“Talking about mental health does not make you weak,” the world’s largest mental health lesson has been told. Til Wykes, a clinical psychologist, told an audience of more than 500 13-18-year-olds from around the country: “We want to get people to come to treatment early because if they come early, they recover faster and they recover better.”
The event on Tuesday at Hackney Empire in east London, compered by the 4Music presenter Maya Jama, was designed to teach children and young people about what mental health is, how to protect it and deal with problems when they arise. Officially recognised as the Guinness World Record for the largest-ever mental health lesson, with 538 young people present, the hope is that it also raises general awareness about the issue among young people and helps combat the stigma surrounding it.
There were gasps from the pupils as they heard one in 10 five-to-16-year-olds have mental health problems, amounting to 850,000 children, and 75% do not get the help they need.
Wykes, who works at King’s College London, told pupils that in a class of 30 that meant on average three would have mental health problems at some point – or possibly more as the current estimate of one in 10 is believed to be out of date – so they were all likely to be touched by the issue in some way.
Hussain Manawer, the poet, mental health campaigner and soon-to-be astronaut who organised the event with Wykes, told the audience: “If you are going through something you need to speak to someone about it, but if you don’t feel comfortable about talking to your friends then maybe you need to evaluate who your friends are.”
Video messages of support from a host of celebrities were played and there was even backing from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, who stressed “how important it is to talk about mental health”.
Manawer, who has his own YouTube channel, Hussain’s House, and has just released his first single, I’m ashamed, also drafted in entertainers to talk in person about mental health and entertain the children after the formal part of the lesson, which conformed to strict rules dictated by Guinness World of Records, including no toilet breaks or talking by pupils, except when asked to respond.
The 30-minute lesson touched on famous figures of the past such as Virginia Woolf, Isaac Newton and Winston Churchill who have suffered from depression, alongside contemporary names such as JK Rowling, Professor Green and Kelly Holmes, illustrating that being successful does not offer immunity from depression.
The dangers of cannabis – particularly high THC skunk – were also discussed, the damage done by using pejorative terms to describe people with mental health problems and the importance of sleep, as well as how staying online at bedtime has the potential to disrupt it. The audience was told about the importance of communication and the services offered by the Samaritans, Childline and Young Minds.
After the lesson, the pupils were entertained by the YouTube comedian Humza Arshad, Jordan Stephens (one half of hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks) and singer Sinéad Harnett, although there were still serious points to be made.
“Hear me, I would have this [subject] on the national curriculum, I have no idea why it’s not,” said Danny-Boy Hatchard, who played Lee Carter – a character with mental health problems – in EastEnders. “Not all of us will use the circumference of a circle or algebra [but everyone will use this].”
It"s good to talk: pupils gather for world"s largest mental health lesson
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