The likelihood of a young person having mental health problems has increased by 50% over the past three years, with one-in-six aged five to 16 likely to have a mental health issue in that period.Society has seen a spike of interest in mental health in young people, with a rise of 5% in reports of mental health issues from last year, according to health charity Young Mind.
Joanne Wormald is the director of Select Training Community Interest Company and runs mental health classes for young people and children in Warrington to promote how important mental health is.
She said: “The aim is to give both mental and physical health the same parity esteem; we want children to realise their mental health is as important as physical health and they can have the right conversations.”
The workshops are centred around the age of the young people who attend the class, with children having more creative tasks to stimulate their minds.
Joanne said: “We use balloons and bubbles to practise breath control if the children are ever feeling anxious and they can learn to control their anxiety before they’re overwhelmed.
“We also release balloons with words of worry written on them to try and take away the children’s concerns and calm it back down with some mindfulness colouring which relaxes the children.”
The Children’s Society said two-fifths of six to 16-year-olds have experienced mental health issues growing since 2017, due to a lack of support present for young children in mental health sector.
Joanne added: “It’s incredibly important for children to talk about mental health. We have a generation coming through that focus on looking after mental health as much as physical, and I hope this will continue in the future.”
Mental health workshop in Warrington is educating children about mental health issues and preparing them for the future.
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–#MentalHealthAwareness #youngpeople pic.twitter.com/SrtIUAuyzn— MerseyNewsLive (@merseynewslive) January 8, 2025
Featured image (c) Lucas McGrath
