CAMHS
Slightly more serious topic today as I am studying an MA and in full procrastination mode. Thinking I should do something proactive to justify my reluctance to read anything with big words. Why I am doing an MA will be a story for another time but today I want to share my thoughts about Youth Work and young peoples mental health.
Most people working with children and young people will be aware of CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service for those of you who do not know). Whatever your experience; positive or negative, we cannot deny that the service is stretched to capacity.
So here is what bugs me. The well know figure that is thrown about that we have all probably seen at some point.
1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem
What do you think about that? There are many campaigns about like ‘Heads Together’ and ‘Time to Talk’ which are excellent BUT they are increasing the need for services that are not there! Why is this bothering me so much? I have a received a phone call from a desperate parent EVERYDAY this week asking (begging!) me to help their child because they have been trying for weeks to get support from CAMHS or the GP. I want to help and we do help as much as we can but we are consistently told that Youth Workers are not qualified to support young people with mental health issues.
I have had Teachers, GP’s and Social Workers advising me not to talk about certain ‘issues’ as I am not qualified but they are, they know best. HOLD ON! Last time I checked, teachers are at breaking point trying to keep grades up, GP’s are mainly prescribing anti-depressants and Social Worker’s priorities are not mental health.
So what am I doing with my person-centred, holistic methods daring to talk to young people about their well-being and LOOKING OUTSIDE of their head? Surely they are allowed to take control of what is going on for them and not just be checked against the DSM-5 for symptoms of conditions that can be diagnosed.
Why can I not encourage and support young people to find their voice to challenge the systems that maybe causing poor well-being? I say I am qualified to support young people with their mental health, not alone but in partnership with the specialists. Sometimes people need a space to ‘just be’ but young people are often not given the opportunities to find out who that person is that they can ‘just be’. I am not looking to ‘cure’. I am hoping to educate, support and empower young people to be able to help themselves and chose what they need. Yes a lot of people do not know what they need until someone gives it to them but that is where the education comes in to broaden options and choice.
Example
I work with young people who have poor well-being or diagnosed mental health conditions daily. I do not want you to think that I do not take this issue seriously but there are just some days that take the biscuit and shows that youth work can save money and time by preventing need for further intervention.
It goes like this. A couple of years ago a young person, aged 15, came to see one of our youth workers. She was a tall lass (she might not be that tall but I am short so everyone towers over me). Her mum had sent her to see us armed with a long list of what she deemed was ‘wrong’ with her teenage daughter. The list went something like this:
- Hangs out with friends all the time rather than being with family
- The rest of the time she is in her room
- Doesn’t get up in the mornings
- Skips school every now and again
- Grunts as communication
- Has been referred to CAMHS by the GP
So my first question was, Why had she come here? What did she think about the list? She thought that she was definitely depressed because she was finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning and is tired all the time.
Look, lets just skip to the end. This young lady was up all night playing on her PS4, drinking energy drinks all day and everything else was NORMAL TEENAGE BEHAVIOUR!! Yet I had to support her to realise this herself but after a few weeks she was miraculously feeling much better. We even helped her to communicate with a few different types of grunts so her family is a bit happier too.
No I am not claiming that we solved her life problems and it is not this easy or simple working with young people who have well-being or mental health issues but that is the point. We spend the time to get to know that individual but also about all the other things affecting them that they could change themselves, with support if they need it. I am tired of having to defend my occupation, I am tired of watching young people not getting the support they need and I am frustrated that I cannot do more.
So I just read through this and realise I have really gone off on a rant. Hey, I could always write a piece using theory and academic content next time to make up for it but it just wouldn’t be as fun………
Memoirs of a Youth Worker 