Giving Compass' Take:

· Mental health is not always taken seriously, but it has a large effect on the life you live. In December, England proposed a new plan to help the younger generation that suffers from mental health issues.

· How can we help those who are suffering from mental illnesses? How can we identify those who have mental distress before the problem goes too far?

· Read more on mental health and how we can support it.

Sally, now 20, believes her mental distress should have been spotted years before she received treatment that helped her.

She says she became ill when she first started secondary school.

Teachers noticed, describing her as "an odd child", but in the end it was Sally herself who had to ask her doctor for help and she was 16 and on the edge of suicide before she got any effective treatment.

The charity Young Minds says it is not uncommon for families to have to wait 18 months even to get an assessment for their child, let alone treatment.

In December, the government announced plans to overhaul children's mental health care in England, with proposals limiting waiting time to four weeks and allowing children to access mental health support in schools.

Now a report from MPs has branded the strategy "unambitious", providing no help to most of the children who need it.

But ministers reject the suggestion, saying their proposals will transform the system.

The plans include:

  • far shorter waiting times for specialist support
  • new mental health support teams in schools
  • mental health awareness training in primary and secondary schools
  • one in four schools to have the provision in place by 2022

Read the full article about new mental health plans in England by Judith Burns at BBC.