Mental Health and Young People

25 10 2007

1 in 4 of us will suffer mental ill health at some point in our lives.  For our information gathering task the Y141ers spent last week looking for information for young people on mental health.  Some of the links to the websites they found are listed below but we would like to say that information on its own isn’t enough. 

Our job as youth workers is to support young people.  That means providing information where appropriate but being there to talk, encourage, sit quietly and generally be around to help the young people we work with who suffer mental ill-health.  The information on the sites below is as much for our benefit as for the young people we work with.  We, as professional workers, need to be informed about mental health.  I would suggest that part of our job is to tackle the stigma and ignorance that still surrounds depression, schizophrenia, paranoia, eating disorders and self harm.

Here are a few of our links:

moodjuice- information from Forth Valley NHS for young people with worries or in crisis, carers and professionals.

Penumbra – one of Scotland’s leading Mental Health organisations.

Young Minds- information for children, young people and parents as well as professionals and supporters.

See Me – campaign to end the stigma attached to mental ill-health

edspace – Edinburgh mental health information





The Scary Guy

17 10 2007

What we say, the words that come out our mouths, are our choice.  How we treat people is our choice.  Sound simple?  How come we call people names and say horrible things?

The Scary Guy talks to a group of teenagers in this short video to explain how we can make different choices.  Worth a watch, even if just to see his communication style.





Information

15 10 2007

Y141 is about communication.  But communicating what?  Information!  So this week, while I’m in London being reviewed the Y141ers are looking for information to bring to class next week.

Last week was Mental Health week here in Scotland and the class task is to find information for teenagers about depression, self harm and suicide prevention.  As a starter for 10… check out the Scottish Association for Mental Health website