Being a teenager is hard enough. Schools must equip their pupils to deal with mental health issues

Another survey yesterday revealed the breadth of depression and anxiety felt by young people. It’s a disquieting time — bouncing from teenage hormonal chaos to the double bind of terror and intoxication that sudden freedom from education and parental control brings. It is one of the least stable periods in our lives. And yet there is still so little education within schools on the onerous power of the mind. For when our emotions turn on us, they do so with surprising cunning.

Not that long ago I sought professional help from my local council. I’d left my job, my beloved team and then suffered a brutal miscarriage. Coming all at once felt like a freight train. I faltered, my genuine excitement at new life and new horizons vanished as fast as that heartbeat. I’d felt so lucky to be pregnant and had spent the summer developing a new company, delighted at the challenge of giving birth to two. Neither were to be.

In an attempt to swerve the loss that felt stunning in its voracity, anxiety took its place. Although to the outside world I deftly maintained a positive front, my imagination and natural ambitious ebullience deserted me, the ground felt cut from beneath. Maturity meant that I sought professional help; it wasn’t my fault.

I did battle with my GP, who tried to foist antidepressants on me. But I persevered with adult confidence that it was my right to access human advice, not pills, and was eventually hooked up with the kindest mental health professional, who quickly guided my debilitating emotions back under control.

I don’t repeat this episode to garner sympathy. More to demonstrate how quickly positivity can be lost, and grief turn much darker. Imagine a young person dealing with repeated job refusals, unemployment, money worries and the unstable relationships that come with growing up, and how easy it is to slide into the danger zone. And young women often have other challenges layered on top: abortions, miscarriages, their monthly hormones and the pressure of a beauty-orientated society.

What emerged during my conversations with my health practitioner was how passionate we both felt that the effective tools helping me could so easily be taught in schools. Not just a bit of mindfulness chucked in but seriously and cohesively. School is about preparing us for adult life, educating and flexing that valuable muscle in our head. It should also be about better understanding how this complex organ, which powers up humanity, can also confuse, misdirect and even devastate.

Given that we are agreed there is a vast mental health crisis looming, why are we stubbornly refusing to take education and prevention seriously? It’s just as important as knowing where Addis Ababa is. Detailed, empathetically taught knowledge from an early age about the rollercoaster ride of our cognitive function would remove the stigma and could arm teenagers with tools before they feel overwhelmed, while providing essential insight into how humans operate.

Knowledge is power. We need properly to power up the next generation before it’s too late.

When you can’t even give your fortune away

It's tough being a member of the super-rich because no matter how hard you try, no matter how generously they want to spread their gains, some can’t give it away.

Consider Paul Allen, the Microsoft founder. He was one of 40 signatories to sign the Giving Pledge in 2010, agreeing to donate half their fortunes to good causes. He was worth $13.5 billion (£10.4 billion) at the time and, true to his word, he became one of the world’s most prolific philanthropists, donating $2 billion to a vast variety of worthy causes (as well as splashing out on essential boy toys and billionaire accoutrements).

The problem was, by the time of his death he was worth $20 billion.

Look at the scandals surrounding the UK’s budget for overseas aid and its frequent misuse. The actor Chow Yun-fat, star of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, just announced he is to give his entire net worth of £542 million to charity. Well good luck with that. Richard Branson says people won’t even let him pay for lunch.

*I recently watched A Star is Born, with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga . Can we please talk about how bad this film is? “Lady Gaga electrifies,” croons The Daily Telegraph. “Gorgeously heart-breaking,” paddles The New York Times. “A double act to leave you starstruck,” says The Guardian.

I walked out. Even Brad’s muscled torso couldn’t save this film. I can’t recall the last time I felt blown away by the magic cinema can induce.

I don’t want those addictive series to win all the time (Netflix says it has another squillion members) but Killing Eve is, well, killing it. And that’s a shame.