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- 20% of children and young people aged 8 – 25 years have a mental health condition (1)
- Approximately 63% of mental health conditions develop before the age of 25 (2)
- 561 people between the ages of 10–24 died by suicide in 2022 in England and Wales (3)
- 20% of children aged 10–15 years in England and Wales have experienced cyberbullying (4)
- About 18% of students aged 12—17 report self-harming at some point in their life (5)
Record levels of young people are struggling. Academic pressure, social media, bullying, poverty, lack of availability of professional mental health support – all have been named by various sources as contributing to this epidemic of poor mental health in our young people.
It’s clear that young people are not getting the support they need. Key figures in a young person’s life – parents, family members, teachers, tutors, carers, youth workers – can often spot when a young person is struggling but may not know how best to help.
Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA®) courses are for everyone who works with, lives with or supports young people aged 8-18. They will teach you the skills and confidence to spot the signs of mental health issues in a young person, offer first aid and guide them towards the support they need. In doing so, you can speed up a young person’s recovery and stop a mental health issue from getting worse.
Our courses won't teach you to be a therapist, but we will teach you to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis - and even potentially stop a crisis from happening.
But more than that, we aim to give you the information and skills to look after your own mental health so that you can set an example for young people. By giving you the tools to have these conversations, we hope to empower you to create a mentally healthy, supportive environment in your family, school, peer group or community.
Let's create a future where mental health is treated as a normal part of life, in the same way as physical health. A future where every young person has access to support if they need it.
We strive to create courses and resources that everyone can access. When you book onto a course through the MHFA England website, please fill in the ‘Accessibility requirements’ section of the booking form and tell us what you need to access the course venue and materials.
Visit our accessibility page for more information.
Take a look at our free downloadable resources for young people's mental health including a list of helpful organisations, guidance for having a supportive conversation, film clips, an interactive quiz and more. See the latest resources.
References:
1. Newlove-Delgado T, Marcheselli F, Williams T, Mandalia D, Dennes M, McManus S, Savic M, Treloar W, Croft K, Ford T. 2023 Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2023. NHS England, Leeds. Available from: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2023-wave-4-follow-up#resources
2. Solmi M, Radua J, Olivola M, Croce E, Soardo L, Salazar de Pablo G, Il Shin J, Kirkbride JB, Jones P, Kim JH, Kim JY, Carvalho AF, Seeman MV, Correll CU, Fusar-Poli P. Age at onset of mental disorders worldwide: large-scale meta-analysis of 192 epidemiological studies. Mol Psychiatry. 2022;27(1): 281–295. Available from: nature.com/articles/s41380-021-01161-7
3. Office for National Statistics. Dataset Suicide Occurrences in England and Wales [Internet]. 2022 [cited 19 February 2024]. Available from: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/suicidesintheunitedkingdom/2022registrations
4. Office for National Statistics. Online bullying in England and Wales: year ending March 2020 [Internet]. 2020. Available from: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/onlinebullyinginenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2020
5. Geulayov G, Casey D, McDonald KC, Foster P, Pritchard K, Wells C, et al. Incidence of suicide, hospital-presenting non-fatal self-harm, and community-occurring non-fatal self-harm in adolescents in England (the iceberg model of self-harm): a retrospective study. The Lancet Psychiatry [Internet]. 2018 Feb 1 [cited 2018 Oct 15];5(2):167–74. Available from: thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(17)30478-9/fulltext