We are almost halfway there in securing a government response! Thank you so much for signing and sharing.

On a personal note, in writing the letter, I found it tricky to balance how much lived experience to share around the driving force for writing so thought I would add a bit of background here.

I began my career working in adult mental health services in 2010 which marked the beginning of the closure of 1,416 English Sure Start Centres. Although very new to the profession, it seemed glaringly obvious to me that given the early years lay the foundation for a lifetime of positive mental health, a sensible place to start making huge cuts was not at the very beginning of children’s lives. Working alongside families I was instantly seeing the short- term consequences of this necessary support being removed; the continuous repercussions we continue to see.

Growing up, I had very little understanding of mental health and neurodiversity. I have no memory of any professional support, neither were discussed at school and given the then much more prevalent stigma, felt like a subject that was pretty much off topic. The support and education both myself and my family needed simply was not there.  

My mental health reached crisis point following the birth of my second child where I suffered with Post Natal Depression and extreme anxiety during the winter lock down.  My illness of course took its toll on my whole family but in reaching out for support was offered little more than to take antidepressants and be placed on a waiting list for CBT therapy. The impact on the rest of my family was simply not even acknowledged.

I remember feeling like ‘everyone else’ was coping so much better than I was during this time. In truth, I wasn’t alone, statistics show that in 2022/23, 8.6 million people in England alone were prescribed anti-depressants (research of prescriptions of other psychological drugs would be interesting to research too) and whilst I do believe this medication certainly has its place, it was the support I received alongside taking them that had the biggest impact on my ongoing recovery.

I often wonder how much of my mental ill health could have been prevented had I known what I now do in terms of recognising and managing my emotions, my neurodiversity and general coping strategies. What difference would a big focus on emotional wellbeing through school education have made to me and others?

Given the horrifying statistic of those suffering with poor mental health, the lack of this more holistic support, and education I find completely astonishing. We seem to have moved so far away from ‘prevention is better than cure’ bringing with it the biggest emotional and monetary cost!

My son suffered following an emergency operation he endured. In calling the GP in the hope of seeking support to prevent an exacerbation of his symptoms I was informed he was not severe enough to reach the frightening threshold of how ill children must be to receive help through Children and Adolescents Mental Health Services. (And even if he did eventually reach absolute crisis point, he likely would have had to wait many months for support)!

His suffering did increase and so did my anger towards the seemingly completely broken system. Children and their families should not have to be in crisis to qualify for mental health support!!

Around this time, I discovered ‘Chatterminds’ an organisation set up to introduce mindfulness to families. The founder, Carol, provides support and tools to families to look after their mental health. She supports people to better manage stress, feel happier and helps children individually and in groups to understand and manage emotions and build resilience, confidence, and self-esteem.

Chatterminds began to support my son aiding his understanding and teaching him tools to manage his emotional wellbeing (knowledge I so wish I had as a child) and I attended their 10 week fully funded Mindfulness for parents of SEND children course in partnership with The Mindful Parenting & Community Project. This support was invaluable, and we were able to put this very difficult period behind us.

Recovery isn’t linear, I must work on mine every day, but the emotional education, therapy and peer support my family and I received has positively impacted us enormously. Being the lucky exception however whilst thousands of other families are suffering is not good enough so here lies my petition.  

Big changes across the mental health and education system need to happen. (The outdated English curriculum has completely failed to keep up with the difficulties facing our children today and could be argued is in fact exacerbating the problem). Children and their families should not be left to suffer alone and nor should teachers be forced into the frontline in supporting children’s mental health, the repercussions here are all too devastating to see.

Thank you again,

Emma.