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Mental Health

In this section, we will briefly outline common mental health issues and disorders and provide resources to help cope with them.

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Please note: This list is not exhaustive.

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Mental health issues effect everyone, whether its stress or bipolar. We aim to create a safe space for everyone and ensure they have access to the help they need.

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Anger

Anger is a natural human emotion that we will all experience at some point in our lives. However, intense anger can be debilitating and can affect your life and the people you love.

 

Anger may present itself in situations where you feel:

 

  • Attacked

  • Deceived

  • Frustrated

  • Unfairly Treated

  • Invalidated

 

Oftentimes anger is useful to us because it highlights situations that are upsetting us and can then lead to us addressing those issues. 

 

However, sometimes anger can manifest in an unhealthy way.

 

How to know when the anger becomes unhealthy

 

When it begins to harm you or other people, whether it’s emotionally or physically, that’s when you know something needs to change.

 

  • Outward aggression and violence - such as shouting, swearing, slamming doors, hitting or throwing things and being physically violent or verbally abusive and threatening towards others.

  • Inward aggression - such as telling yourself that you hate yourself, denying yourself your basic needs (like food, or things that might make you happy), cutting yourself off from the world and self-harming.

  • Non-violent or passive aggression - such as ignoring people or refusing to speak to them, refusing to do tasks, or deliberately doing things poorly, late or at the last possible minute, and being sarcastic or sulky while not saying anything explicitly aggressive or angry. 

 

 

Just because you’re experiencing anger issues, doesn’t make you any less of a person and it certainly doesn’t mean that you can’t learn how to control it.

 

Controlling your anger

 

There are many ways to control your anger on your own. But if self-help is not helping, make sure to seek professional help such as counseling and therapy.

 

Self-help

 

  • Mindfulness

    • There are lots of different mindfulness practices that are very helpful for controlling your anger

    • Counting to 10

    • Controlling your breathing

      • Square breathing

    • Grounding techniques

      • Use all 5 senses to identify things in your environment

 

Professional help

 

Anxiety

Anxiety can manifest in lots of different ways and can be triggered by anything. Luckily, there are many ways to help reduce the effects of anxiety and it’s a commonly talked about mental health issue.

 

However, just because many people experience this, it doesn’t make it any less debilitating.

 

Effects of anxiety on everyday life

 

Mind anxiety can manifest as an uncomfortable feeling or stress, sometimes even stomach aches. While more extreme anxiety can lead to paranoia and even things like intrusive thoughts. Whatever kind of anxiety you or someone close to you experiences, there’s always help.

 

Coping Mechanisms

 

If you wanna try self-help first, there’s many different things you can try.

 

  • Mindfulness

    • When you feel anxious, try to become mindful of your feelings. Analyse why you are feeling this way and what triggered it. Then try to evaluate the actual risk rather than the perceived risk. This will help reduce your anxious feelings.

  • Grounding Techniques

    • Grounding techniques help shift your focus onto other things to help reduce your anxiety. A good grounding technique is called square breathing. This is where you imagine a square and breathe in for 4 and out for 4, following the edges of the square. Here is a youtube video to guide you through it.

    • Another great grounding technique is called Take 5. This is where you identify things in your surroundings using your five senses. What can you hear? What can you see? What can you smell? What can you taste? What can you feel?

Body Dysmorphia and Eating Disorders

Body image and eating issues are often seen as a taboo issue even though most of deal with some form of them throughout our life.

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Below are some examples of eating disorders and body image issues and advice on how to deal with them as well as help others going through them.

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Different types of mental health problems surrounding eating and body image

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  • Body Dysmorphia

    • Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is an anxiety disorder related to body image. It's closely related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

  • Bulimia​

    • If you get a bulimia diagnosis (known as bulimia nervosa), you may experience a cycle of what's called bingeing and purging.

      • Bingeing is eating large amounts of food in one go. You might do this when you're struggling with feelings or problems in your life.

      • Purging is acting to get rid of the food you have eaten after bingeing. You might feel guilty or ashamed of what you've eaten.

  • Anorexia

    • If you get an anorexia diagnosis (known as anorexia nervosa), you’re not eating enough food. This means you're not getting the energy you need to stay healthy.

  • Binge Eating Disorder

    • If you get a diagnosis for binge eating disorder, you might feel unable to stop eating, even if you want to.​

  • OSFED

    • If you get an OSFED diagnosis, you have an eating disorder. However, you don't meet all the criteria for anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder.​

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Coping Mechanisms

 

Issues surround food and body image are very complex, so if you feel you may be dealing with one of these disorders, it's important to seek help.

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If you know someone who is dealing with this, be mindful about what you say to them. Try not to comment on their eating habits or body in any way, this rarely helps and often makes the situation worse. Instead, try and be a good support system for them and ask them if there is any way you can help.

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Resources

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  • Project HEAL - Project HEAL’s vision is to create a world where everyone with an eating disorder has the opportunities & resources they need to heal. (US)

  • ​BEAT - We are the UK’s eating disorder charity. Founded in 1989 as the Eating Disorders Association, our mission is to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders.

  • The Butterfly Foundation - We believe everyone’s experience of an eating disorder or body image issue is unique and access to effective services is essential. (AUS)

  • FEAST - List of charities and organisations around the world that help with eating and body issues

Depression

Depression is becoming an increasingly common mental health problem. Our modern lifestyle lends us to developing depression because of things like isolation caused by the pandemic, or long work hours that restrict opportunities to rest and socialise. There are lots of other reasons that we develop depression, below is advice on how to cope with living with it.

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Self-help

 

  • Mindfulness

    • There are lots of different mindfulness practices that are very helpful for controlling your anger

    • Counting to 10

    • Controlling your breathing

      • Square breathing

    • Grounding techniques

      • Use all 5 senses to identify things in your environment

    • Talk to someone you trust

    • Try to keep active

    • Try to spend some time outside everyday

 

Resources

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  • CALM - We’re the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) and we’re taking a stand against suicide. That means standing against feeling shit, standing up to stereotypes and standing together to show life is always worth living.

  • GP - Reach out to your doctor, they can often refer you to more specialist services​

Sleep Problems

Problems with sleep can arise for a whole host of reasons. The can be the result mental health issues like anxiety or depression, or things like stress or simply just too much time in front of a screen.

 

Self-help

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  • Drink plenty of water throughout the day

    • Water is a miracle worker! Drinking water helps regulate lots of functions within your body 

    • Don't eat big meals too close to bed time, make sure to leave a few hours from when you finish eating and when you intend to sleep

    • Avoid bright white lights in the evening - make sure you use an orange tint (nightshift) on your devices, this simulates sunset, so naturally gets your brain ready for sleep

    • Try to keep technology away from your sleep area

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Coping Mechanisms

 

If you wanna try self-help first, there’s many different things you can try.

 

  • Mindfulness

    • When you feel anxious, try to become mindful of your feelings. Analyse why you are feeling this way and what triggered it. Then try to evaluate the actual risk rather than the perceived risk. This will help reduce your anxious feelings.

  • Grounding Techniques

    • Grounding techniques help shift your focus onto other things to help reduce your anxiety. A good grounding technique is called square breathing. This is where you imagine a square and breathe in for 4 and out for 4, following the edges of the square. Here is a youtube video to guide you through it.

    • Another great grounding technique is called Take 5. This is where you identify things in your surroundings using your five senses. What can you hear? What can you see? What can you smell? What can you taste? What can you feel?

Stress

Everybody will experience some type of stress throughout their lives. Work and school can cause stress, and so can personal and social situations. Although stress is uncomfortable, it's natural. However, when stress begins to impact our ability to go about our daily lives, that's when it's time to intervene.

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Signs you or someone you know might be experiencing stress

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  • Behavioural changes

    • Irritable, angry, or impatient 

    • Overwhelmed

    • Anxious, nervous or afraid

    • Racing thoughts

    • Unable to enjoy yourself

    • Depressed

    • Uninterested in life

    • A sense of dread

    • Neglected or lonely

    • Existing mental health problems getting worse

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  • Physical Changes​

    • Difficulty breathing

    • Panic attacks

    • Blurred eyesight or sore eyes

    • Sleep problems

    • Fatigue

    • Muscle aches and headaches

    • Chest pains and high blood pressure

    • Indigestion or heartburn

    • Constipation or diarrhoea

    • Feeling sick, dizzy or fainting

    • Sudden changes in weight 

    • Developing rashes or itchy skin

    • Sweating

    • Changes to your period or menstrual cycle

    • Existing physical health problems getting worse

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Managing Stress

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The first and most important thing you can do to manage stress is to practice self care. Being kind to yourself can go a long way. Do things you enjoy like going out for a walk, having a bath, watching your favourite shows, and playing your favourite games to help yourself relax. Forgive yourself! Don't get mad or disappointed in yourself for feeling stressed, your body needs a break and this is the only way it knows how to ask for one. You wouldn't expect yourself to go for a run the day after you have broken your leg.

 

If you can identify the cause of stress and try to eliminate or minimise its effects, this will help you feel much less stressed. Make a mental list of all aspects of your life and think through them, once you start to think about the aspect that is making you stressed, it's likely your body will react in some way. Once you know the cause, it's much easier to then be able to combat it.

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Resources

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Sometimes it isn't just as simple as talking about it or taking a bath, so here are some contacts that specialise in helping people experiencing stress.

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This list is just a summary for now. To find out more about the conditions listed, or to get help about other conditions visit Mind. They have an extensive list of all mental health issues and advice on how to deal with them.

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