1. What is Mental Health?
1.1. Mental health relates to our emotional wellbeing - it is all about how we think, feel and behave.
1.2. Your mental health can affect your daily life, relationships and even your physical health. Mental health also includes a person's ability to enjoy life because of how they feel
1.3. Mental ill health feels just as bad, or worse, than any other illness – only you cannot see it.
2. How can we help?
2.1. Helping themselves
2.1.1. Interact with people every day
2.1.2. Be Active
2.1.3. Take notice of things around you
2.1.4. Set yourself targets
2.1.5. Talk and express how you are feeling
2.2. Help from others
2.2.1. Show support
2.2.2. Ask how you can help
2.2.3. Be Open minded, Non-judgemental and Listen
2.2.4. Have Trust and Respect between you both
2.2.5. Don't just talk about mental health
2.3. Treatments available to help relieve and help cope
2.3.1. Medication
2.3.2. Talking Therapies
2.3.2.1. Talking (psychological) treatments can help to overcome emotional difficulties and free yourself from self-destructive ways of feeling, thinking and behaving.
3. What might cause mental ill health?
3.1. Difficult Family Backgrounds
3.2. Stressful Life Events
3.3. Your Biochemistry
3.4. Genes
3.5. Physical Health Problems
3.6. Social Problems
4. Common Behaviours
4.1. Self Harm
4.1.1. Self-harm is a way of expressing very deep distress. You may not know why you self-harm, but it can be a means of communicating what you can’t put into words, or even into thoughts, and has been described as an ‘inner scream’. After self-harming, you may feel better able to cope with life again, for a while, but the cause of your distress is unlikely to have gone away.
4.2. Panic Attacks
4.2.1. These are sudden, unexpected bouts of intense terror. If you experience an attack you may find it hard to breathe, and feel your heart beating hard. You may have a choking sensation, chest pain, begin to tremble or feel faint.
4.3. Suicidal Thoughts
4.3.1. It is common to have suicidal thoughts if you are experiencing mental health problems – especially if you have a diagnosis of depression, borderline personality disorder or schizophrenia. The deeper your depression, the more likely it is that you will consider killing yourself. However, you can help yourself and you can get help from other people. A great many people think about suicide, but the majority do not go on to kill themselves.