Young minds are great minds, they are the future!

Thankyou for viewing my blog. I’m Alexia and as my title says young minds are great minds. Unfortunately they don’t always realise this; it is shown that since the 1980s depression in children and young people has doubled. I feel very strongly about my subject as I know or have known a lot of young people who have been in situations where they didn’t know what to do or who to turn to for advice.

This is where YoungMinds come in. YoungMinds is a charity who help children and young people with their mental health and wellbeing. If you are finding it hard to understand what’s going on to you emotionally or are finding it hard to cope with something you may find hard to talk to your family about, young minds are there to support to and for you to talk to.

Here’s a story about a 17 year old girl named Kate who suffered from eating disorders and depression:

‘I hadn’t eaten that day. I hadn’t eaten that week. I hadn’t eaten much of anything for years. I was 17 years old. And I was dying.

Orchard Ward, Cheadle Royal Hospital, Manchester. The ward designated for ‘children’ – being under 18 meant this was to be my ‘home’ whilst I worked towards being let loose in the real world once more. I’d say work towards recovery, but in all honesty, I didn’t want that – there was nothing wrong with me; I had no reason to be in hospital at all. Orchard was full of a wide range of characters; a 16 year old male suffering intense withdrawal symptoms from heroin, a plethora of girls using severe self-harm as an outlet for their pain and a couple battling eating disorders. I was adamant to eat and get out as quickly as possible, especially as they seemed to think I needed a wheelchair to go about my daily life. A completely inflated reaction to somebody convinced there was nothing wrong with them. Days, weeks and months went by; enduring test after test, sleepless nights as the ward suffered disaster followed by disaster and witnessing things I’ll never forget – self-harm, suicide attempts and defiance to follow hospital rules.

However, eventually, many months later, I was free to go. Free to go back to my old ways, back to how my life was before I’d been sent to hospital for no apparent reason. This way of life seemed sustainable, as I cut myself off from the doctors, the scheduled weight check-ups, therapists and all the team in place to support me. I completed my A Levels, catching up on the work I’d missed whilst in hospital, achieving top grades allowing me to go to university – proving I didn’t need food. Bangor was the place for me, all the while eating the bare minimum to keep me just about alive.’

So now I hope you can see why I think it’s important to support people who may find it hard to express their feelings and I know that Kate’s story is an extreme case, but this could be happening to one of your closest friends and family and you might not even know. This is why if someone opens up to you about something you should support them and this is also why you should support YoungMinds as a charity and the great work they do.

Thank you so much for taking time to read my blog and take an interest in it. If you wouldn’t mind I would really appreciate a response with your thoughts on my blog. Specifically these few questions:

1. Do you now know more about depression in children and the work of YoungMinds?
2. Would you ever think about donating to YoungMinds?
3. Would you ever want to start or join a fund raising campaign?
4. Tell your friends and family about YoungMinds and their work?

To find out more information about the charity ‘YoungMinds’ go to http://www.youngminds.org.uk/

If you do post a response please can you tell me where you come from ((your hometown or country) if not the UK.)

Thank you again for reading my blog!
Alexia