If you follow the issue in the media, it is relatively easy to conclude that we are seeing an increase in young people with mental health problems.
Whether we are seeing an increase in mentally ill children in our schools is a different issue, however. There is a crucial difference between our mental health, mental health problems and mental illness.
I just want us all to be utterly clear about what is a mental health problem, what is a mental health illness and what are merely the ups and downs of being a teenager.
Making those demarcations is difficult to do if, on the other hand, we want to help those students with genuine mental health problems to feel able to disclose their concerns and gain access to expert support.
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