When we hear mental health we immediately imagine being strapped down in a padded cell… Mental health is still a subject of the unknown in today’s youth. You don’t really know or understand it unless you’re in the system.
I’m 22, I have used services in the Leeds area. Not an NHS based service but brilliant in delivery of services. The name of the organisation: The Market Place. They offer many different services such as counselling, Drop in, my plan and they also have a participation group called H.Y.P.E.
H.Y.P.E. stands for Helping Young People through Experience. The Market Place is a brilliant organisation for support and if they cannot help you they can sign post you to other places in Leeds who can help you.
The main reason the market place are so successful in what they do is that they are young person led. They include young people in major decisions such as the design of the building and design of services that they offer. Young people are also involved in many major decisions such as employing the workers who work at the marketplace.
I have talked a lot about The Market Place in Leeds. Now I am going to talk about a national organisation called YoungMinds. I first got in touch with YoungMinds at The Market Place. I was involved in one of their focus groups and I became friends with the Leeds regional worker Liz Neal. From there I got into more of their campaigns, focus groups and other things such as interviewing for an assistant for Lizzie. I am currently involved in the new ongoing campaign called YoungMindsVS. So if you are aged 11 to 25 go to the following site www.youngmindsvs.org.uk and sign up.
So as a young person, this is my perspective on mental health.
This article was written by Lyla Asif using our Community Reporters website
