All about Mental Health

ALL ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH

Epic Friends is all about helping you to help your friends who might be struggling to cope emotionally. It has information on common mental health problems, self-help and an online quiz. Learn how to help your friends and yourself now.

BBC Newsround have launched a new interactive page on 'Why is it hard to talk about mental health problems?' This includes video blogs of young peoples experience of mental health. See Inside my Head a video blog by 14-year-old Josh. He loves playing hockey and is just like any other 14-year-old, except for one thing - he has a mental health problem.

There are some other great websites out there that have loads of information on mental health too. Have a look at:

The Heads Together campaign is being fronted by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry to end stigma around mental health. Heads Together aims to change the national conversation on mental health and wellbeing, and is a partnership with inspiring charities with decades of experience in tackling stigma, raising awareness, and providing vital help for people with mental health challenges. Check out this websites to find out more about the campaign. The Heads Together Campaign is the 2017 Virgin Money London marathon Charity of the Year. See this link for a motivational message from Prince Harry.

Check out this NEW website HeadScape which is about different types of problems young people can face, including family difficulties, anxiety, panic and many other topics. (To Note: This site is designed by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and certain parts of the site therefore won’t be accessible to those registered with a GP in Cambridgeshire or Peterborough, but there is still lots of information on the site which may be of use.)

What is mental health?
We all have mental health. It affects how we think, feel and behave, and determines how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Our mental health can change over time. Some people call mental health 'emotional health' or 'wellbeing'. In the same way that sometimes we get physically sick with a cold or flu, sometimes we get mentally ill too.

What are mental health problems?
Changes in mental health are very common, for example with the stresses and strains of life. But if these changes don’t go away, and start to affect our everyday life, this can lead to problems with our mental health and can lead to mental illness. Over the course of your life, if you have mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behaviour could be affected. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including our genes and life experiences.

What is mental illness?
The term mental illness is used to describe diagnosable mental health problems. This is when you experience problems with your mental health that interfere with your life and meet criteria set out by health professionals.

How common are mental health problems?
Anyone can experience problems with their mental health from mild stress to diagnosable mental health problems, and it is thought that at any one time at least 1 person in 6 is experiencing a mental health condition. Half of all mental health problems are thought to start to before the age of 14.

Mental health problems are common but help is available. People with mental health problems can get better and many recover completely.

The Time to Change leaflet for parents:	The Time to Change leaflet for young people:

The Mental Health Foundation 'What is mental health?' section provides lots of useful information.

The Mind website has lots of information on the different mental health problems and have an A-Z of mental health.

Young Minds have produced a leaflet that is aimed at anyone who has a family member suffering from mental illness. It explains what mental illness is, the different kinds of mental illnesses and their symptoms. It also looks at the causes of mental illness and the impact that it has on other family members.

MHF stats

Source: Mental Health Foundation.

For more facts and figures, and local data on mental health visit the Cambridgeshire Insight website.

What is stigma and discrimination?

People don’t always talk about mental health problems. Some people find them difficult to understand and are sometimes fearful of them. It may be hard to talk about your mental health and to seek help, but it is increasingly becoming ok to be open about your mental health. Mental health difficulties can happen to anyone regardless of their age, gender or ethnic background. It is not your fault and there is always hope for recovery.