Mental Health Resources
As parents and carers, there are ways you can support children and young people to give them the best chance to stay mentally healthy.
The Anna Freud Centre is a world leading mental health charity for children, young people and their families which has developed and delivered pioneering mental health care for over 60 years.
Take a look at their Parents and carers pages which hosts details of the support they offer and lots of resources to help you: Parents and carers (annafreud.org)
Some highlights on the Anna Freud website include;
Youth Wellbeing Directory – provides a list of free local and national organisations for anyone up to the age of 25, along with important information you may find helpful: Youth Wellbeing Directory (annafreud.org)
Facing Shadows – young people talk about their experiences of depression as a teenager: In April 2015, seven young people who had been to a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) for help with their depression came together, with the aim of making a short, animated film about what it is like to suffer from depression as a teenager. You can Watch the video below called Facing Shadows.
things of range of different feelings
and it’s important for people to
understand that what disguise to passion
for me was like a downward spiral me I
feel like it’s months of numbness I hate
it so much
depression is having no self-worth I was
going to describe to someone who has
never experienced it ever it’s like
trying to explain a color that I can’t
see for me depression to started off
with general sadness like I didn’t know
I had depression do you want to do
anything anyone go out don’t go to
school yes didn’t want to do anything
really it all just thought hit me I’m
not myself anymore
I kept switching between being really
numb and being really unstable and I
just couldn’t handle going through that
over and over again
just affected everything I did when I
just got paranoid more often as well
thinking oh everyone’s judging me when
I’m around these I used to impose myself
up in my room as to remember making
myself physically sick so I should say
to my mum I fall sick so I can’t go into
school I think for me because I have
like quite a short temper anyways I
don’t really express my emotions through
that crying so I used to likes just
snack that anyone actually gets so angry
I felt like I was missing out on being a
teenager like even I would go out and
I’ve done teenage things I wasn’t
enjoying it and I said this was started
and I couldn’t speak to my friends about
it because being that young they
wouldn’t be divided people to speed to
Nepal blah oh you’ll be fine the next
day my dad frequently said like I was a
no not that depression didn’t exist so I
didn’t it wasn’t that I was expecting
them to pull me our depression but I
wanted them to know what their daughter
was everything I didn’t really show a
lot of people that affected my life like
my friends knew about it because I used
to suffer from really bad panic attack
so to like rip out my hair and like
scratch my skin and stuff so then my
friend actually like actually forced me
to go to doctors
it’s an hour to get everything off your
chest and nobody in the world needs to
know what you said you get given one
person who you will get to build up a
bond with and that’s what really
benefited me as I grew up Considine
means you don’t feel like your buzzer
ding someone else and especially if they
didn’t understand it and then I didn’t
know what to say I don’t want to feel
bad she was able to reassure me damn a
good person so that was really think you
should go in there and just tell them
what you’re feeling and now give you an
honest opinion obviously your first time
I thinking okay I have to go to this
this location you know obviously let me
be scared because you don’t know what to
expect
it’s the worst thing you could do is to
keep it bottled up and not tell anyone
that’s a super psycho a bag of wires it
might be in a mess at the time but
obviously if you open up and get help
then they can cut puron rapid nose wires
to actually find the main trigger of
your problem be true for yourself like
you got like this one going through this
was I’m scared of this is what I won’t
happen in the future but I don’t know if
I can get there and then you’ve got to
have enough trust and enough courage to
take the risk and tell someone they’ve
got to turn the mic on there’s people
around them sort of things I always go
by the same it’s okay not to be okay
like it’s all right if you’re not all
right that makes sense having depression
doesn’t make you any less of a person
than anyone else it just makes you
different
you
The AFC Crisis Messenger text service
The AFC Crisis Messenger text service is a free, confidential, 24/7 text message support service for anyone who is feeling overwhelmed or is struggling to cope. The service is staffed by trained volunteers who will work with you to take your next steps towards feeling better.
The service can help with issues such as anxiety, worry, panic attacks, bullying and depression and are available to talk at any time of day or night.
If you need support, you can text AFC to 85258.
You can find out more about the AFC Crisis by using the following link AFC Crisis Messenger service.
Young minds are the UK’s leading charity fighting for children and young people’s mental health. You can use the Parents help pages for more information.
Parenting Hub on Clic.
This group is for parents and carers, helping you access mental health support online for yourself and your child. Join Clic today and connect with other parents, for support with your family’s mental health and wellbeing.
The Parenting Hub is moderated 24/7 by trained experts so you can feel safe and supported to talk about your children’s wellbeing through Chat and Forum spaces. Clic host bi-monthly Q&A sessions with expert panels on topics related to young people’s mental health including social media and managing exam stress. The site also includes resources with practical information and guidance for parents and carers on what to do if you are concerned about your young person’s mental health, created by the Young People’s Programmes team, who have been running Bloom in schools since 2019.
Sign up to the Parenting Hub today and become part of a community of parents and carers, supporting the young people in their lives.
Dove – Confidence Kit: Atool to help build self-esteem
As a parent, it’s natural to want the best for your child – for them to be happy, healthy and confident individuals. But that’s sometimes easier said than done, especially during the teen and pre-teen years when their bodies are changing, their self-confidence is fragile and they are trying to make that tricky transition out of childhood.
Dove has created a Confidence Kit and put together some expert articles available on their parent’s online hub, they have gathered advice on some of the key topics known to have an impact on young peoples’ self-esteem and body confidence, from media, peer and cultural pressures to teasing and bullying about appearance. The Dove Self-Esteem Project global experts from the fields of psychology, body image, self-esteem, eating disorders and media representation – have created a resource for you that is focused on advice and action. Confidence Kit – Dove Self-Esteem Project
Parent Hub
Providing parents with the knowledge and resources to safeguard their families
What is Resilience?
resilience is the capacity to recover
quickly from difficulties it is
toughness and it is adapting well to
change and adversity
in order to develop resilience a good
thing to do is to plant the seeds
the seeds are sleep
eat
exercise
discussing feelings and self-help
and each of these can help to build
resilience
with regard to sleep it’s a good idea to
try and go to bed at the same time every
night and to wake up at the same time
each morning
on average teens need about 8-10 hours
each night
also it’s a good idea to try and avoid
sleeping during the day
so if you do need to take a nap just
make sure that it’s really short
avoid things like nicotine alcohol and
caffeine before you go to bed
and avoid having a full or empty stomach
at bedtime and also try and avoid having
things with lots of sugar in as well
it can help to limit any stimulating
activities in there in the hour or so
before bedtime and that includes any
sort of screen time
the best thing to do is to eat regularly
when your blood sugar levels drop so
does your mood also stay hydrated aim
for about six to eight glasses of liquid
every day
if you’re struggling to focus then it
could be because you’re dehydrated
but don’t overdo the caffeine
caffeine might give you a burst of
energy but it can then leave you feeling
rather flat
and remember that energy drinks such as
coke tea and coffee all contain caffeine
as well
try and eat at least five different
portions of fruit or veg each day
and a portion is normally thought to be
about 80 grams
and choose choose slow release energy
foods such as pasta brown bread cereal
nuts and seeds which will keep you going
for longer and if you are feeling a bit
depressed then it can help to add more
protein into your diet
exercise improves mood that’s a fact
scientific studies show that getting
your body moving can help reduce and
prevent poor mental health so get up go
for a walk outside dance in your bedroom
do some yoga
any type of movement will have a
positive impact
discuss your feelings
often the things that we really need to
talk about are the things that we avoid
the most
even though it’s difficult it’s always
good to talk to somebody about the
things that are worrying upsetting or
even annoying you
you might want to speak to family and
friends but it can also be really good
to speak to somebody completely
impartial too
and there are lots of people at college
that you can talk to for example your
personal tutor your coach
welfare officers or members of the
inclusion team
derby college have lots of links to
videos and web pages
on the mental health toolkit so why
don’t you sign in and take a look
just to remin remind you that resilience
can be improved with thinking about your
sleep
what you eat
whether you exercise
if you’re able to discuss your feelings
and using cell ph self-help if you think
that’s appropriate
if you want any more information on
resilience please contact either the
welfare team
or the resilience team at the email
address as shown thank you very much
