January 21, 2020
No two days are ever the same in my job. I meet people from all walks of life but they have one thing in common – they really need help. Whether they have ended up in A&E having tried to take their own lives or we’ve been contacted by their families who recognise that their loved ones are struggling, our job is to assess what they need and put together a treatment plan.
I’m A Mental Health Nurse. This Is What It’s Like On The Frontline Of Our Strained Services
I work at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust in a team of 15 which includes nurses, a psychiatrist, practitioners with social care backgrounds and admin support. I’ve been doing my job for 20 years. I used to foster children with challenging behaviours but when I started my training as a nurse it was too difficult to combine the two. Once qualified I worked in adult services and then the opportunity to join the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services team came up.
In July last year we began working with a TV company and allowed the cameras to follow us in our day-to-day work. We wanted to make the programme as we felt it was a way to take away any stigma or taboo about mental health. I think this is an opportunity to show it is nothing to be ashamed of and that talking about it is often the first step to getting help. The series, which starts on Tuesday 21 January on Channel 4, gives an accurate picture of the difficult decisions we make on a day-to-day basis. 
These include thinking about the risks and management for every individual. Does the young person need an inpatient admission or can they be treated intensively in the community within their own environment? We always take into account the least restrictive options in terms of supporting young people and their families and find that it is often more appropriate to work with them whilst they remain at home, with their families and friends around to support them in managing their own recovery.In the opening moments of the programme I can be seen telling a patient: 'Your goal is to kill yourself; my job is to keep you alive.'We also support the family – they can feel alone in their distress and that something will only be done when they’re at crisis point. They often tell us that they have been asking for help for a long time before they hit our service. In the opening moments of the programme I can be seen telling a patient: “Your goal is to kill yourself; my job is to keep you alive.”
The number of young people suffering with emotional distress due to the demands being placed upon them is increasing and services need to evolve to meet those needs. Youngsters are more aware of their mental health than ever before, and social media plays a massive part in this.
Sure Start Centres and school nurses have been axed and kids are under pressure to do well at school. I would really like to see children’s emotional health needs met – not just academic targets. Bullying is also a massive problem. To that end, we have recently set up a team of trailblazers who are going into schools in our area to talk to youngsters about how to look after themselves and be kind to each other.Related... Young Kids Are Ending Up In Hospital With Eating Disorders. Could This Be How We Stop It? No, ‘Blue Monday’ Is Not The Most Depressing Day Of The Year What People Get Wrong About Living With Both Anxiety And Depression As well as emotional distress we also work with young people who may have eating disorders, problems with their mood, or use drugs and alcohol in order to attempt to self-manage difficulties. They struggle to tolerate distress and a lot of what we do is to help teach young people how to become more resilient in managing life’s curveballs.
The CAMHS Crisis Team and Liaison service has seen an increase in referrals of young people who are self-harming, having suicidal thoughts sometimes with plans and intent to take their own lives, and there is a growing sense within society of romanticising self-harm. This extends worryingly to online forums and social media platforms, where sadly young people find common ground with their peers and a culture self-harm is fostered. 
We’ve always had teenagers with low mood but I think nowadays there are more who are acting out on the self-harm thoughts, more teenagers taking their own lives and I think there’s a lot more young people that actually know somebody who self-harms. One of the questions in the assessment forms is about ‘when did you first get the idea to self-harm?’ And very often you get an answer along the lines of “my friend does it”.We alone have seen nearly 5,000 more adults a year being referred to mental health services in Nottinghamshire than ten years agoSocial connectivity or the lack of it in our modern era has really changed the landscape of how young people cope, understand and manage their emotions and how they develop their identity. Interpersonal effectiveness has, in my view, been hampered by social media, virtual friends and an immediate need for gratification.
We alone have seen nearly 5,000 more adults a year being referred to mental health services in Nottinghamshire than ten years ago, and last year saw a 67% rise in young people self-harming. But our budgets have barely risen leading to resources being strained more than ever before.
I hope that this documentary showcases the great work that dedicated staff working within the NHS do. I also hope it shows more work is needed to ensure these services continue to be funded sufficiently.  I’m proud of my trust, the NHS, the people I work with, but most importantly I’m proud and privileged that young people and families allow our team into their lives at the most distressing and vulnerable time and trust us to support them until they no longer need us.  
Steph Langley is a child and adolescent mental health nurse, and features in Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency, which starts on Tuesday 21 January at 10pm on Channel 4
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.comMore from HuffPost UK Personal I Have Three Mental Health Diagnoses. This Is How I Live With Them. My Dad Is Forgetting Who I Am HPV Stigma Made Me Feel Alone When I Had Cervical Cancer. That Has To Change
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Ruby Franke’s Husband REVEALS Alleged Rules He Had to Follow at Home | E! News
March 28, 2024
_mU-3lE2QwI
#KenanThompson speaks out following the #QuietonSet documentary. (🎥: Tamron Hall Show) #shorts
March 28, 2024
8AGP-Gfw_Ek
King Charles Shares "Great Sadness" at Missing Royal Appearance | E! News
March 28, 2024
lyizFqf1kQY
Martha Reeves Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 27, 2024
QzyezumEPtQ
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
Montell Jordan Dishes On Young MC Wedding, 'This Is How Date Night' Plans | TMZ
March 28, 2024
G3SMExj-qio
Davina Potratz Says TV Not Helping 'Selling Sunset' Relationship Woes | TMZ
March 28, 2024
D4piy4GNm4k
Logan Paul Rips Graham Bensinger Over Documentary, You Promised Apple TV+ | TMZ Live
March 28, 2024
NiSDpZhZklQ
Prince William pinned royal medal to Spice Girl Mel B’s boobs #shorts
March 28, 2024
O1cQ0UW9pco
Jennifer Garner shares ‘hard’ part of raising her and Ben Affleck’s kids
March 28, 2024
3Q7mZaVUdgc
50 Cent's ex Daphne Joy named as an alleged sex worker in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lawsuit #shorts
March 28, 2024
yhLFI8DG9rM
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
PSG W - Hacken W
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Barcelona W - SK Brann W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Chelsea W - Ajax W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Lyon W - SL Benfica W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.