Emotional Health and Wellbeing

It’s only natural for your emotions to feel up and down at the moment. Lots of people are feeling worried, uncertain, frustrated, bored or lonely due to the current situation with coronavirus, and this is completely understandable. It’s important to remember that it’s ok to feel the way that you do and that people react differently in difficult situations. Remember, this situation is temporary and these feelings will pass. It’s important to be able to look after your emotional health during this time.

Here are some ways to help:

Stay connected

Staying connected to our friends and family is a great way to help our emotional wellbeing and talk about how you’re feeling.

If you don’t want to talk to families or friends, ChatHealth is a confidential service where you can text school nurses for advice and support on: 07507 332160. Kooth is another online support available at https://www.kooth.com/ or ChildLine, where you can call 0800 1111, or use the ChildLine app details found on their website at https://www.childline.org.uk/

Stay mentally active

Staying mentally active is also important; you can do this by completing any work set by your teachers and accessing online resources too. Playing board games with your family, learning a new skill, reading a book, listening to music or doing some colouring are all great ways to keep your mind active.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a useful tool to help you relax and bring yourself back into the moment, being free from distractions. It also helps you become aware of your thoughts and feelings without getting caught up in them and enables you to be able to handle them too. There are some great apps that you can access to help you with mindfulness, including Headspace and Stop, Breath & Think.

Get enough sleep

Making sure that you get a good night sleep can help improve your mood.

It’s important to try and keep a routine when it comes to your sleep, despite all of the recent changes.

If you’re struggling to sleep, the following link can give you ideas on how to train your brain to sleep. https://www.healthforteens.co.uk/lifestyle/sleeping/8-ways-to-retrain-your-brain

Eat and drink well

Drinking plenty of fluids and eating a balanced diet is vital for your emotional health, as the food you eat can impact how you are feeling. Without a balanced diet, your mood can be affected and your energy levels will be low.

Change for Life has lots of useful tips on eating and drinking well and can be found at: https://www.nhs.uk/change4life

Exercise

Your physical health has a big impact on how you are feeling. Whilst the government has put into force social distancing there are many activities which you can still participate in whilst keeping yourself and others safe.

Remember you need to stay within a 2-metre distance from people who you do not live with.

There are additional local agencies able to support your emotional health and wellbeing.

Hampshire CAMHS: https://hampshirecamhs.nhs.uk/

Hampshire Youth Access: https://hampshireyouthaccess.org.uk/

Simon Says Charity for bereavement: https://www.simonsays.org.uk/