Mental Health Issues

Anxiety is a feeling of unease, worry or fear. We all feel anxious at times, such as, if we have an exam coming up, but anxiety may be a mental health problem if your feelings are very strong or last a long time.

Anxiety can affect both your body physically and your mind

Recurring fears and worries
Drop in school grades
Refusing to go to school
Sensitive to criticism
Trouble concentrating
Extreme self-consciousness
Avoidance of difficult or new situations
Chronic complaints about stomach aches or headaches
Repeated reassurance-seeking
Problems sleeping
Substance use

Eating disorders are serious, complex and potentially life-threatening mental illnesses. They affect your behaviour, thoughts and attitudes to food, eating, shape or body weight

They often involve changed eating behaviours such as with limiting the amount of food you eat, eating big amounts of food all at once then using varying ways to get rid of the food you have just eaten.  This can be by misusing laxatives, self induced vomiting, fasting or excercising too much.

They are often attempts to deal with some sort of emotional distress, so it happens to be more about your feelings than the actual food.

There are 3 main types of eating disorders

Anorexia Nervosa – which involves losing weight on purpose all the time.  Your body weight drops to at least 15% below your usual weight.  You often see yourself and your body larger than it actually is. You often fear putting weight on and do not like people telling you to eat. Starvation has a terrible effect on your body and can cause you long term health problems and of course can be life threatening.

Bulimia – which involves eating large quantities of food then either making yourself vomit, you excersise too much or take laxatives.  You feel you have a different body shape to the one you actually have, so you feel overweight.
The effects on your body because of your purging of food can cause you physical health problems with your heart, teeth and your digestive system.

Binge Eating – this involves eating lots of food quickly but not then trying to get rid of it like the other 2 forms that purge after eating.  You can eat until you are full even if you are not hungry.  You also often eat alone so as you don’t feel embarrased about the amount you eat and do not want others seeing you eat such a large amount.  The episodes of binge eating often run hand in hand with you being emotionally distressed.

Any eating disorder can put yourself at risk of developing long term physical health problems.

Avoid eating with your family or friends, often saying that you have already eaten or you are not hungry

You think the food you have been offered is unhealthy, too fatty or horrible

You start to wear really baggy clothes that hide your shape

You feel a need to excersise all the time

You always read the labels on food to see it’s ingredients, calories and nutitional information

You avoid eating with your family or friends and often you throw your lunch away

You eat more than usual inbetween main meals

You might stop wanting to do PE because of getting changed in front of your friends

You always seem to feel tired, you can’t concentrate on your work and you lack energy

These are just some of the signs that you may have an eatng disorder

REMEMBER

Within school we have a number of people you can talk to.

We have our very own Mental Health First Aiders, who are fully qualified staff equipped to help you, they are;

Mrs Nicholls Mrs Parnell Mr Bryan Mr Monkman Miss Edwards Mrs Batley Mr Hall Mrs Vaughan Miss Daniels Ms Mundell Mrs Virgo Mr Griffin Mrs Shenton

Please approach any of them, they will help you or someone you know

Depression is when you continue to feel sadness or low mood for longer than two weeks.

• Crying a lot
• Changes at home, school or friends that make you stressed
• Feelings of hopelessness
• Feeling irritable, grumpy or angry
• You feel as though you have no energy
• You cannot seem to concentrate
• You feel worthless
• You feel emotional
• Feeling tired and exhausted a lot of the time
• You are not interested in things you used to enjoy doing or taking part in
• You seem to eat less or more than you used to do
• You have thoughts of suicide or harming yourself

REMEMBER – Help is always at hand

CAHMS Anxiety intervention pack.  The first stop if you think you are experiencing anxiety

Self-esteem is how a person feels about themselves.  A person with low self esteem generally feels worthless and that they have little to contribute and they lack in confidence.

If you often feel that you are never quite as good as others in your class or your friends

If you often put yourself down, you think you are stupid or you won’t be able to do something, even before you have even tried it

You lack confidence to try new things

You find it hard to keep and make friendships

If you have a negative image of yourself, you  might feel bad, ugly, unlikeable or stupid

You give up easily when doing  something or when something doesn’t work properly and you know you don’t deal very well with failure

You maybe let others treat you badly and say nothing and put up with i

You find it hard to cope when you make a mistake, lose, or fail

Try and be kind to yourself

Remember it’s ok if you make mistakes

Try not to compare yourself to others

It feels better if you talk to yourself, say in front of a mirror and say you are good enough

Take care of yourself eat well and maybe practice mindfulness

Make plans to for things you would like to do, things that you know can make you happy

Self harm is where a young person causes deliberate injuries to themselves.  It not an illness but a behaviour.  It is often an associated with our mental health issues.

They do this to cope with or to communicate emotional distress and to feel something when they feel numb.

It has many different forms including;

Hitting themselves

Cutting or burning skin

Scratching themselves

Poisoning themselves

Interfering with the healing of a wound they have

Blood stains on their clothing, towels, bedding or on tissues
Unexplained injuries
Unexplained accidents
Low self-esteem
Mood swings
Being irritable
Keeping themselves covered up even on hot days
Avoiding having to reveal their bodies i.e. swimming, getting changed with others
Having sharp implements in their room or in their belongings
Having relationship issues with friends
Isolating themselves
Poor performance in their school work and exams
Their loss of interest in their favourite things they loved to do i.e. hobbies or sports

This is not attention seeking
It happens to all genders
Many will have kept it hidden for years
They could be using it to manage suicidal feelings
It could be a cry for help
It  often occurs with other health issues such as depression

REMEMBER,

If you or you think someone you know self harms, there is help you are not alone

Within school we have a number of people you can talk to.

We have our very own Mental Health First Aiders, who are fully qualified staff equipped to help you, they are;

Mrs Nicholls Mrs Parnell Mr Bryan Mr Monkman Miss Edwards Mrs Batley Mr Hall Mrs Vaughan Miss Daniels Ms Mundell Mrs Virgo Mr Griffin Mrs Shenton

Please approach any of them they are there to help you

• You may be having worries or be anxious about something
• You may have nightmares, dreams or night terrors
• You may stay up late watching TV, gaming or staring at your phone or tablet screen, this may alter your sleep patterns.
• If you have had a drink near bedtime which contains caffeine, i.e. coffee, pop, or energy drink

Set yourself a time to go to sleep, set an alarm on your phone or watch and stick to it.  If you try this for a whole week you may start to relax and have restful sleep.

It is recommended that you try to get at least 8 hours of sleep.

Instead of taking your tablet, laptop or phone to bed with you, try reading a book, keep a diary or listen to music instead of staring at a screen.

Try not to drink anything near your bedtime, this will stop you having to wake go to the toilet and if you normally drink a caffeine or sugary drink they are known to keep you awake.

Dreams and nightmares are both common, they may be frightening sometimes.  It helps to talk to someone about them.  They may be due to you seeing something scary on the TV or something that may have happened at school.

Night terrors are usually more scary for your parent or carer as you seem to be awake when in fact you are asleep.  They occur when you are stressed about something. These usually do pass in time but if your parent or carer are concerned they can ask you to see a GP with them.

Anyone can feel suicidal and it can be for any reason.

You may feel down & upset with things that have happened or are happening to you.  This is normal.

But, sometimes these feelings become deep and constantly affect you. You may think the only thing you have left is to end your life, you deserve to be listened to and supported.

You must always remember there is always help and support to help you get through this, you are not alone.

You may feel under pressure from your peers or family.

You suffer from low self esteem.

You use alcohol & drugs when you become upset & unhappy.

You may be suffering from abuse, assault, addiction, bullying, bereavement or sexuality worries.

You may have experienced a traumatic event.

If you feel alone and think that no one cares about you.

Any one of these might lead you to think about suicide.

Your reason for thinking about suicide is valid and you deserve to get help.

Talk to someone you trust a family member, teacher or friend

One person’s death can affect so many people it spreads throughout family and friends, many struggle to come to terms with it.

Most suicidal people do not want to die, they cannot seem to live with the pain they are experiencing any longer.

REMEMBER

We have our very own Mental Health First Aiders, who are fully qualified staff equipped to help you, they are;

Mrs Nicholls Mrs Parnell Mr Bryan Mr Monkman Miss Edwards Mrs Batley Mr Hall Mrs Vaughan Miss Daniels Ms Mundell Mrs Virgo Mr Griffin Mrs Shenton

Please approach any of them, they will help you or someone you know

REMEMBER – Help Is Always at hand

Confide in a friend, talk to a parent, teacher or visit one of the websites below

Anyone is at risk of suicide but certain young people are more vulnerable than others.  If a person close to them has died and also where they died by suicide.  They often already have mental health problems.  If they have become addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Sometimes they do not show any signs that they intend to take their own life.  However, some often do.

You may notice them saying goodbye to you and other people
They join in, in online suicide chat rooms and view pro suicide websites

They lack a reason for living

They may start to give away their possessions

They start to use alcohol and drugs more than usual

You may notice subtle changes in their personality, mood, eating habits and sleep patterns

They may start to write or draw about death or suicide

These are just some you may spot…

One person’s death can affect so many people it spreads throughout family and friends, many struggle to come to terms with it.

Most suicidal people do not want to die, they cannot seem to live with the pain they are experiencing any longer

If you can talk to them you could actually save a life, they could reach out to you for support.

REMEMBER – Help Is Always at hand visit one of the websites below