Emotional and Mental Well-Being
What is mental well-being?
Mental well-being doesn’t have one set meaning. We might use it to talk about how we feel, how well we’re coping with daily life or what feels possible at the moment.
Good mental well-being doesn’t mean you’re always happy or unaffected by your experiences. But poor mental well-being can make it more difficult to cope with daily life.
Tips for improving your mental well-being
There are lots of things we can try to take care of our well-being. But it’s not always easy to start. You might find it helpful to:
- only try what feels comfortable
- give yourself time to figure out what works for you, going at your own pace
- take small steps. Pick one or two things that feel achievable at first, before moving on to try other ideas.
Find ways to relax
If there’s something that helps you relax, try to find time to fit it into your day. For example, this could be having a bath or going for a walk. If you find it difficult to switch off, you could try some of the tips and exercises in our relaxation pages.
Take a break if you need to
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by a stressful situation, try to take a break. A change of scene can help you to relax and relieve feelings of anxiety, even just for a few minutes.
“For me, whenever I feel overwhelmed or like I’m being mentally negative, I put my headphones on and go for a walk. This helps me zone out and ensures I don’t do anything I will later regret.”
Do something you enjoy
Try to make time to do an activity you like on a regular basis. This could be something small, like cooking a meal, ringing a friend or listening to music.
“I find listening to radio or audiobooks very helpful to distract from low mood or sadness.”
Try to manage stress
If you’re under a lot of pressure, you may start to feel overwhelmed or out of control. Stress can also cause physical side effects.
See our pages on stress for tips on dealing with pressure and coping with stressful events.
Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to the present moment, using techniques like meditation, breathing exercises and yoga. It’s been shown to help people become more aware of their thoughts and feelings. This means that instead of being overwhelmed by your feelings, it becomes easier to manage them.
See our pages on mindfulness for more information, including some exercises you could try.
“I had to make room to be well. Sounds daft but give yourself some space – in my case I used mindfulness to help me gain control.”
Give yourself some tech-free time
If you find that being on your phone or computer a lot is making you feel busier and stressed, try to take a break. This could be for just an hour or two. If you find this difficult, try putting your phone in another room or setting an alarm to time yourself.
CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services)
What is CAMHS?
CAMHS stands for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
In Hertfordshire, we use the term CAMHS to cover services that support the emotional and mental health of children and young people like school counselling, play therapy and more specialist teams like the eating disorder service.
At the moment we are going through a programme called CAMHS Transformation where we are increasing the amount of help available, particularly early on and trying to improve the experience children and young people using services have.
Children and young people may need help with a wide range of issues at different points in their lives.
Parents and carers may also need help and advice to deal with behavioural, or other problems their child is experiencing. Parents, carers and young people can receive direct support through CAMHS.
For Better Mental Health
We deliver essential mental health support in Hertfordshire, providing a diverse range of services from our seven Wellbeing Centres and other venues across all ten districts of the county. Funded locally, our services are available to all residents in Hertfordshire over the age of 18 and we offer dedicated services for 15-18 year olds.
We create opportunities for individuals experiencing mental ill health to make choices, find their solutions, build resilience and manage their whole life and wellbeing. Our services are based on the principle of self-help with a strong emphasis on prevention, personal development, self-management and improving health and wellbeing.
We provide opportunities for individuals to access support to enable them to recover from or live with mental ill health.
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Built by a team of people dedicated to improving the mental health and wellbeing of teenagers through a unique and innovative program designed to help reduce anxiety and self-destructive behaviours by building resilience. GRIT is a 12-week programme designed to build resilience and improve self-confidence and esteem thereby reducing self-destructive behaviour.
Growing People is a mental health charity based in Letchworth. Their qualified staff team provide a range of services using proven social and therapeutic horticulture (STH) therapies to contribute to the wellbeing and recovery of Hertfordshire residents.
Growing Roots seeks to promote the mental and physical health and well-being of individuals, by providing the opportunity to grown their own vegetables, fruit and flowers on a share of an allotment.
Health for Kids
Health for Kids offers a fun, engaging and interactive way for children to learn about health. The website has games, activities, articles plus more. There is a separate section for parents and careers where you can search for news, services and advice by area.
New Leaf College
New Leaf Wellbeing College runs short, free educational courses in all aspects of wellbeing, with a focus on encourging people to draw on their own strengths and the knowledge they acquire to become experts in their own self-care. They support people to achieve their goals and ambitions,so that they can live a meaningful and fulfilling life, whatever challenges they live with.
01442 864 966
Stevenage Healthy Hub
Healthy Hub is a one stop shop providing information, advice and support to improve the health and wellbeing of our community. A team of professionals are on hand to help you every step of the way. they provide lifestyle support for you and your family including mental health, physical activity, weight management, breastfeeding, parenting skills, coping with cancer, carers and smoking cessation. They can link you to services and support teams across Stevenage, some of whom meet regularly at the Healthy Hub. If you need someone to talk to, they will provide confidential one-to-on meetings within the Healthy Hub.
01438 579 390
Offers a confidential helpline and support service for parents and carers worried about young people up to the age of 25.
We’re leading the fight for a future where all young minds are supported and empowered, whatever the challenges. We’re here to make sure they get the best possible mental health support and have the resilience to overcome life’s difficulties.
The crisis in children and young people’s mental health is real and it is urgent. More children and young people than ever before are reaching out for help with their mental health. But for those who take that brave step, help is much too hard to find.
Together, we are changing this. We’re fighting for young people’s mental health. Join our fight.
Call the Parents Helpline: 0808 802 5544(Monday to Friday 9.30am – 4pm, free for mobiles and landlines)
A free online educational and informational resource of children’s and young people’s mental health for parents and professional adults.
Are you a parent or carer who is concerned about the mental health of your child or teenager? Do you just want some hints and tips on parenting? MindEd for Families has advice and information from trusted experts and will help you to understand what problems occur, what you can do to best support your family, and how to take care of yourself. MindEd for Families is written by a team of specialists and parents, working together.
You do not need to register to use these resources.
U Can Cope
Provides film and online resources designed for people in distress and those supporting them.
Our belief is that emotional distress, and tragically, suicide, still affects and takes far too many lives. We felt that responsibility for people with suicidal thoughts was seen to lie with specialist mental health services and others were more nervous to get involved. However we knew that early intervention from a colleague, friend, compassionate health provider or care giver could make a real difference to saving lives.
We have developed our training and resources to be as accessible as possible. We believe everyone has the capacity to help and that this can happen safely. We have developed our training and materials using the very latest research about what works. We are working in partnership with professional bodies, charities and other providers of suicide prevention training.
YC Hertfordshire(part of Herts County Council)
Provides a range of educational programmes for teens as well as targeted services for young people including care leavers, young parents and LGBTQ teens.
YC Hertfordshire provides youth work projects and programmes, information, advice, guidance, work related learning, outdoor education and support for young people aged 13-19 (to 24 for young people with learning disabilities). For young people leaving care, support is provided to the age of 21.
0300 123 7538
Healthy Young Minds in Herts
Many more school children in Hertfordshire and west Essex will be able to get early help with their mental health difficulties, thanks to a national ‘Trailblazer’ programme.
Two new mental health support teams will join those already in place in 32 schools and colleges in St Albans and East Hertfordshire, following another successful bid for national funding.
One of the new teams will cover special schools across Hertfordshire and west Essex, hosted by the PALMS* service at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust and the other, hosted by the mental health charity Mind, will cover schools in Harlow.
Staff for the new teams will be recruited from September and will work in schools and colleges to:
- support children and young people who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health issues
- help the senior mental health lead in each school or college to develop the support that they offer to the whole school community
- give timely advice to school and college staff, liaising with external specialist services to help children and young people to get the right support and stay in education
Your Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) staff will come to wards/clinics to talk to patients/relatives/carers regarding concerns that you may have.
The PALS team aims to help patients, carers, staff and the public by:
- Listening to your concerns about your care and providing support and help to resolve them
- Answering questions about your care in our hospitals
- Providing ‘on the spot help’ by giving advice, information and support
- Helping disabled patients who experience any difficulty in accessing our services
- Passing on your compliments to our staff
- Referring patients to the complaints department
Our PALS team, which covers the Lister, New QEII and Hertford County hospitals and the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, is based at the Lister. The team can be contacted on 01438 285811 or email@example.com.
Afya ya Kihisabati na Kiroho Afya ya Kiroho ni nini? Ustawi wa akili hauna maana moja iliyowekwa. Tunaweza kuitumia kuzungumza juu ya jinsi tunavyohisi, jinsi tunavyoshughulika na maisha ya kila siku au kile kinachohisi kuwa inawezekana kwa sasa. Ustawi mzuri wa akili haimaanishi kwamba wewe ni furaha daima au unaathiriwa na uzoefu wako. Lakini hali mbaya ya akili yaweza kufanya iwe vigumu zaidi kukabiliana na maisha ya kila siku. Kuna mambo mengi ambayo tunaweza kujaribu kutunza afya yetu ya akili. Lakini si rahisi sikuzote kuanza. Unaweza kupata ni muhimu kujaribu tu kile kinachohisi vizuri, kujipa muda wa kujua nini kinafanya kazi kwako, kwenda kwa kasi yako mwenyewe, na kuchukua hatua ndogo. Chagua kitu kimoja au viwili ambavyo unaona vinaweza kufikiwa kabla ya kujaribu mawazo mengine. Tafuta njia za kupumzika Ikiwa kuna jambo linalokusaidia kupumzika, jaribu kupata wakati wa kulifanya liwe sehemu ya siku yako. Kwa mfano, huenda ikawa ni kuoga au kutembea. Ikiwa unaona ni vigumu kuzima, unaweza kujaribu baadhi ya vidokezo na mazoezi katika kurasa zetu za kupumzika. Fanya mapumziko ikiwa unahitaji Ikiwa unahisi umechanganyikiwa na hali ya mkazo, jaribu kufanya mapumziko. Mabadiliko ya mazingira yanaweza kukusaidia kupumzika na kupunguza hisia za wasiwasi, hata kwa dakika chache tu. <unk>Kwa ajili yangu, wakati wowote mimi kujisikia overwhelmed au kama mimi <unk>m kuwa kiakili hasi, Mimi kuweka vichwa vya sauti yangu juu na kwenda kwa kutembea. Hii inaniwezesha kujitenga na kuhakikisha kwamba sifanye jambo lolote ambalo baadaye nitalijuta. Fanya jambo unalopenda Jaribu kupata wakati wa kufanya jambo unalopenda kwa ukawaida. Hii inaweza kuwa kitu kidogo, kama kupika chakula, kupiga simu rafiki au kusikiliza muziki. <unk>Ninaona kusikiliza redio au vitabu vya sauti ni muhimu sana kuondoa hisia mbaya au huzuni.<unk> Jaribu kudhibiti mkazo Ikiwa uko chini ya mkazo mkubwa, unaweza kuanza kuhisi umechanganyikiwa au hauwezi kudhibitiwa. Mkazo waweza pia kusababisha madhara ya kimwili. Angalia ukurasa wetu wa Mfadhaiko kwa vidokezo juu ya kukabiliana na shinikizo na kukabiliana na matukio ya mkazo. Utafiti wa akili ni njia ya kuzingatia wakati wa sasa, kwa kutumia mbinu kama vile kutafakari, mazoezi ya kupumua na yoga. Imeonyeshwa kusaidia watu kuwa na ufahamu zaidi wa mawazo na hisia zao. Hii inamaanisha kwamba badala ya kujishughulisha na hisia zako, inakuwa rahisi kuzidhibiti. Angalia ukurasa wetu wa Utafiti wa Akili kwa habari zaidi, pamoja na mazoezi ambayo unaweza kujaribu. <unk>Nilikuwa na kufanya nafasi ya kuwa vizuri. Inaonekana kuwa ya kushangaza, lakini jipe nafasi - katika kesi yangu nilitumia ufahamu kunisaidia kupata udhibiti - Jipe wakati wa bure wa teknolojia - Ikiwa unapata kuwa kwenye simu yako au kompyuta mara nyingi inakufanya uhisi kuwa na shughuli nyingi na umeshikamana, jaribu kupumzika. Hilo laweza kuwa kwa muda wa saa moja au mbili tu. Ikiwa unaona ni vigumu kufanya hivyo, jaribu kuweka simu yako katika chumba kingine au kuweka kengele ya kuamsha. CAMH (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) ni huduma ya afya ya akili ya watoto na vijana. CAMHS ni kifupi cha Huduma za Afya ya Akili ya Watoto na Vijana. "Hatfordshire hutumia neno ""CAMHS"" kufunika huduma zinazosaidia afya ya kihisia na kiakili ya watoto na vijana kama ushauri wa shule, tiba ya kucheza na timu zaidi za wataalamu kama huduma ya matatizo ya kula." "Kwa sasa tunaendelea na mpango unaoitwa ""Ubadilishaji wa CAMHS"" ambapo tunaongeza kiasi cha msaada unaopatikana, haswa mapema na kujaribu kuboresha uzoefu wa watoto na vijana wanaotumia huduma." Watoto na vijana wanaweza kuhitaji msaada na masuala mbalimbali katika hatua tofauti katika maisha yao. Wazazi na watunzaji wanaweza pia kuhitaji msaada na ushauri wa kushughulikia tabia, au matatizo mengine mtoto wao ni uzoefu. Wazazi, watunzaji na vijana wanaweza kupokea msaada wa moja kwa moja kupitia CAMHS. Kwa afya bora ya akili, tunatoa msaada muhimu wa afya ya akili huko Hertfordshire, tukitoa huduma mbalimbali kutoka vituo vyetu saba vya ustawi na maeneo mengine katika wilaya zote kumi za kaunti. Huduma zetu zinapatikana kwa wakazi wote wa Hertfordshire wenye umri wa miaka 18 na zaidi na tunatoa huduma maalum kwa vijana wa miaka 15-18. Tunawawezesha watu wanaopatwa na magonjwa ya akili kufanya uchaguzi, kupata suluhisho, kujenga uvumilivu na kusimamia maisha yao yote na ustawi. Huduma zetu zinategemea kanuni ya kujisaidia na msisitizo mkubwa juu ya kuzuia, maendeleo ya kibinafsi, kujisimamia na kuboresha afya na ustawi. Tunatoa fursa kwa watu kupata msaada ili kuwawezesha kupona au kuishi na ugonjwa wa akili. "Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya ""Kuchukua picha ya""" GRIT ni mpango wa wiki 12 iliyoundwa kujenga upinzani na kuboresha kujiamini na heshima, na hivyo kupunguza tabia ya kujiharibu. Watu wanaokua ni shirika la misaada la afya ya akili lenye makao yake makuu huko Letchworth. Timu yao ya wafanyakazi waliohitimu hutoa huduma mbalimbali kwa kutumia matibabu ya bustani ya kijamii na ya matibabu (STH) ili kuchangia ustawi na kupona kwa wakazi wa Hertfordshire. Kukuza Mizizi inatafuta kukuza afya ya akili na kimwili na ustawi wa watu, kwa kutoa fursa ya kukuza mboga zao wenyewe, matunda na maua kwenye sehemu ya mgawo. Afya kwa Watoto ni njia ya kuvutia, ya kuvutia na ya maingiliano kwa watoto kujifunza juu ya afya. Tovuti ina michezo, shughuli, makala na zaidi. Kuna sehemu tofauti kwa ajili ya wazazi na kazi ambapo unaweza kutafuta habari, huduma na ushauri kwa eneo. New Leaf Wellbeing College inafanya kozi fupi za elimu za bure katika nyanja zote za ustawi, na kuzingatia kuwahimiza watu kutegemea nguvu zao na maarifa wanayojipatia kuwa wataalam katika kujitegemea. Wanawasaidia watu kufikia malengo na matarajio yao, ili waweze kuishi maisha yenye maana na ya kutimiza, bila kujali changamoto wanazoishi nazo. "Hifadhi ya afya ya Stevenage ni ""duka moja la kuacha"" ambalo hutoa habari, ushauri na msaada ili kuboresha afya na ustawi wa jamii yetu." Timu ya wataalamu ni juu ya mkono kukusaidia kila hatua ya njia. Msaada wa maisha kwa ajili ya wewe na familia yako, ikiwa ni pamoja na afya ya akili, shughuli za kimwili, udhibiti wa uzito, kunyonyesha, ujuzi wa uzazi, kukabiliana na saratani, walezi na kuacha kuvuta sigara. Unaweza kuwasiliana na timu za msaada na huduma za Stevenage, ambazo zinafanya mikutano ya kawaida katika Kituo cha Afya. Ikiwa unahitaji mtu wa kuzungumza naye, watakupa mikutano ya kibinafsi ya siri ndani ya Kituo cha Afya. "Hii ni ""Helpline"" ya siri ya msaada kwa wazazi na walezi wanaohusika na vijana chini ya umri wa miaka 25." Tunaongoza mapambano kwa ajili ya siku zijazo ambapo akili zote vijana ni mkono na kuwezeshwa, chochote changamoto. Tuko hapa kuhakikisha wanapata msaada bora wa afya ya akili na kuwa na nguvu ya kushinda ugumu wa maisha. Mgogoro katika afya ya akili ya watoto na vijana ni halisi na ni ya haraka. Watoto na vijana wengi zaidi kuliko wakati mwingine wowote wanatafuta msaada kwa afya yao ya akili. Lakini kwa wale wanaochukua hatua hiyo ya ujasiri, ni vigumu sana kupata msaada. Pamoja, tunaibadilisha hii. Tunapigania afya ya akili ya vijana. Jiunge na vita vyetu. "Kulingana na ""Mazingira ya Wazazi"" (Monday to Friday, 9am - 4pm, free for mobile and landlines) ni kituo cha elimu na habari cha watoto na vijana kuhusu afya ya akili kwa wazazi na watu wazima." Je, wewe ni mzazi au mtunzaji ambaye una wasiwasi juu ya afya ya akili ya mtoto wako au kijana? Je, unataka ushauri wa jinsi ya kuwa mzazi? MindEd kwa Familia ina ushauri na habari kutoka kwa wataalamu wa kuaminika na itakusaidia kuelewa ni matatizo gani yanatokea, unaweza kufanya nini kusaidia familia yako, na jinsi ya kujitunza. MindEd kwa Familia imeandikwa na timu ya wataalamu na wazazi, wakifanya kazi pamoja. Huna haja ya kujiandikisha ili kutumia rasilimali hizi. U Can Cope hutoa filamu na rasilimali za mtandaoni zilizobuniwa kwa watu walio katika shida na wale wanaowaunga mkono. "Tunaamini kwamba shida ya kihisia, na kwa bahati mbaya, kujiua, bado huathiri na kuchukua maisha mengi sana. """ """Tuliona kuwa jukumu la watu wenye mawazo ya kujiua lilionekana kuwa la huduma maalum za afya ya akili na wengine walikuwa na wasiwasi zaidi kuhusika." Hata hivyo, tulijua kwamba kuingilia kati mapema kutoka kwa mwenzake, rafiki, mtoa huduma wa afya mwenye huruma au mtoa huduma inaweza kufanya tofauti halisi kuokoa maisha. Tumeendeleza mafunzo yetu na rasilimali kuwa kama kupatikana iwezekanavyo. Tunaamini kila mtu ana uwezo wa kusaidia na kwamba hii inaweza kutokea kwa usalama. Tumeunda mafunzo na vifaa vyetu kwa kutumia utafiti wa hivi karibuni zaidi kuhusu kile kinachofanya kazi. Tunafanya kazi kwa ushirikiano na mashirika ya kitaaluma, mashirika ya misaada na watoaji wengine wa mafunzo ya kuzuia kujiua. YC Hertfordshire (sehemu ya Halmashauri ya Kaunti ya Hertz) hutoa programu mbalimbali za elimu kwa vijana na vilevile huduma za lengo kwa vijana ikiwa ni pamoja na wale wanaoacha huduma, wazazi wachanga na vijana LGBTQ. YC Hertfordshire hutoa miradi na programu za kazi ya vijana, habari, ushauri, mwongozo, kujifunza kuhusiana na kazi, elimu ya nje na msaada kwa vijana wenye umri wa miaka 13-19 (kwa 24 kwa vijana wenye matatizo ya kujifunza). Kwa vijana wanaotoka kwenye huduma, msaada hutolewa hadi umri wa miaka 21. "Hitler, ""Mwanzoni mwa miaka ya 1990 na mwanzoni mwa miaka ya 1990,"" aliandika katika ukurasa wake wa Twitter kwamba ""watoto wengi zaidi wa shule katika Hertfordshire na magharibi mwa Essex wataweza kupata msaada wa mapema na matatizo yao ya afya ya akili, shukrani kwa mpango wa kitaifa wa ""Trailblazer.""" Timu mbili mpya za msaada wa afya ya akili zitajiunga na zile zilizopo tayari katika shule na vyuo vikuu 32 huko St Albans na Mashariki mwa Hertfordshire, kufuatia zabuni nyingine ya mafanikio ya ufadhili wa kitaifa. Timu moja itashughulikia shule maalum katika Hertfordshire na magharibi mwa Essex, iliyoandaliwa na huduma ya PALMS katika Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, na nyingine, iliyoandaliwa na misaada ya afya ya akili, itashughulikia shule katika Harlow. "Wafanyakazi wa timu mpya wataajiriwa kuanzia Septemba na watafanya kazi katika shule na vyuo vikuu kusaidia watoto na vijana ambao wana matatizo ya afya ya akili ya kiasi cha kupungua, kusaidia kiongozi wa afya ya akili katika kila shule au chuo kikuu kuendeleza msaada ambao wanatoa kwa jamii nzima ya shule, kutoa ushauri wa wakati kwa wafanyakazi wa shule na vyuo vikuu, na kuwasiliana na huduma za wataalamu wa nje kusaidia watoto na vijana kupata msaada sahihi na kukaa katika elimu. ""Mfanyakazi wa Huduma ya Ushauri na Uunganisho wa Mgonjwa (PALS) atakuja kwenye wadi za kliniki." Timu ya PALS inakusudia kusaidia wagonjwa, watunzaji, wafanyakazi na umma kwa: Kusikiliza wasiwasi wako kuhusu huduma yako na kutoa msaada na kusaidia kutatua - Kujibu maswali kuhusu huduma yako katika hospitali zetu - Kutoa'saidizi ya mahali hapo' kwa kutoa ushauri, habari na msaada - Kusaidia wagonjwa wenye ulemavu ambao wanapata ugumu wowote katika kupata huduma zetu - Kupitisha pongezi zako kwa wafanyakazi wetu - Kuwasilisha wagonjwa kwa idara ya malalamiko. Unaweza kuwasiliana na timu ya msaada kwenye 0148 28511 au barua pepe kwa @example.com.