This section of the toolkit will explore simple and practical strategies that young people can use to look after their mental health and wellbeing.
For some young people this change may bring with it more challenges than others. It can be useful for young people to identify who they can turn to in their existing support networks that they trust.
This section of the toolkit will help young people to explore their attitude towards change and the variety of feelings they can experience when transitioning from primary to post-primary school.
During times of uncertainty or change, young people can experience a range of feelings. For those who find this change difficult, it can have an effect on their mental health and wellbeing. Exploring some of these topics can help prepare young people for the change ahead.
Are you aged 12 to 25 and looking to get one-to-one support with your mental health? If so, your local Jigsaw service can help.
Start the process by calling or emailing your local Jigsaw service yourself. Your parent or guardian, or teacher, doctor, or youth worker can also take that first step, contacting the service for you with your permission.
If you are under 18, Jigsaw requires that an adult consent for you to attend. That means we need to check with your parent or guardian and let them know you want to attend our service.
However, it does not mean we have to tell them why you want to come to Jigsaw. We will discuss what we can keep confidential with you when you come in.
Once you get in touch, a member of staff will ask you for some basic details. If you both decide Jigsaw is the right service for you, they will organise an appointment for you with a Jigsaw Clinician.
If your situation is more complicated, they might arrange for a Jigsaw Clinician to call you back. This will be to discuss things in a bit more detail before deciding on the next steps.
Jigsaw is a mental health service. But more specifically, it is an early intervention service for young people at primary care level.
In the last few years, cyberbullying has become an umbrella term for lots of negative behaviour online.
Essentially cyberbullying is bullying online, and it can take many different forms. Sometimes it is easily recognisable and others not so much.
It can be 24/7 with seemingly nowhere to get away from it. One of the drawbacks of the connectivity in our pockets is we’re always accessible.
Generally, cyberbullying doesn’t happen in isolation. It tends to be a part of traditional bullying. The bully is often someone known to the person on the receiving end of it. This is even if the activity seems to be done anonymously.
Cyberbullying can take obvious forms such as name calling, putting someone down or abusive comments on posts, images or videos. Then there are less obvious forms, only really felt and understood by the person on the receiving end of it.
Mental health is something we all have. It is an essential part of all of us. It includes our thoughts and feelings, how we are getting on with other people and how we manage day-to-day life.
In this article, you will find:
Having good mental health is about feeling positive about ourselves, or sometimes just good enough. It’s about being able to do the things that matter to us. Just as everyone has physical health, everyone also has mental health.
The state of our mental health doesn’t stay constant. It changes, often in response to things that are happening in our life.
If a young person in your life seems to be having a tough time, trust your instinct something isn’t right.
There are plenty of signs to look out for that are good to know. If you want to start a difficult conversation but don’t know where to begin, you are not alone.
Many young people have missed out on a number of opportunities and milestones since the pandemic started. And there can be no question this can impact on everyone’s mood in the family unit.
When a young person is feeling down, stressed out or experiencing anxiety, they may become closed off or defensive. They can find it hard to talk about what is going on. In response to the pandemic and restrictions, they may not know or understand emotions they’re experiencing.
Some things can be challenging to communicate. However, whether able to open up or not, a young person will likely appreciate being offered the opportunity to talk. They will benefit from knowing someone is there to support them when they are ready to accept help.
Finding the right time is important to consider. You need an adequate amount of time available so neither of you feels pressure to reach a quick conclusion. It’s wise to choose a time when you are both free without something to rush off to.
The young person may have a deadline for homework or is distracted by a football game. In this case, it is unlikely they will want to talk. Remember, your priorities may not be the same.
A convenient time to talk may crop up naturally when you are both relaxed and doing something together. However, it may not be that easy to start a tough conversation.
You might have to deliberately make the time. Don’t try to be a mind reader on this. Let the young person know you’d like to spend some time with them and ask when suits them.
When someone close to you dies it can be gut-wrenching and confusing. Your emotions will be all over the place while you get a handle on what happened.
You can’t bring them back, but you can find ways to be easy on yourself during this hard time.
Grief is a natural, human reaction to loss. When you lose someone close to you, there is a period afterwards of mourning. Grief is the emotional and physical feelings you get as you mourn.
Jonathan* is a teenager who was referred to Jigsaw by his GP. Below, Jonathan’s aunt talks about how Jigsaw helped him deal with anxious thoughts and find ways to look after his mental health.
Jonathan’s mother was drinking, and from time to time in hospital with her mental health. His dad was the stable parent in the relationship, but we lost him after a tragic accident. His mother couldn’t help her addiction to alcohol, so she was open to me fostering Jonathan. He came to live with me at the age of seven and his first few years were great, but as he got to puberty things started to slide. It broke my heart when his friends stopped knocking and he started isolating himself.
He’s a really intelligent young fella and likes reading. After our first big conversation about how he was feeling, he left one of his books, The Fault in Our Stars, on the hall landing with a note that said, ‘Read the first page’. He was trying to tell me something, but he hadn’t the words. I knew that something was not right.
One day I got a series of texts from him in school. I could tell that he was anxious. When I collected him that day, he got distressed and spieled off all the things that were upsetting him. I like to take action, so we visited my doctor who referred Jonathan to Jigsaw.
Stress is the body’s way of rising to a challenging situation. Everyone experiences stress at times and it can’t be avoided entirely. Learning to manage stress is what makes all the difference.
Stress can be positive and motivate us to prepare for events. But when we have too much it can seem as if it’s taking over.
Too much stress can make teens or young adults feel panicked or overwhelmed. When this happens, managing it becomes a challenge
In this article, you will find:
When communicating with a young person, it’s important to listen. This sounds obvious, but it can be difficult not to jump in and offer your point of view.
Listening more than you talk is a good starting point. Being a good listener takes skill and a lot of effort. It doesn’t necessarily come naturally.
Give young people time. It’s critical to really give young people time and attention if you want them to experience you as a good listener. We have all, at one time or other, tried to say something important to someone who was not really listening.
They may give this away by fidgeting, looking at something over our shoulder, checking their watch, or interrupting us. Can you recall how this made you feel?
It likely wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling. You probably didn’t really feel listened to, understood or even important at that moment. If you’re not in a position to listen attentively to a young person, tell them and try choosing a better time for it.
One of the reasons young people might not open up is due to fear of being judged. Convey to the young person in your life you’re not here to judge them, but simply to listen.
Assure them no matter what they say, you will still care and be there for them. You are not going to think any less of them, regardless.
Separating a person’s behaviour from the person themselves can help manage our tendency towards judgement. Another trap we can fall into is jumping to conclusions. Once we do this, we stop listening, rather than truly hearing what the young person is saying.
Young people can often feel embarrassed or ashamed about their struggles. They often feel very alone, as if they are the only one experiencing these challenges. By normalising a young person’s feelings, you can reassure them.
Make sure you really listen to what is going on for that young person, and ask how they feel about it. Let them know that they are not alone.
