No matter your political opinion, it has to be recognised that some things need to change within the next 10 years for young people in more ways than one. With the beginning of the decade, this month, the #iwill Campaign are asking us Ambassadors and Champions to share what is important to us. I want particular change within health, equality and education – but what needs to happen?
- Proper mental health funding
Mental health has become a buzzword for the government, yet it still isn’t being properly funded. It’s months before you can be seen and once you are, the chances are you’ll only get a 6 week course of CBT. When I entered the mental health services in 2015, things were a lot better than they are now and it’s sad to have watched things deteriorate instead of get better at a time where there is far more awareness than there was then.
CAMHS needs funding far more, so that mental health is better in young people and teenagers, and to also support this, there should be a trained mental health nurse in schools. Adult services also need to be better, and it shouldn’t be so hard to get a referral. There also needs to be better communication between mental health services and A&E, and better support when you go to A&E with a mental health issue as currently they struggle to know what to do even though we are often told to go there if we have an issue out of hours.
There needs to be change within inpatient mental health units. They currently cause trauma to many patients within their services. They also need better funding, and deserve more support and better facilities. Many of us want to continue our education during our time in the units and the teachers are so passionate, but there’s only so much equipment and they can’t know everything about every subject that each individual studies.
- Parity of all illnesses – chronic, acute, mental and physical
Everyone says “mental health should be seen as just as important as physical health” which is absolutely true, but chronic physical health issues are not treated equally to acute physical health issues (like a broken leg, which is often the example used) which is continually ignored when parity of esteem is discussed, and the term was used liberally by several political parties during December’s General Election.
It took me 7 years to be diagnosed with HSD after seeing more than 20 doctors and physios, and I had to travel to London for several of these appointments. This is because symptoms are overlooked or disbelieved. What I want to see is parity of acute and chronic illnesses both physical and mental – a broken leg wouldn’t be ignored and neither should depression… But similarly, neither should chronic pain. There also isn’t parity between more commonly discussed mental illnesses and more stigmatised ones such as BPD, which is also hugely important.
- Accessibility for all (and even more awareness)
Accessibility is beginning to come a long way, but it’s far from the end of the road – there still needs to be more provision made for invisible disabilities, including chronic illnesses and autism. There needs to be better support in schools, including more funding for SEND support. There needs to be a better benefits system, that doesn’t say people are fit for work when they clearly aren’t. There needs to be less discrimination over who can access blue badges or bus passes (because even though the rules have changed on blue badges, people are still being refused them). Disabled people deserve better.
Ableism is still very active in society too, and it’s often looked over in discussions of discrimination. More awareness of different types of disability is needed, even though the message that not all disabilities are visible is spreading, and there needs to be more awareness that disabled young people exist! Using mobility aids, using disabled toilets and asking for help as a young person can be extremely intimidating.
- The opportunity for everyone to get as much of an education as they want
There are so many reasons that young people don’t get an education to the extent they would like, and that could be just their basic secondary education or a university education. It might be because they live someone that education isn’t a given right and they can’t access it; because are a young carer; because they can’t afford it or have to get a job, or because an education isn’t accessible to their disabilities, and this shouldn’t be seen as acceptable regardless of a child’s circumstances. Education should be a universal, accessible right.
- Climate change has to be stopped… or the rest becomes pointless.
It seems like the most obvious thing that needs to be changed in the next 10 years, but it has to be said – if the government don’t start taking climate change seriously, 2030 might be a dream in itself.
I’ve got big hopes for the next ten years, and I hope that these things aren’t just lofty dreams. Using the hashtag #LetterTo2030, tell me what you think needs to change in the next decade- because young people can help change the world, and we don’t have to wait until we’re old enough to be in power to do it.
Charli Clement Writes 