Place2Be launched the first-ever Children’s Mental Health Week in 2015 to shine a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health.

Today I want to highlight, the obvious, that children and young people live in families. If they struggle with their mental health, their parents provide the support and care they need. Parents need help (especially in these days of limited resources and pressures on services) to best enable their kids to thrive despite challenges as soon as possible after they see a difficulty.

I am so grateful to the charity Parenting Mental Health which was there for me when my son struggled. The PMH Facebook community was a huge comfort and support to me.

I share my and my son’s experience in a short digital story on the Patient Voices website click here to view TRIGGER WARNING this story is emotional and mentions suicide. The picture that heads this post is one of my illustrations from the story. It shows me overwhelmed and anxious.

My son is doing well and has just had an offer from a local university to study his chosen subject. We are over the moon. I rarely look like that these days. If your child is struggling please do reach out for help yourself from PMH.