Mental Health resources and support during lockdown

COVID-19: guidance for the public on mental health and wellbeing provides advice and information on how to look after your mental health and wellbeing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Coping Guides - To support children, young people and families wellbeing during COVID19, East Berkshire CCG has  produced a number of guides pulling together the best resources and to support self-help, these include: #Coping – Family Life During the Lockdown (includes training, resources and local and national support services), #Coping – Five Ways to Wellbeing (adapted for lockdown, primary and secondary age version), #Coping – Young People’s Guide (Includes clinically approved self-help apps as well as local and national support services). The guides are available for download on the East Berkshire CCG website- https://www.eastberkshireccg.nhs.uk/our-work/coping-guides/

Resources for young people and parents:

Children and young people may be experiencing a variety of feelings in response to the COVID-19 outbreak such as anxiety, stress or low mood. It is important to understand that these are normal responses to an abnormal situation. There is a large amount of mental health support available for children and young people as detailed below.

• Kooth is still available online, the service is still fully operational. Click here for the kooth promo film
• Youth Counselling -   https://number22.org/
• Talking Therapies do have online support via Silver Cloud (which is CBT online) and young people age 17 + can access this; Stressless Courses  are very good (some adults with emotion regulation difficulties found this useful). To access the service, people can self-refer or ask your healthcare professional to refer you. Phone number  0300 365 2000 Email address  talkingtherapies@berkshire.nhs.uk. https://www.berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/our-services/adult-healthcare/talking-therapies-berkshire/
• Young Minds – they have got some really good info - https://youngminds.org.uk/blog/looking-after-your-mental-health-while-self-isolating/ and https://youngminds.org.uk/blog/talking-to-your-child-about-coronavirus/ . Also don’t forget they have a national helpline for parents free Mon-Fri from 9.30am to 4pm see https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/parents-helpline/ 
• You may want to check out what Slough PH team have put on their website they have created two new pages some great info https://www.publichealthslough.co.uk/campaigns/health-at-home/ and also Mental health for coronavirus https://www.publichealthslough.co.uk/campaigns/mental-health-and-coronavirus/   
• Anna Freud Centre have put  together a document Supporting schools & colleges: A guide to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of pupils and students during periods of disruption they have also developed three videos, one for school staff, one for parents and one for children and young people. https://www.annafreud.org/parents-and-carers/ provides guidance on supporting the mental health of babies, young children and their families.
• Good ideas to promote coping skills (positive psychology): https://www.actionforhappiness.org/media/863032/coping_calendar.jpg
• MindEd - a free educational resource with materials on stress, fear, trauma and bereavement. Content includes death and loss  (for parents and carers with Easy Read PDF); loss and grief (for professionals including teachers); and trauma and coping (for parents and carers with Easy Read PDF)
• Good Thinking digital mental wellbeing resource for London, which breaks down advice for children and young people by specific groups
• Place 2 Be on improving children’s mental health.
• The Childhood Bereavement Network includes content specific to COVID-19.
• Local NHS mental health crisis support lines (for all ages) can be found via a simple age and postcode search here.
• The Government’s online educational resources for home education with a section on mental wellbeing.
• PHE’s guidance on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing
• Virtual Oak National Academy for reception – Year 10 pupils, which offers daily online lessons, a weekly assembly with a pastoral focus and extra-curricular activities to help families maintain a routine at home (NB. intended to complement, not replace, existing schools’ online learning offers)
• BBC Education online learning content, also for reception to Year 10 pupils, to support home learning, with weekly wellbeing tips provided via their social media pages.
• The Think Ninja app has been made freely available to young people (aged 10-18 year olds) across the UK and updated with specific mental health and wellbeing content related to the pandemic.
• MindEd, Anna Freud or Place 2 Be webpages and the Starline parent helpline for home learning.
• Rise Above is a website co-created and produced by young people to help build resilience and support good mental health in those aged 10 to 16. The content has been adapted to the pandemic and includes new mental health content based on insights from young people who are learning from home.
• Every Mind Matters includes an online tool and email journey to support everyone to feel more confident in taking action to look after their mental health and wellbeing. It also includes a section for parents and carers on looking after children and young people during the pandemic.
• Children and young people who are caring for someone with a mental illness can self-refer to the NHS Volunteer Responders programme using this link if they are having issues shopping for food or picking up prescriptions.
• Children and young people can access free confidential support anytime from voluntary and community sector organisations by texting SHOUT to 85258, calling Childline on 0800 1111 or the Mix on 0808 808 4994.  For support with an eating disorder, children and young people can ring Beat’s Youthline on 0808 801 0711.
• Local mental health crisis support lines (for all ages) can be found via a simple age and postcode search here.