scheme; it will hopefully siren a brand-spanking new phase in the way our society views and responds to mental health. One where the taboo, after all this time, will finally be broken. One where your weekly visit to your therapist is as incidental as a trip to the hairdressers – and probably less expensive.
Let’s put an end to suffering in silence, and instead yell for all to hear that help is out there – not if, but when you need it. Let’s - finally and enduringly - open our minds to mental health.
The 16-year-old me would probably blush at my boldness; the 26-year-old me couldn’t be happier.
