Students hold mental health awareness day

Students taking part in an #iamwhole campaign during mental health awareness day.

Students taking part in an #iamwhole campaign during mental health awareness day.

Dedicated pupils organised a mental health awareness day at Nailsea School to show their peers what support is available if they are struggling.

The students, who are members of the patient participation group for Tyntesfield Medical Group, approached GPs at the surgery to enlist their help with the event.

Representatives from the medical group teamed up with school leaders to run the awareness day, which included talks from the school’s safeguarding team, Positive Steps, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and Wellspring.

Evidence has shown 75 per cent of all mental health problems manifest themselves by the age of 24 and one in 12 young people self-harm at some point in their lives.

Students at the school were keen to raise awareness of the issues and show what support is out there for pupils struggling with mental health issues.

Lawrie Lewis, executive manager of Tyntesfield Medical Group, said: “The determination of a small group of pupils to bring this event to life for the benefit of the whole school community demonstrates how important mental health wellbeing is to young people.

“The school has gone above and beyond to facilitate the day.”

Students were also concerned about the risks young people face by accessing inappropriate sources of information on the internet and the event was designed to help pupils find reliable, professional help.

Craig Mawford, associate headteacher at Nailsea School, said: “Ensuring our students have the information they need to look after their mental health and wellbeing is vitally important.

“We are extremely grateful to all the professionals that have helped this event come to fruition.”

Dr Knut Schroeder, a Bristol GP and founder of Expert Self-Care Ltd, also showcased the new distrACT app, designed to give easy, quick and discreet access to general health information and advice about self-harm.

Through distrACT, young people can find reliable answers to their questions in plain language.

Expert Self Care Ltd, is a UK social enterprise certified by the NHS England Information Standard. It aims to give people access to reliable health information without the need for an internet connection.

 

 

Link to the North Summerset Times article here