This year’s theme, ‘Know Yourself, Grow Yourself’, aims to encourage children and young people to not give up when life becomes difficult.
Monday 3rd February to Sunday 9th February marks Children’s Mental Health Week 2025. The event was founded in 2015 by children’s charity Place2Be and takes place every year in an attempt to encourage children to talk about how they feel.
The charity have partnered with Here4You, a young people’s mental health charity which is supported by The Walt Disney Company, who’s involvement comes after they produced Inside Out 2 – the organisations first movie that explores children’s mental health.
To commemorate the awareness week, which involves children all across the UK, a number of experts, organisations and charity groups have announced programmes and offered advice.
For example, Brighton & Hove City Council have revealed more funding will be given to a project they launched in schools last year to help with mental health.
‘Children’s Mental Health Week is an important reminder to encourage people of all ages to talk about their mental health,’ said Cllr Tristram Burden, cabinet member for adult social care, public health and service transformation. ‘Poor mental health often impacts children’s attendance and attainment in school, so it’s crucial that we give our young people the tools they need to lead happy, healthy and fulfilling lives.’
‘Last year we launched a counselling pilot in secondary schools across the city to support pupils who have had difficulties accessing learning due to their mental health,’ Cllr Burden continued.
‘This pilot is part of our ongoing commitment to children and young people in Brighton & Hove.
‘I am delighted to announce that we will be maintaining funding for this trailblazing project over the next financial year.’
Assistance for children’s mental health in schools is needed now, more than ever. Separate figures from the NHS suggest 20.3% – one in five – children and young people aged from eight to 16 years in England had a probable mental health disorder in 2023.
Meanwhile, Lynn Crilly, a Surrey-based counsellor, author and filmmaker, has spoke with Social Care Today and offered advice about how to make children feel comfortable enough to open up – a hurdle that can sometimes be the hardest to overcome.
According to a survey from the Mental Health Foundation, approximately one in 10 children between the ages of 10 and 15 report feeling like they have no one to talk to or wouldn’t talk to anyone in school if they were worried or sad.
‘The difficulty in separating and identifying a mental illness, especially in a young person, is that a young person can seem reluctant to openly communicate with those closet to them, thus making an accurate diagnosis quite challenging and difficult,’ Lynn said.
‘Confronting them head-on and throwing specific questions at them, such as ‘Do you have a mental illness?’ or ‘Have you self-harmed?’ may be counter-productive, causing them to clam-up, run away or shout back. Instead, creating an environment where they feel trusted, safe and respected is much more likely to help them open up.
‘This means making mental health a subject that you talk about little and often. It is just as important as physical health and if we can begin to talk about it in the same way as we do other illnesses it will not be pushed to one side and get worse. It also means that youngsters are less likely to bottle it up because they will not have fears about how you may react.’
‘There will be times when you have specific issues to address and where and when you to do this is up to you but choose a place to talk where they feel relaxed and unpressurised,’ Lynn added. Some parents find that a car journey can be a good place to conduct tricky conversations, allowing youngsters to talk without the full glare of their parents’ attention on them.
‘Adults too may feel more at ease than they might do facing their teenager over the kitchen table or in the naturally defensive environment of the teen’s bedroom. Talking on a car journey also makes it harder to slam doors or storm out.
‘Wherever and whenever you decide to talk, start the conversation without accusation or assumption and try to ask open questions rather than homing in on specific issues. This might mean opening up the conversation by saying something like “You have been very quiet lately…is something troubling you?” or “You do not seem yourself recently, is there anything wrong?”
‘It is important not to judge your teenager, even if you do not necessarily agree with what they are telling you. Even though your mind may be racing and your heart hammering, it is important to stay calm.’
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