According to NSPCC, mental or emotional health was top concern for young people contacting Childline in 2020/2021.

There were over 200,000 Childline counselling sessions with children and young people last year.

Also 5,646 Childline counselling sessions about mental health were with children aged 11 years and under last year.

However it is fair to say that there are still hundreds of children and young people who were not fortunate enough to access such support and help.

This episode is to help parents understand how to support their children and young people especially when they might be going through mental health challenges. It highlights the importance of creating a 'safe space' to enable them to open up and discuss what they are might be going through.

The episode also highlights possible signs of anxiety in preschool, primary school, college and higher school children and adult .

These are well-documented and verified signs by Dr Venus Mahmoodi(PHD) , Adjunct faculty and Affiliate scholar, teachers college , Columbia university and clinical psychologist, Khalil Center.

I want to emphasis that having these signs does not mean the child or young person is going through stress, but it is something to bear in mind and especially if the behaviour or sign is out of character for  the child or young one. #youth #anxiety #teens #teenager

The prevalence of mental health issues is getting out of control in the youth.

The fact that 1 in 6 school aged children in UK( according to NHS digital England 2020) have mental health problem is an indicator of how bad it has become.

The situation is made worse by the statistics that there is 10 years lag before these young ones ever have an opportunity to have or seek access to mental health support.

worse still up to a third of these young ones never have the opportunity to access professional help.

This introductory episode is aimed at highlighting this public health issue.