Looking after your mental and emotional health and wellbeing
Looking after our mental health helps us get the most out of life and means we are better prepared for the ups and downs.
Knowing how to keep ourselves mentally well and being able to spot the signs of when we might need some extra help, is an important life skill as we get older.
Taking time to check in with how we are mentally helps us listen to our bodies and minds and know where we’re at. Looking after our wellbeing works best when it becomes part of our daily routines. Nothing is a magic fix and things take time. But keeping ourselves well everyday can help when we experience distress, periods of change, transition and uncertainty, or anxiety.
Whatever we do, and however we feel, talking is always one of the best ways of looking after your mental health and keeping well. Your carers and workers are there to support you, and many of them will have had training on how to help people with their mental health. You may wish to speak to a teacher, youth worker or someone else you trust. It is never easy to talk about our mental health, but one thing for sure is that it does get easier. Simply learning how to talk about our mental health, and having the trust and confidence to, is a key tool we can have in supporting our wellbeing and resilience.
These are some simple things you can start doing to help keep yourself mentally healthy and well:
- Take some time regularly to check in with how you’re feeling – how do we feel right now, about the day and week ahead, how do you feel about the future
- Keep yourself physically healthy and well, with a good diet, enough exercise and a good amount of sleep
- Be creative, learn something new and have fun
- Spend time with people you care about and who care about you
- Pause, relax and take time to be present in the moment, whatever you are doing – this might be practicing mindfulness exercises, religious prayer and meditation, spending time in nature, doing exercise or watching a film
- Ask for help when you need it – there is no shame in asking for help and in fact it’s a lot less scary than you think and people are always willing to help
Below are some useful resources online to help you look after your mental and emotional wellbeing:
- The NHS has published a range of self-care videos online, specifically for young people.
- YoungMinds are a dedicated charity for young people’s mental health. They have a range of really good tips and advice about how to keep yourself healthy and well, including about how to deal with trauma.
- The DCFP website has a summary of local and national support available – some face-to-face and others purely online.
- There’s also lots of local and national mental health support available. The SUSU team of participation workers are dedicated to working with care-experienced young people and are always there if you want to chat.
