Wellbeing Support for Parents
What is mental health?
We all have mental health, just as we all have physical health. Being mentally healthy means that we feel good about ourselves, make and keep positive relationships with others and can feel and manage the full range of emotions.
These can range from happiness, excitement and curiosity through to less comfortable feelings such as anger, fear or sadness.
Good mental health allows us to cope with life's ups and downs, to feel in control of our lives and to ask for help from others when we need support.
Mental health spectrum
Mental health and mental illness are part of a 'spectrum', just as physical health and illness are. Throughout our lives, many different things can lead us to move up and down the spectrum such as the start or end of relationships, getting a new job or being made redundant, changes in physical health and good news or worries about those we are close to.
It is important to remember that recovery is possible, even from severe mental ill health, and that people with a mental ill-health diagnosis may be managing their condition well and still experiencing high levels of wellbeing.
The five ways to wellbeing
Often, life events that are outside our control can damage our mental health, and this is made worse if we feel powerless to do anything about them.
One of the ways we can re-gain a sense of control and nourish our mental health is to remember 'the five ways to wellbeing' which have been found in research to improve mental wellbeing in children and adults.
Oldham Council Mental Wellbeing Team
The Oldham Council Mental Wellbeing team have worked with the charity Bounce Forward to produce a small video with practical tools to support their wellbeing.
Click the link to watch: Free Webinar for Parents
Silver Cloud- supporting an anxious child. This programme has been designed for parents and carers who are looking to support their child dealing with worry and anxiety.
Young Minds
Parents Helpline
Worried about a child or young person? Contact the Parents Helpline on Young Minds website for free, confidential advice via the phone, email or webchat.
Call us for free on 0808 802 5544 from 9:30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.
Taken from the Young Minds Website:
- Our Parents Helpline is available in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- You’ll get through to a trained adviser who will listen and talk through your concerns in complete confidence.
- Your adviser will help you to understand your child’s behaviour and give you practical advice on what to do next.
- If you need further help, they’ll arrange for one of our qualified mental health professionals to call you for a 50-minute telephone consultation within seven days.
- Please note, calls may be recorded for monitoring or training purposes.
- Hard of hearing or speech-impaired? Please use Typetalk or Textdirect to contact us, or use our Parents Webchat.
- If English is not your first language, we can arrange for an interpreter as a member of LanguageLine.
Youth Wellbeing Directory
The Youth Wellbeing Directory is a directory of free to access mental health support services for children, young people and their families across the UK. Many services are still offering support and taking referrals during the coronavirus shutdown though this support may be delivered remotely.
Please use the Urgent help page if you can’t find the support you need.