Mental health resources

Do you need mental health resources for yourself or someone you know?

Are you worried about your mental health, or that of someone else, and don’t know where to start? There are lots of great online resources, mental health apps and places to contact by phone or in person, some of which are listed below.

While I understand it might feel scary, thinking you have a mental illness, you’re not alone, and there is support available. The prognosis is better if a mental illness is treated sooner. That said, let’s get started with the free online Apps.

19 mental health apps designed to suit your mental health problems

We know that referral waiting times for NHS Mental Health Services, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), are often months long. This is not particularly helpful when you or someone you know is in crisis! However, hang on in there — Mental Health apps are available for you to to download immediately here.

Mental health resources

There are so many high quality online mental health resources available, but sometimes it’s difficult to find just what you’re looking for. So here’s, a useful mental health contact list of mainly UK organisations, together with their websites and telephone numbers.

Mental health disorders

If you have or someone you know has a mental illness your doctor will give you a formal diagnosis. While most people experience mental illness in very different ways many will share common symptoms and side effects. Here’s a list of the most common mental health disorders, together with a brief description of each, (courtesy of Rethink.org):

Anxiety disorders

We all have feelings of anxiety sometimes and these tend to be normal responses to certain situations. For example, you might worry about a driving test, or about paying a bill on time. These feelings can give you an awareness of the risks and what you need to do in a difficult or dangerous situation. This reaction is known as ‘fight or flight.’

But if you have an anxiety disorder these feelings of fear and danger can be ongoing and interrupt your daily routine long after the threat has gone. They can make you feel like things are worse than they actually are. You can find out more about anxiety and how to cope here.

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder (previously known as manic depression) can be a lifelong mental health problem that mainly affects your mood i.e. extreme highs and extreme lows. You can experience episodes of both mania, and depression.

You may feel well between these times. However, when your mood changes, you might see drastic changes in your energy levels or how you act.

Symptoms of bipolar disorder can be severe and you can see just how much the mood swings differ from normal people’s mood swings. They can affect all areas of your life, such as work, school and relationships.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD)

BPD is a type of ‘personality disorder’. It is an illness that makes you struggle with your emotions and this can affect your relationships with other people. Around 1 in 100 people have BPD. It seems to affect men and women equally, but women are more likely to have this diagnosis. This may be because men are less likely to ask for help. Everyone will experience BPD differently and you can find out more here.

Cannabis and mental illness

Cannabis is an illegal drug which can smoked or eaten. You can smoke it on its own or mix it with tobacco to make a ‘joint’ or ‘spliff’. It can also be cooked in food or brewed in tea.

People use cannabis for different reasons. Sometimes they use it to relieve mental or physical symptoms, which is called self-medication. This may make you feel better in the short term. But in the longer term it can increase problems or create new ones. You might want to read more on the Rethink.org website here.

Depression

Everyone has occasional ups and downs, and sometimes you might feel a bit low, for lots of different reasons. People often say they’re feeling depressed when they’re feeling a bit down, but this doesn’t always mean that they have depression.

Depression is a long lasting (more than 2 weeks) low mood disorder. It affects your ability to do everyday things, feel pleasure or take interest in your usual activities. Your doctor might describe depression as ‘mild’, ‘moderate’ or ‘severe’. Your GP might offer you different treatments depending on the type of depression i.e. clinical, reactive or recurrent. Find out more about depression here.

Dissociation and dissociative identity disorder (DID)

Many people will experience dissociation at some point in their lives. Lots of different things can cause you to dissociate. For example, you might dissociate when you’re very stressed, or after something traumatic has happened to you. You might also have symptoms of dissociation as part of another mental illness like anxiety. For many people these feelings will pass over time. You might want to read more about it here and you can download a more comprehensive fact sheet here.

Drugs and alcohol

Many people use alcohol and/or drugs, for lots of different reasons, one in particular is to self-medicate. They may have an existing mental illness, say depression, and use alcohol/drugs as a form of medication. This is what’s normally called Dual Diagnosis.

It may take longer for your mental health to get better if you use drugs or alcohol. Drugs can make you more unwell and more likely to try and harm yourself or take your own life. There is also some evidence that using some drugs may cause mental illness in the first place. For example, research has shown that cannabis can increase your chances of developing schizophrenia.

Eating Disorders

An eating disorder is a mental illness, and you will use food to try to manage your feelings. If you have an eating disorder you will have an unhealthy relationship with food. This may be eating too much or too little. You may become obsessed with food and your eating patterns if you have an eating disorder.

Obsessive compulsive disorder

OCD is a serious mental health condition that causes individuals to experience a variety of symptoms that typically fall into one of two categories: ‘obsessions’ (thoughts or images)) and/or ‘compulsions’ (behaviours), which do intertwine.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

You might develop post-traumatic stress disorder after experiencing, or seeing, something that you find traumatic. The symptoms of PTSD can start immediately after the distressing event or after a delay of weeks or months. It will usually start within 6 months of the traumatic event.

You are likely to recover from PTSD. It is possible to be successfully treated from PTSD years after the trauma, so it’s never too late to seek help. But a few people may deal with symptoms for many years. Need to know more?

Psychosis

You might see or hear things that others don’t. Or believe things other people don’t. Some people describe it as a break from reality. There are different terms used to describe psychosis. Such as psychotic symptoms, psychotic episode or psychotic experience. Read more here.

Schizoaffective disorder

Schizoaffective disorder is a mental illness that affects your moods and thoughts, and has both symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. So your symptoms may include mania, depression and psychosis.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness in which people interpret reality abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behaviour that impairs daily functioning, and can be disabling, Mayo Clinic, 2020.

Moreover, schizophrenia is a common illness and about one in a hundred people will develop it. More often, it develops during young adulthood. The early stage of the illness is called ‘the prodromal phase’. During this phase your sleep, emotions, motivation, communication and ability to think clearly may change.

If you become unwell this is called an ‘acute episode’. You may feel panic, anger or depression during an acute episode. Your first acute episode can be a shocking experience because you are not expecting it or prepared for it.

Downloadable resources

Of course there are far too many downloadable resources to mention here, so I’ve only listed a few that might help:

1. The stress bucket here
2. Top tips for mental wellbeing here
3. Wellbeing plan here
4. Coping with hearing voices here
5. Coping with anger here
6. Talking about loneliness here
7. Tips for coping with anxiety and panic attacks here
8. How to support someone with a mental health problem here

And last but not least, you can always seek out some of the blogs on mental health where you’ll always find support, tips and new online friends, who won’t judge. Sometimes, it’s good to read about how other people cope living with a mental illness. I’m happy to pass on some recommendations of blogs I follow and find useful.

Over to you

I’m seeking your help, my lovely friends — is there anything important that you think I’ve missed? I look forward to your comments and I’m happy to answer any questions.