There has been a growing mental health epidemic among the student generation and it can be hard to know how to help with this. Emerge has pioneered a fantastic way for students in local churches to respond and serve. We've asked them to write about this. Do get involved if you can.
In Matthew 25:36-40, Jesus says "'I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’"
What can the Church do to turn the tide on mental health and self-harm in young people?
With the NHS reporting that 1 in 5 people aged between 8-25 had a mental disorder in 2023*, significantly up from the 1 in 9 from 2017, the outlook of young people’s mental health in UK is not a positive picture. For university students in particular, 57% of students in 2022 said they are struggling with their mental health**. These are worrying numbers, but what can the Church do to help? At Emerge Advocacy, we are reaching young people in those dark places with the love and hope of Jesus, and we want to empower Christians to do the same in their local community.
Jo is someone who came across our team while in hospital. Here’s his story in his own words:
“I was in a difficult place and had been for some years. My expression of pain wasn’t health and my body was getting affected. I was ending up in A&E multiple times a month, sometimes multiple times a week. When I spoke to Emerge I’d run out of options for some time and overdosing wasn’t helping. [Emerge] had a great impact, the patience to listen and also distract onto other topics and a game I value highly. The impartial interest for me getting well when I had almost no one around made a big difference. Now I want to grow and develop, hold my key values and achieve my goals – I’d lost those things.”
There are lots of people just like Jo all over the country who need someone to hold on to hope for them when they can’t do it themselves.
Founded in 2016, Emerge started as one person with a vision to reach young people in crisis in their local hospital, and offer support once the young person has been discharged. Now, Emerge has projects running in 10 hospitals across the South East, sending a VoiceOfHope into emergency departments, children’s wards and hospital wings to meet with the young people. We exist for people of all faiths and none, and do not seek to convert or share our faith, but our love for Jesus is what motivates us to care for all those we encounter. We can be a friend, advocate, comforter, tea drinking companion, shoulder to cry on, card game supplier and, in the face of despair, we are carriers of God’s hope, peace and joy. Those who encounter our team often report a significant decrease in emotional distress, and the hospitals report better engagement with the health teams because the patients feel calmer and more able to communicate their thoughts and needs.
Ash worked with our team and shared “The person who I worked with couldn’t have made me feel anymore safe, listened to or valued. Please keep doing what you’re doing because you make such a difference to someone’s life when they are struggling to see the light.”
Our projects are now well established, and have replicated many times because hospitals are asking for projects. We want to share our model with churches across the country to enable them to reach the people in need in their local hospitals. In partnership, together we can help to turn the tide on the mental health epidemic. Could your church get involved? We want to hear from as many churches as possible, to help inform our planning and make church replication as simple as we can. If you have 10 minutes to fill in our survey, whether you’re ready to run a project or not, it will help us reach young people in crisis more effectively.
* https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2023-wave-4-follow-up
** https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8593/
