Being well is not just the absence of illness, it is also the presence of good mental health. Mental health problems can affect anyone irrespective of age, race, sex, popularity, academic attainment or family background. A person might seem outwardly fine, but could still be having significant problems. You can’t tell by looking at someone how well they are. 

Recent statistics show that unprecedented numbers of young people are experiencing poor mental health, which can include periods of anxiety as well as more long term issues such as depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and eating disorders. 

What can cause poor mental health?

Young people might experience a whole range of mental health problems at a variety of levels and for a wide variety of reasons:

Conflict within their family unit 
Being bullied or bullying others themselves 
Grief or loss
Issues with body image
Feel stressed about exams or workload, or have problems with friends or teachers. 

The se are all difficult situations which can cause issues for the mental wellbeing of a young person. Some young people harm themselves or find themselves thinking about doing so; some experience anger that feels unusual or frightening; others have sleep problems such as getting to sleep or staying asleep; some have nightmares. 

Fortunately, just like problems with physical health, you can recover from mental health problems but, as with physical health problems, you need to know where you can go to get help.

It’s Time to Talk

Unfortunately, many young people are afraid to talk about their mental health for fear of being laughed at or alienated by their peers and loved ones. In a recent survey, 69% of young people said that fear of stigma has prevented them from telling a friend about their mental health problem.

One of the biggest barriers faced by a person of any age when getting help with mental health can be feeling that what they are experiencing might not be bad enough to warrant ‘making a fuss’. They may feel worried that others might not take them seriously. They may be concerned that they will be labelled in a negative way. They may not want to upset those who care about them by letting them know about their difficulties.

Mental health can feel like a tricky topic to talk about and it can often feel that we don’t know much about it, but we don’t need to understand anything about mental health problems to look out for our friends and family, and to be kind and non-judgemental when we hear people are having difficulties. 

The school environment is also an important place to promote good mental health for young people by encouraging students to make use of the resources on hand at school to talk about mental health. 

What help is available at Dame Allan’s?

Within the Schools, there are a number of people who can support our young people with their mental health. 

The Deputy Head at our Junior School and Nursery leads on pastoral care for children aged 3-11. She is a Mental Health First Aider and is available to talk to whenever children feel they need any support. The school nurse is also available to help.

At the Senior Schools, pupils can talk to any adult in school with whom they feel comfortable, but we do have three people on staff who are professionally trained to give expert help if it is needed.

We have two counsellors who offer one-to-one counselling for individuals who need help at certain points in time as well as a child and adolescent psychotherapist who can offer support over a much longer period of time. Our psychotherapist can also provide group sessions for pupils who have similar needs such as dealing with exam anxiety, learning how to listen, perfectionism or low-level friendship issues. 

There are Sixth Form students trained in listening skills and a number of the Sixth Form are also part of the peer support system and act as mentors or ‘buddies’ for younger pupils. 

If anonymity is preferred, there is also a web link to Childline’s counselling service on the Pupil Portal, which provides one-to-one online support. 

At Dame Allan’s, we want to make sure we help all of our pupils to get the support they need. It’s ok to talk about mental health and it’s ok to not be ok.