50% of mental illnesses are established by age 14*. Project14 is a new drama-based programme focusing on young people’s mental health. Our scenarios based on real stories support education establishments, parents and health/social care providers to address how interventions early on and from age 14 – 25 can change young people’s lives.

We developed ‘Anna’s Story’ based on a real story to highlight help in the community for young people.

Anna lives with her mother and younger brother. She is at college but has become full time carer for her brother and her mother. Her mother has stopped taking medication to prevent psychosis which began after she had her second child. As the pressure upon Anna grows and her mother becomes more erratic and incapable, Anna feels more and more lost. She begins to self-harm and is spiralling into her own mental despair. She eventually reaches out to a local young people’s service and finds the right help and support.

* Current statistics do not yet show the impact of the pandemic but the percentage rate may well have increased.