Before the UK went into lockdown in March 2020 to curb the rapid spread of the coronavirus, Ben* was an outgoing 14 year old who did well at school, played sports regularly, had a good social network and supportive parents.
Apart from struggling to cope with losing his two grandparents a couple of years before, Ben had never suffered emotional difficulties to any serious degree. A few months into the pandemic, though, separated from school and his friends, he started to become withdrawn. He stopped taking showers, became more and more reclusive, and his mum Katrina* noticed his mental health was in steep decline.
By September, Katrina suspected Ben had begun to self-harm, after finding broken glass and bloodied clothes in the top of his wardrobe. Things worsened and, despite her best efforts and attempts to get Ben the urgent mental health care he needed, in February the situation reached a crisis point. Ben was experiencing crippling panic attacks that stopped him from being able to do schoolwork. He eventually confided in his mother that he’d had suicidal thoughts, something he had never experienced before. “What could be more terrifying to hear as a mother?” Katrina asks.