Stress, Anxiety and Mental Health and Wellbeing 

Mental Health is all about the way we are thinking, feeling, acting and coping and sometimes this can impact on the things we enjoy doing and the people we like to spend time with.

Some words we use to describe these feelings can be sad depressed, anxious, low, frightened or angry.

These feeling are often a result from what is happening in life around us such as:

Problems at home, school or in relationships with friends
Big changes in life e.g., losing someone close, changes of home or school
Being bullied
Feeling the pressure from things like school, clubs or peers
Low self-esteem and confidence

If we have any of these feelings it can make any pain we have feel worse

What can I do to help myself/my child?

There are many ways you can help to manage these feelings. Here are some suggestions:

Exercise

Exercise is a brilliant way of producing happy hormones as well as improving our general health. Trying new activities can also be fun and let us be creative and learn. It may also help us create new friends or relationships through meeting others within these activities. Exercise could be a walk outside, some yoga, dancing to your favourite song or joining an activity or club. Everyone likes different forms of exercise so find what you enjoy and feel comfortable with.

Self-care

Self-care is about recognising what makes you feel good and what doesn’t. This can often be the first step to helping you to feel better. That way we can get help with the things that don’t make us feel good and do more of the things that do.

Support

Talking therapies can help you understand why you are feeling like you do and provide the first steps to help you on the road to recovery. You can find this support through school, GP or helplines such as child line and young minds helpline (up to the age of 25).

Active mindfulness

Mindfulness is all about being in the moment. When we are in the moment, we aren’t thinking about the things that make us sad, frustrated, angry or alone. Mindfulness could be being more aware of your breathing, noticing the taste of something you are eating, smelling something nice in your garden to enjoying a song that makes you smile. It can help to make you feel calmer and more focused. Once we know we can feel this way, we can keep coming back to this happy, calm state when we need.

The main thing to remember when you aren’t feeling so good, is that there are always people out there to help you, whether that be your family, teachers, doctor or health care professional you may see.

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