Brings categories: a young person

Ask Jigsaw: How do I know if I have a mental disorder?

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How do I know if I have actually have mental disorder? I don’t know what is real and what is not. Is it anxiety or am I just oversensitive about everything? Do I have depression even though I don’t have all the symptoms? How is a diagnosis given?

-Username

Hi there,

It’s healthy to feel a wide range of emotions in response to things that happen in your life. For example, you might feel sad after a bereavement, or anxious during exams. This does not mean that you have a problem with your mental health.

Patience in a time of uncertainty

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When life throws curve balls, we may find ourselves becoming impatient, wanting life to return to the way it was. We might want things to progress more quickly, or at least know what’s going to happen next.

There are times when our lives can take unexpected turns.

You or a family member may lose your job, illness might challenge your expectations of yourself or something you were looking forward to doesn’t work out the way you anticipated.

Unusual circumstances can cause feelings of impatience and stress to increase. You may find yourself overthinking things, feeling easily irritated by others, or less like yourself. Everyday problems can seem harder to solve.

Reflecting on 2020

Posted on by eve

While the new year is a time to look forward and plan ahead, December offers a chance to reflect on the year that’s gone.

Without a doubt, it’s been a tough and challenging year for many of us.

It’s completely understandable, we may focus on the toll the year has taken on our lives and plans. Missed opportunities due to social restrictions, unemployment and uncertainty about the future have led to challenging situations for young people. Some of the experiences we’ve heard about from young people this year are low mood, trouble sleeping and anxiety.

Online mental health support

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Many face-to-face mental health services are now offering support through text, telephone or video-based platforms.

Technology provides great opportunities. But, it can feel daunting connecting with a clinician or counsellor in a new format. There are a few things to bear in mind if you access online therapeutic support or online counselling.

In this article, you will find information on:

Fionnuala’s story: Living with someone who is high risk

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Fionnuala (23), a Jigsaw volunteer from Kerry, lives with a parent who is it high risk in relation to Coronavirus due to an underlying health condition. Here, Fionnuala shares her story. 

I feel anxious about bringing Coronavirus home, it’s a big thing as I have a family member who is high-risk. With the figures going up and down, it’s an unknown, and I don’t like unknowns. I find myself watching the news and the numbers quite closely. It feels like continuous months of checking. In Kerry, they went really down recently, we had zero for a lot of days. Whereas yesterday it went up to 19, so I’m back to being completely restricted again.

Ask Jigsaw: I’m self harming. What should I do?

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I have recently started to cut my wrist and I’m not exactly sure why. I am an extremely shy person and could possibly have social anxiety. At first I thought it was a way of asking for help without actually talking to people but now that I have done it I am extremely scared of anyone finding out and am now terrified of what might happen. I don’t know what to do and need help. I am a very young person and shouldn’t even be considering on self harm. What should I do?

-Sarah  

Hi Sarah,

Sometimes there’s no particular reason why people start to self-harm. It can quickly become a habit that’s difficult to break on your own.  

Ask Jigsaw: Everything is overwhelming

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I just feel everything is so overwhelming atm, like so much expectations and pressures coming from everywhere. A lot of the time I feel like I cant cope with things everyone else can deal with. I’m just slacking in everything and I sometimes feel like failure.

I tend to jump to the worst case scenario really quickly and I’m worried I might do something impulsive sometime. I don’t really know what to do or how I’ll stop feeling this way, i always convince myself facing up to stuff is too hard to do. Do u guys know what I should do? Thank you 🙂

-Aishlinn

Hi Aishlinn,

It is such a difficult place to be in when it feels like a lot is expected of us and that we are getting pressure from every angle. When we are feeling overwhelmed, it’s hard to start anything and that can lead to feeling like a failure.