“My son was like every other baby.” Maternity assistant Emma (46) is mother to teenage boys Bram (14) and Gijs (16) and daughter Pauline (20). To the outside world, they are a normal family, but behind closed doors they have endured a lot of hardship. “Gijs was two when a paediatrician first said that he might have ADHD. Fourteen years ago ADHD was a vague term, even to someone who worked in health care. So the comment was not acted upon.”

However, it marked the beginning of an exhausting period of tests and new theories. “He could hardly talk and he drooled a lot. The paediatrician thought that Gijs’ behaviour was due to problems in the ears, nose and throat area. He then had everything removed, from his adenoids to his tonsils, and he was fitted with hearing aids. For a while, things seemed to improve. He was suddenly able to speak in complete sentences, as though he had been bottling up everything the whole time.

But just after Gijs turned four, things went wrong again.

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During Mental Health Awareness Week 2011, the Mental Health Foundation worked with people and organisations throughout the country to help raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues. This year, they raised awareness of the relationship between sleep and mental health.. Read more