Speaker 1hello and welcome to the how not to screw up your kids podcast so pour yourself a cuppa find a comfy seat and enjoy the conversation this is episode 53 and i'm doing this podcast episode a little bit different this podcast episode is all about my worldwide campaign one million moments which launched on the 8th of june 2022 and it aims to positively impact one million lives so let me tell you a little bit more it all started in the shower actually um so one million moments came to me probably about january time i don't know if it's an age thing i don't know if it's just how long i've been working with families and children but i guess i've read a lot of the data i'm going to share some of it with you shortly in terms of sort of children's mental health and this isn't a uk wide issue this is a global issue which is why the campaign is a global campaign but i think i must have read a particular article and i was just thinking how can i as an individual as a practitioner as a supporter of parents and children make a big difference when the problem is just so huge so yeah i could open up more slots available to work with children and families i could work a seven day week potentially i could work a 10 hour day but actually as an individual supporting families in that way i can't i don't think i can even barely scratch the surface so it occurred to me because my best thinking time is when i'm out walking my dog and then when i'm back home uh having a shower don't ask me why there'll be a whole load of psychology about that maybe i'll research that and we'll do a podcast episode but the idea came to me that i was going to do a podcast episode that actually rather than trying to work at the large scale end where we've got children already in crisis how can i actually avoid these issues in the first place can i be more impactful in the prevention aspect of emotional well-being and mental health issues because actually if we get in early if we prevent these issues from becoming a problem in the first place can we invest smaller amounts of time and resources to have a much bigger impact hence why one million moments was born and one million moments has one mission in terms of how many lives we want to impact and that is one million so let me give you a bit of background and i'm just a bit of a health warning because this data is quite you know it's like monumentally concerning we know and i've mentioned this before in previous podcast episodes that one in six children has a probable diagnosable mental health issue so what does that mean so that means in essence if we could get a psychologist or a psychiatrist to speak to every single child that we have aged from four years and above we would probably diagnose one in six that's nearly 18 percent of children in a state school where there are 30 children that's equivalent to five children in each and every class in each and every school not only in the uk but worldwide 40 percent of children that are aged between 6 and 16 years old have experienced a deterioration in their mental health in the past five years and 34 percent who get referred to the uk national health service do not receive treatment that's staggering and what's really key here is that of course we've got a lot of people who have had mental health issues the pandemic has had an impact on children and teenagers mental health but the deterioration has been happening before that the issues and the challenges were present before this isn't unique to the pandemic this has all been happening beforehand now as parents of course we're understandably worried surveys show that 80 percent of parents say that they feel concerned about their children's mental health and 53 percent of parents have missed work at least once per month to deal with their mental health their children's mental health so these numbers are scary so we know that children's mental health is in crisis and we must act now to prevent these numbers spiraling any further and i feel that this is something that i want to tackle and i don't want to tackle it in a day a year a six months i want to tackle it now and i want to tackle it for the rest of my life so one million moments is a worldwide campaign with one single mission to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from the current rate of 17 to 10 by 2025 that's three years so ambitious you bet yet great things come from small beginnings we know that prevention is better than cure children who feel connected heard and understood are less likely to struggle with their mental health yet our lives are so busy and it can be overwhelming for us as parents to know where to start so i've tried to keep it simple i've tried to genuinely give it keep the campaign something that we can all do as parents as aunties as uncles as grandparents as godparents as educators as therapists as mentors as coaches as tutors whatever it is that we are we can engage in those one moments those singular moments that allow us to connect with children and then make a positive impact and helping prevent mental health so we're keeping it simple and actively seeking change one moment at a time seizing those opportunities to connect with children moment by moment day by day because those moments raise our awareness and give us a glimpse into a child's mind their reality and how life events are impacting them right now quite often as parents or as educators we feel that we've got a bit of a glimpse we think we know what it's like for our children and it isn't always the case we don't know the reality that they're facing right now i'm 53 i grew up in an era where we had three television channels and then we got a fourth channel when i was in my teens that was channel four for those of you in the uk and the televisions switched off after a certain time you got a crackly screen and in the uk television viewing ended at a particular time and there was the national anthem nowadays our children are bombarded 24 7 whether it's notifications whether it's television whether it's internet whether it's information our children are growing up in a very different era to us and we need to have those moments so that we can just get a bit of a glimpse into their reality into what is going on for them we can positively impact children's lives in those moments when we lean seize those moments when we seize those moments to connect however fleeting they may be and really lean in be fully present and be able to connect with those moments and be able to present and quiet and all those distractions especially the ones in our mind that sort of remind us of our to-do list and all of those things that we we could and should be doing rather than in that moment whatever it might that moment might be getting on the floor with our child sitting and having a catch-up with them about some exciting news that they've got to share with us or watch a television program that they absolutely adore that they've been talking about to us for ages or maybe we want to pick up that paddle or that whatever instrument it might be and be to play with our child on their xbox or a game on their ipad or maybe pausing rather than reacting to that teenager who has just responded to us in a prickly grumbly way and our instinct is to answer back with how dare you speak to me but in that moment we realize that actually they need us there is something going on here there's some pain there and we need to ask a few more questions so we're asking parents in those moments to lean i'm also asking you to listen tune in to everything your child is telling you not only with their words but in their body language and their facial expressions is there a disconnect are they telling us that they're okay that they're not upset and everything is absolutely fine that they've had a great day at school that things are hunky-dory that they're not worried about anything but their body language and their facial expressions and their behavior is screaming something else so let's really listen let's give them our full attention without needing to have all the answers we just need to listen for the sake of listening to be able to understand what is going on for them with no answers but just listening to be able to understand
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Speaker 1And then let's learn what has that particular moment taught us about our child, about their reality, about their emotions, about their challenges, about their joy. Do we need to do anything differently as a result of what we've learned? Do we need to enlist the help of anyone else? Or do we just carry on as we were? It's really important that when we seize those moments, that we embark on those three things, that we lean, that we listen, that we learn. Because in those moments, we help identify and connect with our child's reality. And by doing so, and by helping them problem solve, and by helping them work out what they need to do in that collaborative way, we begin to equip them with the emotional resilience that they need to safeguard them against potential challenges, mental health challenges when they're older. Now, that isn't to say if we seize all those moments. If we lean, if we listen, if we learn that our child is 100% foolproof, that they're absolutely not going to have any challenges when they get older, we can't make that guarantee. But what I can say is that they're going to be much more equipped than if we haven't had those moments. If we haven't had those moments, then we're going to be much more equipped than if we haven't had those moments. If we haven't leaned in, if we haven't listened, if we haven't learned and adapted and modified the way that we respond to our children as a result of those moments. So what am I asking for you? Because I'm asking for your help as part of One Million Moments. This is a campaign which is incredibly important to me. It is a non-profit, it's a not-for-profit campaign. I am donating my time and a huge amount of free resources, resources via video, via downloadable resources as part of this campaign because it means so much to me, because I know that it will have a profound impact on the next generation. And I need your help. So One Million Moments aims to tackle the mental health crisis using a three-pronged approach. So we're looking at changing the incidence of numbers of children struggling with mental health from 17% down to 10% in three, three years using a three-pronged approach. The first is prevention. So parents, schools and companies, we're asking you to pledge your support and actively create opportunities for moments with children. And in exchange for that pledge of support, we will provide, I will provide, I have created free resources to help maximise those moments, creating the building blocks to mental health resilience. That's one approach. That's prevention. And that's what One Million Moments and what I'm doing and what I'm offering as part of the campaign. We're also approaching it from a crisis support. We are asking parents, schools and companies to make a donation. Parents, we're asking for a suggested donation of one pound. Schools and companies, we're asking you to make a donation, a donation of your choice, but a donation. And what we will do in exchange for that donation is obviously provide all of these free resources. But we will then pay these donations forward to our charity partners. And you'll be able to, I'll give you the link to the website and you'll be able to see who our current charity partners are. And these charity partners are currently working with families in crisis who might not otherwise be able to access support. So I'm going to provide the preventative piece, that momentum building, but our charity partners are going to be able to access support. Charity partners are going to be doing the work with those in crisis. So your donations help provide the support, the much needed support to these families in crisis. And the third way that we're going to be tackling the mental health crisis is by impacting one million lives by asking parents, schools and companies to share news of their pledge with others. So as a collective, we can move together and positively impact one million lives. And reduce the incidence of mental health challenges in children from 17% to 10% by 2025. That's three years. And of course it's ambitious. But if you're going to set yourself a target, Mary-Anne, you need to set it big. So that's what we're actively doing. So I need your support. So I'm asking you, so my give this week is different because rather than it being a checklist, my give is different. It's to ask you to log into my free resource library, drmaryhann.com forward slash library, where you will find the link to the One Million Moments webpage, which is one, Z-O-N-E, onemillionmoments.org. And on that website, you will find more information about what One Million Moments is all about, why I'm doing it, why I'm so passionate about it. And you can pledge to say that you are in by clicking the button, if you are a parent or a school or you're a company, by making a donation, just a donation as much or as little as you can. It all helps these lives that are currently in crisis. And it helps us reduce the number of children who are impacted by mental health. Because if we can impact one million lives and we can make one million donations, can you imagine the effect that we can have, the positive ripple effect, we can have with children's lives. So I would love you to support me. I would love you to share the news of One Million Moments. And we've created a whole load of fantastic resources within our One Million Moments resource hub. Once you've made your donation, you'll receive an email of thanks and also the link in order to access those resources. And also how you can share, how you can kind of share the news and nominate friends. And get others involved. Tell your friends, tell your schools, tell the companies that you work for. Get them involved. Together, we can make such a huge difference to children's lives and create a new legacy, a new pathway for our children. They don't have to end up in these situations where there is huge crisis around mental health. And I'll leave you with one last statistic for the UK, but I would imagine that this is similar across the board. I read a. A recent statistic to say that there are 400,000 children currently getting support from our mental health services in the UK. Now, that's a staggering number. But that number is even more staggering when you look at it in the context of the statistic I gave earlier on that 35% of children who are referred to mental health support services don't receive it. So the 400,000 that currently are, are the lucky ones. But there are a whole host of hundreds of thousands that are struggling, that are getting absolutely no support, whose parents are pulling their hair out, who don't know where to turn to. And One Million Moments seeks to help those parents that are in that situation and then avoid any further parents from reaching that crisis point. So as ever, if you have enjoyed this episode and want to make your commitment to One Million Moments, please, please share this podcast episode. Tell your friends, tell your neighbours, tell your schools, tell your companies. Tell them all about it at onemillionmoments.org. And if you've enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you could follow and review this podcast so that others can find us and we can spread the love. So, until next time.
Speaker 2One Million Moments This is hospitality. We're Harmony Bank. Where better happens together.
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