- Patients are able to self-refer to TalkWorks, an organisation that offers free CBT support to those suffering with their mental health. To find out more and self refer go to talkworks.dpt.nhs.uk.
- A a wide range of practical tools for both young people, students and adults go to Kooth
- For information and support visit: The Mind website Mind.org.uk
- For local out-of-hours support go to: The Moorings @ Devon website
- To use an NHS tool designed to help those experiencing mental health problems go to nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/your-mind-plan-quiz/
Book recommendations
This is a book written by a practising GP who is also now a TV personality and produces a brilliant podcast called Feel Better, Live More (which I also highly recommend). Over his years helping patients he’s seen great results from getting his patients to spend just 15 minutes per day doing practical things to improve their wellbeing. This book explains how to go about it with lots of simple, practical suggestions. We highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their mental, physical or emotional wellbeing.
This book (and Rubin’s brilliant podcast which I’ve listened to ever since reading this book) has taught me so much about how I can improve my happiness in both small and big ways.
After reading this book our Health & Wellbeing Coach Laura was inspired to come up with what she calls a ‘Mental Health toolkit’. This is a list of things that she knows helps improve her mental health. Her list includes reading, gardening, being outside, exercising and cooking healthy food from scratch. She has her list on the inside of her mug cupboard door as a reminder to regularly do these things, especially when her mental health is suffering. Doing these things doesn’t mean she’ll feel instantly better, but she’s come to learn that if she keeps doing these things eventually her mental health will start to improve. Everyone would come up with a different list but having it written up and somewhere you’ll often see it will help remind you of the things you can do to make yourself feel better when you’re struggling.
Mindfulness/meditation apps
Meditation is often mentioned when discussing improving mental health, but many people don’t know where to start with it. We have found that both the Headspace (https://www.headspace.com/) and Calm (https://www.calm.com/breathe) apps make starting and maintaining regular mindfulness/meditation practice easier. We highly recommend both.
Wellbeing podcasts
Thank goodness for podcasts. We have learnt so much from listening to podcasts and for completely free, which makes them even better. The podcasts that most boost our mental health are ‘Feel Better, Live More’ by Dr Rangan Chatterjee (https://drchatterjee.com/blog/category/podcast/), ‘Happier’ by Gretchen Rubin (https://gretchenrubin.com/podcasts/), and ‘Happy Place’ by Fearne Cotton (https://www.officialfearnecotton.com/…/happy-place-podcast). We have learned so much from each of them and they all help us remember that many people face the same mental health struggles as we do, which makes us feel less alone with our struggles.
