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Brings categories: a young person

Coping with parental separation

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

Parental separation is one of the many challenges that young people can experience during their life.

We might experience our parents separating during childhood, adolescence or in early adulthood. Regardless of when it happens, parental separation can bring up many difficult feelings and every person will experience it differently.

You may experience some of the following:

  • Sadness. When circumstances change in our parent’s relationship, this can lead to feelings of sadness. When we feel sad, we might notice a change in our mood, and we may not enjoy the things we usually get joy from.
  • Confusion. We may feel confused about what is happening in our family. We may feel like we are stuck in the middle of things at times or uncertain about what will happen in our future.
  • Guilt. At times we may feel guilty about the feelings we experience and thoughts we have about the separation.
  • Relief. We might feel a sense of relief when our parents come to an agreement about what will happen next.
  • Anger. We could feel angry about what is happening in our family and how things have changed.
  • Blame.  Sometimes when we are trying to understand what is happening, we may blame ourselves or others.
  • Loss. We may feel loss for how our family has changed.

Remember that parents choose to separate for many different reasons that are to do with their relationship. It is not your fault.

How to ask for help

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

Whether we are feeling run down, experiencing low mood, or are in crisis we all need to reach out for support sometimes. You are not alone.

Recent research conducted by Orgyen and the World Economic Forum highlighted that 87% of the global population is affected by mental health difficulties. This can either be through individuals’ own experience or that of someone close to them.

Ask Jigsaw: Thinking about meaning of life

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

i’ve been feeling not myself and thinking a lot about the meaning of life. i just don’t see a point if we all die in the end. i don’t want to die but i can’t stop constantly thinking about what is the point of anything.

i also keep thinking about what happens after death, is that it for everyone- that we just cease to exist. i haven’t thought about life this way before and i don’t like thinking about it this way but is it all that it is.

-9999

Hi there,

Thank you for reaching out, those are some big questions that many of us grapple with.

Emily’s story: Living with an essential worker

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

Emily, 18, a Jigsaw volunteer from Donegal gives us her story: As the daughter of an essential worker, I’ve come to recognise that quitting time is non-existent these days for some workers. 

Dinner time is rarely a shared occasion.  As I write this, she’s on phone call number two of the day, on her day off.  This is the new normal for myself, and a lot of other young people living with an essential worker during this pandemic.

Dealing with the stress of it all

For many young adults in Ireland over the past few months, there has been additional stress added to the fact that they are living through a global pandemic.  For some, almost overnight, they have gained a new responsibility, not only for themselves but for siblings and other family members too, because their parents have been occupied with helping to fight the ongoing crisis.  For myself, as well as trying to keep on top of college work, I have been looking after my five younger siblings.  This includes doing washing, tidying up the house and making sure they are all fed and watered, as well as checking in to make sure they are ok with their schoolwork.  This has been stressful and frustrating at times, but overall very rewarding to know that the pressure is taken off my mammy somewhat when she gets home from work in the evenings.

I have found a few different ways of working in order to help myself and the others in my house as much as possible.  My hope is that by sharing them, I can help other young people that find themselves in the same situation as myself.  They include:

Planning

Even if it is just a basic list of things I need to do the next day, writing a list always helps me to stay motivated and keep going throughout the day to get as much done as I can.

Five a day for your mental health

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

Based on the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing‘ report 2008 by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), here are five things you can do daily for your mental health.

The UK Government commissioned the NEF to develop a simple set of evidence-based actions for people to improve their wellbeing. NEF drew on a very broad base of research for their recommendations, from psychological to economic literature.

Mental health services for over 18s

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

If you’re feeling down or anxious, or just generally not in a good place, there are many mental health services and supports that can help you.

What mental health services are there if I’m over 18?

Once you’re 18, you don’t need the consent of a parent or guardian to contact any services. But you can ask for support from them if you think it would help.

Below we’ve made a list of the mental health services for young people who are 18 or older. Whichever service you go to can depend on factors like what’s available in your area and what difficulties you’re having. If you talk to a health professional they should guide you on that.

Ask Jigsaw: Afraid of gaining weight

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

I’m not able to eat enough food during the day. I have seen things saying that a young person should eat about 2000 calories a day but if I do that, I gain weight and that makes me feel terrible but I want to grow. What should I do? 

– Hello  

Hello,   

There are lots of opinions about how many calories someone should eat. With so much information available, it can be very confusing to figure out how much food is a healthy amount to consume.  

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