2017 was a tough year for us, in some ways. Our youngest ended up back a CAMHS with clinical anxiety, and our eldest was diagnosed with depression. In other ways, however, we had a very lucky & good year.  Both the boys were able to talk to us about their issues, and they let us help them to get help.

Mental health issues are huge, and in some ways it’s in the media so much (often with negative headlines from some ‘notable’ newspapers, I think you know which ones I mean) that we almost switch off. We read about another celebrity with depression, another headline about ‘happy pills’ (don’t get me started on that one), more statistics about underfunding in different areas of the NHS………and it almost becomes background noise. And this is so very, very wrong.

Let’s this into perspective. Mental health in men & women is getting worse, and the funds to deal with it are getting lower. There are many possible reasons for this, and a lot of it is to do with societal pressures to tick boxes in a society that is increasingly insular and solitary.  It doesn’t necessarily affect men more than women, but it has a greater effect on men, possibly because there is more stigma attached to it, possibly because there is more societal pressure to ‘man up’, ‘big boys don’t cry’ and ‘not to be a girl’ (GRRRR!!!!!). So, here’s a very frightening statistic for you. Male suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50. Bigger than any cancer, road accidents, motor neuron disease and anything else you can think of. Too many men feel that their pain is so great they cannot carry on.

This cannot carry on.

We need to think of mental health and well-being as, well, just part of health and well-being. I am so proud of the way my children are open & honest about their mental health. They talk about it in the same way they might talk about asthma, if they had it. No stigma, no shame, no boasting, just as part of them.

If you think someone needs to talk, start a conversation. If you haven’t heard from someone for a couple of days, call or text. If you need to talk, tell someone – even message me on here if you need to, just start the ball rolling. You are not alone, you matter, you are enough, you are worthy. Please don’t suffer in silence. Please don’t become another statistic.

xx