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Understanding Children and Young People’s Mental Health

Depression in later life is a common consequence of anxiety in childhood
and adolescence.

ADHD can also lead to poorer employment prospects, as well as relationship and
interpersonal difficulties.

Unsurprisingly, conduct disorders can often lead to poorer educational outcomes, a
stronger likelihood of involvement with substance misuse, a higher chance of ending
up in prison and even an earlier death.

You’ve noted the short-term physical and mental effects of eating disorders, but they
can also be long-term conditions that have a more lasting impact on mental health
and can contribute to an earlier death.

Read the case study below about James, who is now a Young Champion for Time to
Change and works hard using his own experiences to help change the way society
thinks and feels about mental health.

Case Study: Time to Change

‘I’m James, I’m 25 years old, and I live in a small town just outside
of Chester. I’m a Time to Change Young Champion, and that
means I spend my spare time campaigning to stamp out stigma
and discrimination around mental health in the UK. I became
a Young Champion towards the end of last year in the midst of
my struggles with my own mental health – I have struggled with
anxiety for as long as I can remember and I have been battling
depression for around seven years. I was also diagnosed with
ADHD and dyslexia over the last few years, which I have been
learning to manage better every day.’
‘My battles with mental ill health and disability have caused
me much upheaval. It’s affected every aspect of my life, from
my confidence to my career and beyond. I’ve faced damaging
attitudes, in environments like the doctor’s office when I’ve been
trying to get help or in the interview room when I’ve been trying to
get a job. Being on the receiving end of stigma or discrimination,
whether it was intentional or not, can cause such self-doubt and
make you feel like a liar, a fraud, or just broken. People often have
ideas of the way people with mental ill health may appear or act,
but they are usually inaccurate preconceptions.’

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