Mental Health and resilience in Young People

The immensity of the mental health crisis affecting young people is in no doubt.

But why is no one talking about the obvious, proven solution?

A school group on The 10 day Bioasis Extreme mission

Here we have a comprehensive BBC News Indepth article from Nick Triggle and Tara Mewawalla on Children’s mental health and resilience.

The article is well referenced with quotes, contributions and citations from leading thinkers in this field, including Dame Rachel de Souza, Prof Andrea Danese, Sheryl Sandberg, Shari McDaid and yet… not one of them has mentioned the obvious: 

💡The ability of nature to improve mental health has been proven again and again.

⛰️ The role outdoor learning can play in developing resilience and resourcefulness is well documented and second to none.

📵 Going wild, with time away from phones, has been proven to reduce Screen Addiction.

🥬 Volunteering and conservation work gives a sense of purpose and connection with nature – which in turns makes people more likely to want to protect it, which in turn, ignites agency in the face of the climate crisis and biodiversity crisis.

Plus, the shared camaraderie from a great adventure reduces social anxiety and improves confidence and communication skills.

Learning to manage risk is a vital part of thriving in a rapidly changing world.

I’m sorry, the answer doesn’t lie in a classroom.

Nor does it lie in better funded mental health services. Whilst vital, that is just a sticking plaster - it does nothing to address the root cause of the problem.

Let’s get our young people outside

Let’s teach them to embrace failure.

Let’s challenge them, slowly at first, but then incrementally, so they believe they are unstoppable.

Let’s build their confidence, their sense of fun, their sense of worth, their ability to look for solutions not problems, and most importantly, their ability to roll with the punches that life will undoubtedly throw at them.

Written by Adrian

School students learning to use trail camera biodiversity equipment