Taking care of yourself after a difficult life event

After any difficult life event, it’s important that you don’t try and struggle alone.

Find someone that you can talk to about your difficulties. This might be a family member or friend, or a teacher at school. There is also support you can access online or by texting on your phone:

• Tellmi is a safe, anonymous app where you can talk about absolutely anything. From anxiety to autism, dating to depression, or self-harm to self-esteem, sharing your experiences with an online community helps you to feel better. You can visit the Tellmi website or download the app from your phone’s app store.
• ChatHealth is an NHS service available to 11–19-year-olds across the UK. You can text a question or concern and a professional will get back to you. Find your local ChatHealth service and start a chat here.

Setting yourself new routines can be a really helpful way of coping with a lot of changes, as having a structure to your day helps you to feel settled and in control. This might be as simple as writing down a timetable for the week.

It is also important to take care of your physical health, for example by making sure you eat healthy foods and to set yourself a healthy sleep pattern – getting a good night’s sleep helps the mind and body recharge.

Regular exercise is an important way of keeping both your mind and body healthy.  There will be opportunities at school for you to join clubs or sports teams and this can be a good way of making new friends too. You don’t have to join or gym or have access to special equipment to exercise: dancing, walking or working out at home are all free ways of keeping fit.

It is helpful to find out about how stress and trauma affects people so that you can understand your difficulties. You can find a lot of online resources here:

• The NHS website has a lot of helpful advice about looking after your mental health as well as some helpful strategies to manage your mental health and videos for self-care strategies for young people
• YoungMinds is an online charity offering free mental health support and advice.
• The Royal College of Psychiatry have a range of leaflets about mental health problems, translated into many different languages.

How to get help

If you have any more questions on this area or would like to speak to somebody about this topic, have a look at the links or search for your local services in the blue box below. Alternatively you can always contact your school nurse.

• w: NHS- Looking after your mental health