Scarlett Savers – St Patricks College Dungannon

Why as a team did you choose to focus on this challenge?

We chose to focus on mental health because it impacts many individuals lives. There has also been an increase in people who are suffering from severe mental health which leads us to believe that we all need to start doing more in order to help everyone. We think that some people just push mental health aside even though it is a very important part of everyone’s lives. Even though some people have it worse then other mental health impacts everyone’s lives.

What do you know now about the challenge that you didn't know before?

From our research we have discovered that mental illness begins by the age of 14 and affects 75% of people by the age of 24. We have also discovered that it is usually caused by childhood abuse, trauma or neglect. As well as that mental health issues can be caused by social isolation/ loneliness or if an individual experiences discrimination and stigma including racism.

What have you learnt about your Hero?

Our hero is a 17 year old paren. She has a part time job as well as going to school full time studying her A Levels. We have learnt that this may be causing her a lot of stress and anxiety because of all of the things that are going on in her life. Even though she has a boyfriend who does help out a lot she still feels the pressure of having to balance everything her school life and homework, part time job and looking after her child.

If you could improve one thing for your Hero what would that be?

If we could improve one thing for our hero it would be to take stress off of her. We feel that she needs to have some more freedom as well as ensure that she is being a good mum to her child and taking care of her. We feel that everything may be getting to much for her and she needs to figure out how to spend her time and ensure that everything is getting enough attention.

Do you have any ideas for a potential solution? No matter how raw, share them with your Mentors for feedback.

One solution we are considering is an online service. This online service would be open 24/7 and there would always be someone there that could help anyone. This would benefit our Hero as since she is a mother, goes to school and has a job she may not have time during the day to go to a therapist or ask a councillor for help. The 24 hour service will encourage her to talk to someone as she can just text them at night time if she has any worries.

Ask your Mentor anything …. This is a chance to ask your Mentors a direct question relating to your Big Idea.

We would like to ask if our solution is a good solution or if it is too often heard.