The kids are alright
Children's mental health week, a correction, a recommendation, an apology and more...
This week has been Children’s Mental health week so I wanted to write about a great and important campaign that has launched.
Across London young people who have experienced mental illness have been taking direct action outside the corporations they say have fuelled their own mental ill health, and profited from the growing crisis of mental health across Britain.
The week of action marks the launch of a brand new campaign - “Mad Youth Organise” led by young people aged 18-30 with direct lived experience of mental illness and madness, and coordinated by patient action group, Just Treatment. They argue the crisis in youth mental health is the result of the business practices of corporations across multiple industries - from big tech to big oil - that make life increasingly difficult for young people, whilst making huge amounts of profit.
One in five young people in Britain are affected by mental illness. Mental health is one of the most privatised areas of the National Health Service. A 2017 study found that 60% of children’s psychiatric intensive care beds were provided by the private sector whilst the NHS spending more that £2 bn a year sending mental health patients to private hospitals according to a report from late last year.
The Priory Group is one of the companies who profits from this status quo. Almost 90% if their £770 million turnover comes from the taxpayer via the NHS and social care budgets. The group — world famous as providers of the go-to celebrity rehab clinic — has been embroiled in a number of scandals including deaths of patients through negligence and neglect. It’s why Mad Youth Organise chose to start their campaign on Monday outside the Priory, Roehampton.
May Gabriel, a former patient at the Priory and Just Treatment staff member who was present and taking action with Mad Youth Organise spoke about their experience of care, “I spent too many years as an NHS patient in the Priory. I’m still haunted by my time there. I was sent miles away from my family and received almost nothing in the way of actual treatment, instead spending most of my days heavily sedated.
“I experienced bullying by staff and have been left with lifelong physical impacts. We should not be handing vulnerable, young people over to The Priory which is more concerned with its profits than our wellbeing. The government must invest in decent mental health treatment that people can access close to their homes and families. I don’t want anyone else to be hurt by the Priory.”
Rosie Williams, another former Priory patient who took action at Roehampton spoke about the need for change, “I’m so fed up with token mental health “awareness” campaigns when so few young people get the help they need when they ask for it. I want to talk about the government policies and corporate business models that mean so many young people are experiencing mental illness. I want to hear about what it means to grow up poor, the daily stress of having to work a horrible job, the anxiety of living in grim, unsafe housing, or the fear of a future that is shaped by climate catastrophe.
Later in the week, the campaign also targeted tech firms, oil companies, and private housing lobbyists, highlighting the connections between worsening mental health amongst young people and social media practices, precarious housing, and climate breakdown.
Campaigners are calling on the government to end the outsourcing of mental health care to private companies and instead ensure there is funding for decent NHS mental health care where patients are offered appropriate therapeutic interventions when they need it.
The campaign has already received cross party support. Carla Denyer, MP Bristol Central and the Green Party co-leader signalled her support for the campaign, “the hollowing out of mental health services means that for many young people the choice is between paying for private care, or not getting the support that they need. It’s time we asked big corporations and the very wealthiest in society to pay their fair share of tax to properly fund our NHS – so that we can all get the care we need when we need it.”
Labour MP for Nottingham East Nadia Whittome also added her support to the campaign saying, “The culprits of the youth mental health crisis are clear: years of austerity, combined with unaccountable corporations exploiting young people for profit, facilitated by government policy making that focuses on the demands of businesses but fails to meet the needs of young people.
“From property developers to big oil companies these corporations should be paying financial compensation for the harm they are doing. I will be working with my parliamentary colleagues to do this - and take meaningful action to end the crisis our young people are facing.”
Youth activists are calling on the government to tax the corporations responsible for this crisis to pay for this urgently needed care. The campaign has published a research paper setting out the case for a tax that could raise £5.2bn (which is the shortfall between the cost of properly treating Children’s mental health in this country and the current budget.) This proposal builds on the Liberal Democrats’ election commitment to tax social media companies to pay for mental health advocates in schools
Further reading
For further reading on the themes and issues raised above I can’t recommend Micha Frazer-Carroll’s Mad World enough. Just as Mad Youth Organise have done, the book joins the dots between austerity, climate crisis, capital and more when looking at mental health, arguing for a much more nuanced and detailed understanding and analysis than simple awareness campaigns. You can get your copy by clicking the image below:
Small correction
On Monday I sent you an interview with Jeremy Corbyn about the right to protest. He referenced his arrest at an anti-apartheid demonstration in 1984 alongside two other MPs. One of those MPs, Tony Banks, was incorrectly written as Tony Benn. My apologies to the memory of Tony Benn for accidentally arresting him and to Tony Banks for erasing his criminal endeavours. My excuse is I wrote it up whilst very hungover.
An apology
A few weeks ago I recommended Morag and Matt’s incredible book Charged! Whilst I still very much recommend reading it — especially ahead of the next few weeks when we’ll see trials of those arrested in the aftermath of the National Demo for Palestine last month — I forgot to tell you that the very kind people at Verso actually created a discount code for you all. If you click the image and enter CHARGED30 at the check out you will be able to get 30% off! (terms and conditions below!)
Details:
For Online Store
30% off Charged (3 variants)
Applies to one-time purchases
No minimum purchase requirement
All customers
One use per customer
Can’t combine with other discounts
Active from today until Feb 24
Weekend Listings
Saturday 8th February
London: Stand up for the Miners fundraiser night, W1D 1LL
Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners say, “The Durham miners are coming to London for an evening of comedy and politics marking the 40th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike – and you’re invited!
We’ll be at the legendary Oxford Street venue The 100 Club on Saturday 8 February (7pm – 10.30pm) raising funds for the Durham Miners’ Gala. Our line up of comedians are the fantastic: Ian Stone; Steve Gribbin; Don Biswas; and Jen Ives, with Andrew O'Neill our host and compere.
The evening will also feature a special conversation with trade union leaders and ex-miners about the legacy of the Miners Strike 40 years on.All proceeds will go to the Marras – Friends of Durham Miners Gala.”
Buy your tickets here.
Nottingham: No Transphobia in Nottingham, 12:30pm
Nottingham Against Transphobia say, “Kellie Jay Keen (AKA Posie Parker), that shouty career Transphobe has decided to return to Nottingham next month.
It's been years since Transphobes have dared to stir the pot in Nottingham and we're not going to let it happen again. It's time for us to organise the BIGGEST COUNTER PROTEST we've ever had ✊🏳️⚧️
Nottingham Against Transphobia was formed when this bigot decided to come along to the city 3 years again. Indirectly, she's caused Nottingham to be a hotbed of trans campaigning. Since then we have grown immeasurably... But we still need your help!
Bring placades, bring your voice, bring your passion but most importantly... bring your friends. We know we can massively outnumber these sad little TERFs. Share this with everyone you know. Share this with everyone you DON'T know too! 🥰
We will aim to gather at Speakers Corner but will issue updates later to the time if we know their event is happening elsewhere.
Join us, and let's banish this woman from our lives once and for all!”
Thanks so much for reading. As ever if you would like your event, protest, fundraiser etc. included here or if you have any tips, press releases or save the dates please do drop me a line!
Hope to see you all on the streets!
ben x
thanks for reminding me how much we all loved Tony Benn.