What becomes possible when someone gets support for their mental health at the moment, they need it most?
Across Catch22’s services, we see every day how mental health can shape a person’s future, and how the right intervention can help them reclaim it. We see how the fallout of unrecognised and unaddressed mental health problems can be serious and long-lasting, adversely affecting someone’s prospects in work, housing, education, relationships, and physical health. Equally, we see how disruptions in these areas can have significant impact on mental wellbeing.
Catch22’s foundational principles of believing everyone deserves the 3Ps – a good place to live, good people around them, and a purpose – is put at risk, or become much more difficult to obtain, when someone isn’t getting the right support and recognition of their mental health struggles.
We are also at a critical point in time as the government’s newly published independent review, led by Peter Fonagy, into the prevalence of mental health conditions in the UK shows mental distress increasing significantly in the last three decades. With the review identifying how mental health problems have been exacerbated due to uncertainty around housing, employment and finances, as well as increased educational pressures, social media, and isolation, it shows just how essential stability in these areas are as a foundation for us to live a healthy life.
Reaching the ‘missing middle’
Recognition and early interventions are vital to ensuring the most positive outcomes while understanding that not everyone’s experiences of mental health look the same. Our services fundamentally recognise that mental wellbeing cannot be separated from the wider circumstances someone is facing.
By combining mental health and employment support in one place, young people can work through both the emotional and practical barriers they face that might have kept them out of employment, education or training.
Children and young people struggling with poor mental health can really benefit from non-clinical, personalised support to help a successful transition from hospital to community mental health services.
Our Redthread service is a designated mental health service that focuses on such built-in support, accessibility, and transition. It offers hospital-based, trauma-informed intervention to children and young people presenting to A&E with mental health concerns, including self-harm.
Embedded within the Emergency Departments of King’s College Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in London, and commissioned by the local Integrated Care Board, our specialist youth workers work in collaboration with NHS colleagues to provide emotional support, holistic assessment, advocacy, and safety planning.
Post discharge, they then follow up supporting the young person in the community, helping them to navigate a complex landscape of welfare benefits, employability, housing, and accessing community mental health support.
This type of tailored and integrated provision bridges the gap between crisis response and longer-term community mental health support and, importantly, reduces repeat hospital presentations.
The importance of early intervention
Mental health challenges rarely appear overnight, and small struggles can gradually become overwhelming when support isn’t available. Reaching people early is key to achieving positive, sustainable outcomes and ensuring they receive support before reaching crisis point.
Earlier in 2026, we launched the Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) service through our Community Rehabilitation Services (CRS), supporting those leaving prison with their mental health through low-intensity cognitive behavioural therapy. A structured, evidence-based form of psychological support can be given to those who need it, but who might not traditionally engage with the NHS for support or face lengthy waiting lists if they do.
Those on probation will have many appointments and professionals to see, but the integration of the PWP service means this mental health support can be accessed through an existing appointment rather than adding to an already long list. Support can be delivered at a critical stage when people leaving prison need robust support to ensure they are on their way to thriving while back out into the community and reduce their chance of reoffending.
Breaking down barriers
Too many people still feel unable to talk openly about their mental health because of shame, fear or a belief that they should cope alone. For children and young people especially, trusted relationships can change that.
Children and young people dealing with trauma in the aftermath of exploitation who have been referred to our County Lines Support Service receive support from our mental health case workers. Tailored interventions are given to those who have experienced significant trauma as our practitioners give young people the space to process traumatic experiences, develop coping strategies, and rebuild confidence.
Too often, conversations around mental health are still burdened by stigma. Building trusted relationships and working at the pace of the individual can help people overcome these barriers and feel able to seek support.
Why integrated support matters
Genuine local and regional partnership between the NHS, local authorities, and the voluntary sector is key to impactful mental health prevention and support. By embedding mental health support in our services, we can reach people earlier while removing barriers to access and providing help that fits into their lives.
Fonagy’s review makes the welcome recommendation of a needs-first service. Support should be received where it is needed and not require a diagnosis for it to be given. As well as from the NHS directly, support must be available through the likes of schools, employment, social and community services.
Through recognising the connection between mental wellbeing and the wider circumstances people face, we can help more people build healthier, happier futures and achieve the stability, relationships and sense of purpose that everyone deserves.