Emma Healey, the author of Elizabeth is Missing, is urging aspiring authors to enter a new competition for stories about teenage depression….
Healey launched the competition with her publisher Viking and The Children’s Society as part of the charity’s Seriously Awkward campaign, which aims to secure more help for vulnerable 16 and 17-year olds with everything from mental health issues to support with housing and access to education.
Healey suffered a breakdown at the age of 15 and her new book, Whistle in the Dark, features a teenage girl called Lara who self-harms.
“I keep meeting people who have faced these issues themselves or have children who are still struggling with this nightmare – it’s more widespread than people think,” she said. “Like Lana I’d been self-harming and thinking about suicide and on one occasion I took loads of pills which my mum made me throw up.
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