One in four people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England, says mind.org. The mental health charity has also warned that there has been a clear increase in the number of men under 25 taking their own life since 2018.
Many people have seen a decrease in their mental wellbeing, especially since the start of the pandemic. One such person was Lucas Anthony Backhouse, who died on October 16 last year at home after battling with mental health issues. His heartbroken mother has paid tribute to her much loved teenage son and is now warning of a growing mental health crisis among young people.
Angela told Lancs Live: “Lucas was just very sadly lost in this world, and he couldn’t find his place. Unfortunately, he suffered in silence and he didn’t talk about his mental health."
A student at Cardinal Newman College in Preston, the 18-year-old struggled to cope with online learning as well as his A levels, and his mental health battles were not disclosed to college, according to his inquest last week. He had told his brother he felt suicidal in August, which prompted his parents to seek urgent help from his GP.
Yet, he had not been referred to Children and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS) earlier due to restrictive thresholds, and was then judged not actively suicidal or clinically depressed, it was said at the inquest. Just a few weeks later, Lucas, who had three brothers, was found dead at home.
Now his devastated mum, Angela, has paid tribute to her ‘well loved’ and ‘beautiful’ son: “He was just a teenage boy who was well loved, sociable and struggling with his mental health issues that he was keeping to himself because he thought he could manage it, but actually, what had happened was that it had become too much for him and he hadn’t realised how big it had become and became overwhelmed, which I find just heart breaking because as a parent, you always think you can help your child, don’t you?”
Now Angela, a secondary school teacher, has highlighted the mental health crisis going on among young people and warned it is the ‘tip of the iceberg.’ She said: “There is a big issue with mental health, and I know from experience, as I work in a secondary school, that mental health issues are highly prevalent.
“Unfortunately, statistically, young men do have a significantly higher chance of it, and I think it’s about 75 per cent of suicides are male. Systems are letting everybody down at the moment; there’s not enough joining of the dots behind big institutions or smaller institutions, and taking an holistic view of a student, and they are falling through the cracks. I know it has been incredibly difficult during the pandemic.
"I know that there are signs of students not coping, such as non attendance and disengagement, and stating that they’re feeling overwhelmed, and I think that schools need to provide training for staff so that they can talk more directly with students who are more vulnerable or at risk, which is I think an absolute basic.”
There are long waiting lists for referrals to children’s mental health services, according to Angela, who believes more resources should be made available and the threshold for referrals should be made less restrictive. She added: “There’s a huge long waiting list at the moment, and if somebody is voicing suicide, that’s urgent, that’s somebody borderline and if you’re having to wait three or four months for an appointment, that’s too late.
“Lucas was assessed as not suicidal and he took his own life… I think the threshold does need to change for CAMHS, because Lucas didn’t quite meet the bar, from what was said at his inquest, but actually, he should have, because he was suicidal.”
Meanwhile, she also says young people should be treated as minors for mental health reasons until the age of 21, owing to the impact of lockdowns which has affected their development, according to Angela.
She added: “I think we have to have a more caring, pastoral system for mental health which means that young people are not considered adults until they’re 21. Lucas spent his formative years in lockdown, so for young people who are trying to get their own identity, their usual support mechanisms and friendships and peer groups were not accessible to them because they couldn’t gather, and they couldn’t be anywhere and couldn’t develop in the same way.
“I think that’s certainly hindered their psychological and emotional development, which I’m also seeing as a teacher because a year ten student is presenting at the moment as much younger and less emotionally developed that they would have done previously,.
"Yet they’re going into A levels and we’re expecting them to behave like independent young people and they haven’t developed the skills and they’ve missed out on that whole chunk of life; they haven’t had any models to follow because they have been stuck in their bedrooms. I think there needs to be specific changes around the age limits for mental health referrals, as someone might be 18 but actually they might still need support, so the bar for adulthood for mental health should be raised to 21. "
Blasting ‘gaps’ in the system, she warned that more needed to be done, adding: “There are gaps in the system and not enough provision, and I feel that we’re on the tip of an iceberg with mental health issues. We might be coming out of the pandemic but I think we will have more long term mental health issues that we need to be prepared for as if we haven’t got systems in place now, we need to get provision and money, and resources into education, training and health care systems where it’s going to be most effective.”
Cardinal Newman College’s Principal, Nick Burnham, said: “As a college we are all deeply saddened by the loss of Lucas, staff who worked closely with him were devastated and we extend our sincere condolences to Lucas’s family. The College’s pastoral care of Lucas was not criticised by the Coroner, but we continue to recognise the importance of our role in supporting our young people and we will strive to do our utmost for all of our students.”
A government spokesperson said: “Every suicide is a tragedy and prevention is key. To support children and young people we provided £79 million for children’s mental health services last year to address the impact of the pandemic, so around 22,500 more children and young people to access community health services and boosting coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges. A further £17 million to build on mental health support already available in education settings in England, and there are currently 183 mental health support teams operational within schools and colleges, covering approximately 15% of pupils – which this year we aim to increase to between 20% and 25% of the country.”
Lucas’s family has installed a memorial plaque in his memory in the pagoda at Avenham and Miller Park which displays the phone number for PAPYRUS, a UK charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people.
To donate to Lucas's family's fundraiser for PAPYRUS, click here.
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