www.itaffectsme.co.uk

#itaffectsme wants to see Mental Health Education put on the National Curriculum. To arm our children with knowledge, understanding and compassion.

1 in 4 people suffer with mental illness and 50% of those are established by age 14. We teach our children symptoms of chlamydia and gonorrhoea so why not depression, OCD and anxiety?

As a teacher and I come across young people with mental health issues and anxieties regularly. If they were taught to talk about their feelings in the same way they might if they had a tummy ache, it would help remove the stigma that’s stayed attached to mental health for too long.

That’s why I’m calling on party leaders to include adding mental health on to the school curriculum on to their manifestos.

An independent report published this year found that around three-quarters of people with mental health problems received no help at all, proof that mental health is still not taken as seriously as physical health. 

If the government wants a healthy and happy Britain it needs to flood the NHS with funding, and respect us by being honest, not spinning the truth about ‘new funding’. People's lives are being ruined by lack of mental health services. We need to get mental health education on the curriculum to give our children a future where they are unafraid to speak out and ask for help.