A TEENAGER whose battle with anxiety and depression cost him his education hopes he can help other young people going through similar problems by sharing his experiences in a series of videos published online on his own YouTube Channel.
Josh Adams, 16, left school last summer with just one GCSE in science, having missed virtually all of his final and most important year of school due to anxiety and depression. He was given another chance when he won a place at Barnsley College to study mechanical engineering, alongside studies to re-sit his maths and English GCSEs.
But after doing well for the first few weeks, he soon found himself unable to cope, and missed so much college that he was thrown off the course before Christmas. "That really got me down again," said Josh. "I ended up having to go back to the service known as CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and basically it just got worse.
"I carried on going to CAMHS, and I'm on some medication, and I did start to feel better, and that's when I got to thinking about launching a YouTube channel."
Josh started it just over two weeks ago and has already built up about 30 videos - some of which talk about the difficulty he faced at school, while some just show him going about his day and how he manages to get through. "I definitely feel like it's been a positive thing already," said Josh, who lives with his parents and younger brother at Withens Court, Mapplewell.
"What I'd really like to do is to help people, and to help educate people, and the ultimate goal would be to go around schools talking to young people who might be going through similar things to what I went through. In my opinion there isn't enough education going on to do with mental health issues in schools, and there are lots of people going through it, I know that."
Josh's mental health issues became apparent in 2014 when he became ill at his younger brother's birthday party. "I just started feeling really odd," he said. "I didn't know what it was it at the time, but we now think it was a panic attack or an anxiety attack.
"I also had an ear infection about that time, and I was at home, just constantly worrying about absolutely everything, and that's how it all started. I was just panicking all the time, worrying about what was happening, worrying about being off school, and that's how it turned into such a big thing."
Before his anxiety began, Josh had been doing well at school and had hoped to do well in his GCSEs. When he started at college last September, things went well initially. "It went OK for the first month. I was actually really enjoying it. But then I started feeling ill again and started missing college, and it just got like school all over again where I just couldn't go. I got kicked off the course because I'd missed so much."
That left Josh feeling extremely low, but he managed to break the vicious cycle by seeking help. "I wish I didn't, but I have got two-and-a-half years of experience of this, so I know I can help other people."
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