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I was 8 years old when I first started to self harm and by the age of 16 had started not attending school (though my parents would see me leave the house in the morning) and even became pregnant at 17. Over this time, with 2 different schools, nothing was done. No one even noticed the self harm. Maybe I was just very good at hiding it but surely an 8 year old child that has a tantrum when they get a maths question wrong should really raise some questions? I know now that that was the first manifestation of my borderline personality disorder and that the uncontrollable mood swings was the start of bipolar affective disorder. But I wonder why no one saw anything? Or if they did, why they chose to do nothing? All it would have taken was someone paying some attention to my behaviour, but I guess as I was a straight A student they had other people to "worry" about.

Schools need to raise awareness of all aspects of mental health. It's important that we teach our children that mental illness isn't something to be ashamed of and that they can talk to people about how they feel because people are going to listen, take them seriously and they will try and help when they can. Whether it's individually with a child showing some signs of a problem (I know that a number of schools now have a counsellor in school because my mother does this) or in a group function. This is a good way to do it. Lots of children will have a parent with mental health problems and they shouldn't be made to feel alone. It's essential that children understand that people with MH problems aren't monsters. They aren't murderers and that it's not catching. And that the most important thing to do if they or a parent is struggling is to talk to someone that they trust.

Obviously what you say is age dependant but teaching children about things such as depression can be done from quite a young age.

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