Survey Findings

Over the past few months we ran a survey among 16-25 year olds in Greater Manchester.

Most of the participants were 18 – 25 years old which was expected as this was the main target audience of the Mindset Revolution project and the survey in question. The survey was available to all members of the public online, in addition some respondents were asked in person, the majority of which were student volunteers asked during a charity event as well as participants from the public in Manchester city centre. Some of the participants were over the age of 25 which was good to see as it helped us gain an insight of more mature perspectives on mental health. It was also nice to see that they were still comfortable answering the survey question despite not being the main target audience.

Most the survey respondents were white. This may be due to ethnic minorities being less open to discuss mental health issues in contrast to white individuals. The project and survey questions did not specify any ethnic group and was open and inclusive to all backgrounds.

More females answered compared to males which could be to women being more involved in community cohesion and being more open about discussing mental health. There is more stigma around the mental health of men so this influenced less men participating in the survey.

Many respondents addressed issues we were already aware of including waiting times and overmedication. Although these are issues we are unable to address in a substantial way, we can continue to highlight these and propose ideas that may help alleviate these issues.

Another issue brought up out of our immediate influence was police intervention, this usually escalates the situation for those experiencing a mental health crisis as the police are not trained to respond to such matters. A proposal addressing this could be more training provided to officers and support of mental health urgent response teams. Campaigns to raise awareness of existing mental health response teams in greater Manchester could prevent police interventions as those struggling will seek help from those trained for their needs.

Overall, these were the most cited issues:

1. Excessive reliance on medication and insufficient personalised assistance

2. Insufficient inclusion of mental health education in schools/ colleges/ universities and the workplace, which makes stigma around mental illness worse

3. Inadequate recognition of the influence of diverse cultural and religious backgrounds on youth mental health

4. Limited diversity among mental health professionals, which means many young people from different ethnic backgrounds feel their experience is not understood and validated

Highlighting the survey responses we found, we are currently inviting ideas from young people to help improve the issues raised from the survey responses. For instance, we would like to implement more training in certain professional fields to encourage understanding of how to support young people from diverse background within settings such as schools and workplaces etc. 

A prize of coupons for art classes in Manchester was awarded to three of the respondents for participating in the survey!

Summary of demographic data and responses:

Valid Responses: 42

Ethnicity (41)

2 Black African

1 Back Caribbean

16 White English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British

5 Asian Pakistani

1 Asian Indian

1 Asian British

2 Asian Bangladeshi

1 Asian/ Chinese

2 White and Black Caribbean

2 White and Asian

1 White and Black African

1 Polish

1 Azeri

4 Arab

1 Afghan

Gender (42)

Female: 31

Male: 9

Non binary: 2

Age (42)

16-17: 3

18-21: 11

22-25: 16

Over 25: 12

Most cited themes

1. Excessive reliance on medication and insufficient personalised assistance

2. Insufficient inclusion of mental health education in schools/ colleges/ universities and the workplace, which makes stigma around mental illness worse

3. Inadequate recognition of the influence of diverse cultural and religious backgrounds on youth mental health

4. Limited diversity among mental health professionals, which means many young people from different ethnic backgrounds feel their experience is not understood and validated

All problems mentioned

No specialised support for specific issues 

One size fits all support/ not understanding of individual issues Over medicalisation and not enough tailored support 

Lack of specialised support leads to generic and over-medicalised solutions, not tailored to individual needs.

No education about mental health in schools/ colleges/ workplace – stigma attached and not enough resources allocated 

Lack of awareness of different cultures and impact on mental health - Culture Understanding 

Lack of diversity among staff - patients from different ethnic backgrounds struggle to relate/ do not feel their experience is understood and validated 

No prevention – just dealing with crises

Lack of awareness of different cultures and impact on mental health/ how mental health is understood

Police having to intervene without adequate training

Lack of awareness of how being at Uni impacts mental health and what support should be provided

Impact of government work policies and lack of childcare support – financial pressures 

People falling through cracks when transitioning into adult services

One size fits all support/ not understanding of individual issues. Just counselling and tablets are not the solutions

Not enough understanding of cultural toxicity/behaviour that leads to anxiety & depression

Lack of non medical support / sport / self-esteem

More community spaces to get support

Over diagnosing on global majority community

A physical space needed where to feel supported

Poor university support

Social anxiety prevents accessing support. People need to be approached with support not expected to ask for help

Lack of support for international students who struggle to access NHS, unless for emergencies

Not enough support to tackle bullying and other causes of poor mental health in schools

Lack of consistency for follow up appointments

Over medicalisation and not enough tailored support

Stigmatisation in workplace – particularly for males that might come across as vulnerable

Mental health professionals can be really invalidating either when people are high functioning or really struggling – this put people off from asking for help again

Professionals don’t listen

Too much one-size fits all. “I sought bereavement counselling after my mums death and was given a generic survey about self harm and suicide. It put me off getting the help I needed.”

More education that can help reduce stigma of reaching out for help in schools and universities

Generic/ scripted support

A lack of training given to pastoral care in schools and college