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Category: Asking for help

What are the mental health services for under-18s?

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

If you’re under 18 and having a difficult time, there are a few options to consider.

First, is there someone you can talk to about what’s going on? A member of your family or friend that you trust can be a good place to start. Or take a look at the articles here to help you figure out what you need. Sometimes this could be enough or can help you make sense of what you need and what you can do.

If you think you might need to get some support or advice from a professional, we’ve made a list of the mental health services available for young people under 18.

Which one is best for you depends on what you’re going through. Sometimes that initial conversation with a trusted adult helps identify what will help. Also, because of the law on consent, you will need to have a parent/guardian involved to get help from a lot of services and professionals.

So, the best first step is usually telling someone what’s going on for you. If you have a good enough relationship with a parent or guardian this can be a good place to start. If not, think about another adult you trust that you could talk to, like an aunt/uncle, older sibling or family friend.

In this article, you will find:

Webinar: Supporting your own mental health in lockdown

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

We ran a webinar for parents where two Jigsaw clinicians gave a presentation about supporting your mental health while social distancing. They then took questions from parents about what was going on for them.

The new measures can still throw up a lot of uncertainty and disappointment about plans that either have to postponed, or canceled. Keeping yourself and the young people in your life positive and motivated right now can take a bit of of extra work. Hopefully, this webinar covers useful tips for you to try at this time.

Hearing voices

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

We know that many young people hear voices or sounds that other people can’t hear. The recent My World Survey found that over one in five adolescents has had this experience.

This can feel frightening or confusing. Particularly with a backdrop of movies and tv programmes that portray hearing voices as ‘crazy’. However, there are many explanations for the phenomenon of hearing voices.

The impact of parents’ mental health

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

A person’s mental health can affect those close to them. It can be difficult for a young person if one or more of their parents are struggling.

This might be because they’re worried about them, or because the parent is not able to do the usual stuff they do.

If this is something you’re going through, here is an outline supports and other ways to help.

When do I need to get help for my mental health?

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

There are lots of ways to think about and describe mental health. We all have mental health and when we face various challenges it can be impacted.

We can start to find things difficult and may wonder what to do next. There are many different types of support out there to help us look after mental health. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach.

Getting support

Not everyone who experiences challenges with their mental health will need to access a service for support. If something is causing you to feel stressed, talk to a good friend, family member or a trusted adult. This can be enough to get you through.

Dealing with a breakup

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

Whether you broke up with someone, they broke up with you, or the decision was mutual, feelings can be tough. We can feel sadness, loss, guilt, or anger.

Sometimes we can be upset because we’re confused and not sure what happened. Other times it can even be a relief.

It doesn’t matter how long it lasted or how serious it was, it matters what the relationship meant to you. How you felt about that person and how it ended will impact how you react to dealing with breaking up.

Consent and sex

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

‘Consent’ is another word for ‘agreeing to’. We use ‘consent’ a lot when we talk about sex. In that context, consent means both people fully understand and agree to what they’re about to do.

It is really about communication, respect and awareness of the other person.

In this article, we’ll cover what you need to know about consent and sex.

How do I access Jigsaw?

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

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.

Getting in touch

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.

What is a Jigsaw service?

Jigsaw is a mental health service. But more specifically, it is an early intervention service for young people at primary care level.

Cyberbullying

Posted on by Eve Donnelly

In the last few years, cyberbullying has become an umbrella term for lots of negative behaviour online.

What is cyberbullying?

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.

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