Some ways to support your mental health

In the words of Ronan Keating, life is a rollercoaster!

There are ups and downs, twists and turns and sometimes you are just dangled upside down. When life throws all the stuff at us, we can all need a bit of extra help.

Don’t forget mental health is as important as physical health and you need to make sure you’ve got it covered. Here's some useful websites to help you when you are in a crisis or when you need to support your nearest and dearest.

1. Mental Health First Aid England: Whether you're a mental health novice or a seasoned explorer, MHFA England have got tools to help you navigate around supporting yourself and others.
2. Every Mind Matters | One You - NHS: I can’t recommend this website enough. It has everything from getting urgent support to self-help CBT. It also has an excellent section about child and young person mental health. You can get a link to helping others too.
3. No Panic: This has everything you need for before, during and after a panic attack. There is also a youth hub to support your young people.
4. Samaritans: The Samaritans are the OG of mental health support. There for whatever you are going through.
5. Shout 85258: If you prefer to text then Shout 85258 is your mental health hotline. No need for Morse code; just ping them a text! Go to the resources tab and you’ll be able to choose what issue you want support with.
6. Zero Suicide Alliance: You can get urgent help here as well as training and other support. The resources library will direct you to different programmes and guides.
7. Anxiety UK: We all suffer with anxiety at some point and over at Anxiety UK they help you to help yourself as well as helping others. There are experts available to support you and guidance on where to access therapy.
8. NHS Website: This is the general NHS website and has comprehensive lists of symptoms and conditions as well as signposting to self-help and advice. You can’t go wrong with this website.
9. Young Minds: This sight is for professionals working with children and young people – however, most of this translates for parents. It also has really comprehensive sections for parents and young people to access support. It’s so easy to navigate around the site.
10. NSPCC's Child Mental Health Resources: This one’s all about supporting your child or young person. Again, it’s really simple to navigate around this website. The menu tabs will easily guide you to find the information you need.
11. Mental Health Foundation: Find mental health information and advice to help you live life to the full. Some of this is based on evidence and the lived experience of real people. You can also join an online community.
12. SANE: As well as raising awareness of mental illness, SANE aims to provide emotional support. They help by offering a SANEline – an online community and signposting to other help.

Don't forget the Connective Family website and the Connective Parenting Hub are there to help you too.

The Looking After You section in the Hub has a wealth of videos, podcasts and reading materials. If you're a member of the Hub, you can access these resources here.

The Connective Family website is a hive of information too - see the Looking After You section.

"The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me whenever I fall."

So again, in the words of Ronan Keating, let these websites be a hand when you feel like you might fall.

Take good care of yourself so that you can take care of others. Thanks for the wise words Ronan.