Contribution
My Lords, I welcome the debate and the opportunity to speak in support of the Government’s approach to one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time. I do so not as a politician but as someone who has the personal experience of what it means to love somebody with a serious mental health condition.
My late husband was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 29, following a long process of trying to find answers to how he felt and because he knew he had to learn how to manage things, particularly for our daughter. Looking back, we came to recognise that many of the symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, had been present since his early teens. He was fortunate: he had a good support network around him, and I learned how to be there for him through his manic episodes, his depressive states and the darkest moments when he was living through suicidal thoughts. Not every family has that, and that is why this debate matters so much.
I am glad that more people are looking for help with their mental health. It shows that the stigma around mental well-being is dissipating and, I hope, not manifesting in other ways. The crucial thing will now be how they are helped, whether it is in the home, in school, in the community or through a medical specialist.
Among many things, the Mental Health Act 2025 crucially enhances the rights of children and young people, ensuring that their wishes and those of people close to them are central to decision-making. That matters deeply to me, not only because of my husband's experience but because I am the mother of a 17 year-old daughter who struggles with anxiety—and, I can assure this House, has plenty of grit. My husband’s journey has given me tools that many parents simply do not have. I understand the signs and I know how to have the conversations, but what I cannot protect her from is the environment in which she is growing up. That environment is far more exposing than anything her father or I faced at her age. NHS England’s Mental Health of Children and Young People in England report found that 20.3% of eight to 16 year-olds had a probable mental health disorder in 2023. The pandemic accelerated a crisis that was already building. Into that fragile landscape, came the relentless—I would argue deliberately engineered—pressure of social media.
The Mental Health Foundation has warned that social media has contributed to a 47% increase in young people experiencing mental health harm in England since 2007. Most young people aged 16 to 21 have been exposed to harmful or disturbing content online, with over a third having encountered suicide or self-harm content and more than a quarter exposed to pro eating disorder material. The algorithms make it worse. These platforms are not neutral; they are designed to maximise engagement, and parents cannot just simply switch them off. The exposure is constant. Ofcom research showed that a third of eight to 17 year-olds said they had seen something online that they have found worrying or nasty in the past 12 months. That is not an accident; that is a design, by choice, by technology companies that have for far too long faced far too few consequences. I welcome the approach that the Government are taking on this. Social media can be a benefit, but we all must be alive to the very real harms.
The consequences for young people are stark. YoungMinds reports that the number of children and young people referred to emergency mental health care rose by 10% between 2023 and 2024, with many stuck on waiting lists for months and years. The human cost of delays is not abstract; it is measured in school days lost, futures diminished and families left to cope alone. I welcome the Government’s response, with extra mental health care workers and, crucially, by 2029, national coverage for pupils covered by a mental health support team—something my daughter had the benefit of to manage her grief when her father passed away.
Even if one young person gets the support they need earlier through this support from the Government, before a crisis deepens, the reforms will have made a difference. I know from my own family what early identification and proper support can mean. This Government are moving in the right direction on health and online. Our duty now is to ensure that they see these commitments through, fully resourced and understood, reaching every community in this country.