After my recent dealings with the mental health system I realise change need to happen.

Here’s a bit about my story.
Ever since I was seven years old, I have struggled with my mental health, in 2015 when I was seven years old after one of my brain surgeries. I rolled over in the hospital recovery room and said the words no parent wants to hear, “I want to die Mum.”
The words are obviously are not normal thing at seven-year-old would say, so my mum, curious dug a bit deeper and it turned out the surgery had done more than we had hoped.
Since 7 I’ve been struggling with my identity, struggling that I am blind and angry at the system in countless ways.
I have had many injustices in the system as a mental health system hasn’t helped me in the way I wanted to, over the last few years I’ve been self harming an awful lot taking overdoses, self harming and doing other things which are too graphic to go into on here but what I will say is There should be more intervention going on at the moment.
Because I am blind though and have a disability, they will not give me the intervention I think I need, as psychiatric admission.
I understand their concerns, why they don’t want to do it, and the risks involved and everything else But at the same time, I also think they should be a doing more in aiding my recovery.
I find it hard to process my emotions, get really angry really easily. I can flip at the flick of a light switch, and it’s no joke, honestly I am so temperamental but I don’t want to be.
I have created this petition for a number of reasons, one of which I know change needs to happen and I can be the changemaker we need.
If you want to help make change please read on to hear about Imogen nunn and about her story and about how together we can treat the mental health system so people like me actually get listened to and don’t get Blocked out by loud screams of the professionals who think it’s best and about how disabilities should not have the same rights.
 
I completely understand where the system is coming from, but if it wasn’t for my disability, I may be in a better place place and maybe be better to already, because of the system it’s taking me longer to get better and it’s a lengthy process

Petition for Malachi’s Law: Protecting People in Mental Health Crisis
 

 
My name is Malachi, and I am setting up this campaign because there is a massive gap in the mental health system where I am concerned. For too long, people in crisis have been left without the protection, dignity, and care they deserve. Every week in the UK, around 115 people die by suicide. Many of these deaths could have been prevented with the right support and safeguards in place.
 
One such tragedy is the death of Imogen Nunn, who died at her Brighton flat on New Year’s Day in 2023 after years of struggling with her mental health from the age of 14. Imogen, known to many as “Immy,” built a community of nearly 780,000 followers on TikTok, where she bravely spoke about living with mental health challenges and being deaf. An inquest has heard that just days before her death, Imogen expressed strong thoughts of ending her life by drinking poison. She had reached out multiple times for help, even sending a text to her care coordinator saying, “I’m losing the plot… I know I can easily go into the last resort and I don’t want to.” Although she agreed to go to A&E with her care team, she later left the hospital before she was assessed. Despite being assessed as “high risk,” her admission to a mental health facility never took place.
 
Her story is not an isolated case but a stark example of how the system fails to act decisively when people make it clear they are in crisis.
 I am calling for
 
When a patient goes into a hospital setting because they have self-harmed, taken an overdose, or are experiencing suicidal thoughts, the crisis team must be called, and a full and thorough assessment carried out every time. If the person is deemed to be suffering from mental health difficulties, depression, or a significantly low mood, the crisis team must follow up consistently throughout the next two days while they remain in hospital. If there is no improvement, a comprehensive investigation should take place into why they are not progressing. If the person is discharged from hospital for any reason, the crisis team should continue to engage with them for an additional seven days, with an intensive home treatment team in place for at least 14 days or longer if necessary to protect their safety.
 
On a second admission to hospital, there should be a clear investigation into why the individual has returned in crisis. It is not enough to simply transfer someone to a locality team without properly examining the underlying causes driving repeated admissions and ongoing distress.
 
When a child is admitted to hospital presenting with mental health issues, expressing thoughts of suicide, self-harm, or an intention to hurt themselves, they must be taken seriously. Their voice and their experiences deserve respect and careful consideration, not dismissal or silencing.
 
When a child or young adult asks for help, their needs must be thoroughly assessed and not rushed aside because of assumptions about their disability or communication needs. In Imogen’s case, the inquest heard she explicitly requested admission to a ward where she could communicate in sign language, yet no such admission ever happened. These failures have life-and-death consequences.
 
I am calling for Malachi’s Law to be put into place to address these urgent gaps in care. This law would protect people from falling through the cracks in the Mental Health Act/system and ensure that mental health is formally recognised as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act.
 
What would happen if mental health were recognised as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act?
 
If this change were made, it would transform countless lives by providing clear legal protections and obligations.
 
Impact on Individuals
 
Increased Legal Protection: People with mental health conditions would be legally protected from discrimination in employment, education, housing, and access to services.
 
Reasonable Adjustments: Employers and service providers would have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate people with mental health conditions, just as they must for physical disabilities.
 
Challenging Discrimination: Individuals would be empowered to challenge discriminatory practices through courts or employment tribunals.
 
Reduced Stigma: Legal recognition would help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health struggles and encourage more people to seek help without fear of prejudice or mistreatment.
 
Improved Access to Services: It would lead to better access to the support and services people need to recover and live fulfilling lives.
 
Impact on Employers and Service Providers
 
Duty to Accommodate: Employers would be expected to proactively identify and implement reasonable adjustments to support staff experiencing mental health difficulties.
 
Policy Review: Existing policies and practices would need to be reviewed to ensure they do not inadvertently discriminate.
 
Training and Awareness: More training would be required to build understanding and skills for supporting colleagues and clients with mental health needs.
 
Initial Costs: Although there may be some initial costs in putting adjustments in place, in the long term this would improve productivity, wellbeing, and staff retention.
 
Clearer Guidelines: Employers and service providers would need clear guidance and resources to understand their responsibilities and meet their legal obligations.
 
Key Considerations
 
The Equality Act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
 
Reasonable adjustments can include changes to working arrangements, modifying duties, or providing specialist equipment or support.
 
When discrimination is alleged, the individual would need to show that their condition meets the legal definition of disability and that discriminatory treatment has taken place.
 
It is important to balance the rights of people experiencing mental health difficulties with the legitimate needs of employers and services.
 
Incorporating mental health as a protected characteristic would be a significant step toward creating a society where no one is left behind and where every person is treated with dignity, compassion, and respect.
 
No one should ever feel that their life is worth less because they are struggling. No one should ever be left without support or ignored when they are asking for help, as Imogen Nunn was. We have a moral responsibility to build a system that protects people, rather than failing them when they are most in need.
 
Please join me by signing and sharing this petition. Together, we can fight for change, close these gaps, and build a future where mental health is recognised, protected, and supported as it should be.
 
AlsoPeople  13 and over should have the right to request information on their mental healthcare, what they are being treated for, if they’re being treated and why a service cannot be offered to them if they are not allowed to partake in a service.
People  should be offered a mental health advocate for the NHS if they are having any type of mental health assessment, including a visit from the crisis team, as all these visits could lead to a mental health detainment. 
Children under 13, those 12 and under should be dealt with by a case by case basis whether they have the capacity to make decisions themselves.
 
 
Please write to your MP with the following template, then this template can be used to hopefully get more MPs on board with this.
Simply write a letter and CC malavision23@gmail.com, .
Template is 
 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10mIR4xOf-QozO1sM7GDM6ydDAKDYW43xUjWf1on3jJA/edit?usp=drivesdk
Support lines, including emergency crisis prevention numbers  https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Zu6mJuYDKoo9d5gg2RGyMvkhwqzpzNZIKDmDxxcyxI/edit?usp=drivesdk