About YoungMinds Vs

Hi I’m Emma, one of the YoungMinds Vs activists.

As a young person I never really wanted to talk about mental health.

I mean, it doesn’t really apply to me – does it? I thought mental health was all about people who needed medical help. That’s what I thought right up until I started to get stressed. I was getting caught up in things and my life was getting frustrating, and I felt really pressurised.

It was then that I realised that mental health isn’t just about what is right or wrong in your life, or even about how happy you are - it's about what struggles you have and how you deal with them.

Everyone can be affected by their mental health at some stage. School stress, bullying, sexual pressures, not getting help when it's needed and even not being able to get a job are some of the reasons our mental health can be affected.

But these are all things we can change.

YoungMinds Vs is an online movement, getting young people talking about mental health (the good and the bad times). It shouldn’t be a taboo subject any more.

We know that when young people stand together and voice what's important to them, change can happen! 

So how are we gonna do this?

We spoke to over 5600 young people to find out what problems they face being a young person today, how those problems affect them and what they want done about them.

So YoungMinds Vs is:

• YoungMinds Vs Sexed Up – Don't believe the hype 
  (Campaign tackling sexual pressures)
• YoungMinds Vs Bullying – Stop the rot 
  (Campaign tackling bullying)
• YoungMinds Vs No Work – Fight for your future 
  (Campaign tackling unemployment)
• YoungMinds Vs School Stress – Rewrite the rules 
  (Campaign tackling school stress)
• YoungMinds Vs No Help – Make your feelings loud 
  (Campaign tackling access to counselling)

This is what’s going on now, and you can join!

• We have 1500 young people working as activists and helping to create conversation online
• We have a load of media champions representing the campaign, getting it out into the media and acting as a voice for all  children and young people
• We are working with local and national decision makers to directly start influencing young people’s services
• We are getting other organisations on board to commit to ensuring young people’s mental health is central to their work

Like what you hear? Are you ready to not just moan about what’s wrong with your society, but stand up for your own rights?

Then join our mass movement , use your voice as a tool for change. 

Get involved today and help us campaign for change

Email: [email protected]

Or just get talking online using our hashtag #youngmindsvs

 

YoungMinds Vs is being funded by The Big Lottery Fund from its Reaching Communities programme and Comic Relief. 

 

Credit: Photos by Hannah Russell Teare, all images are posed by models.