How can teachers help students with mental health issues?
After parents and carers, teachers spend more time with children than anyone else which puts them in a perfect position to identify problems and help children solve them. Particularly with…
How is children’s mental health legally protected in the UK?
1 in 6 school-aged children in the UK suffer from a mental health condition and suicide is the leading cause of death in 15-19-year-olds. With such staggering figures, how is…
The importance of mental health training for teachers
Mental health training for teachers has never been more critical: 1 in 6 school age children have a mental health problem and over two thirds of young people believe that…
What causes mental health problems in schools
1 in 6 school-aged children has a mental health problem, and 75% of diagnosable mental health conditions are present before the age of 18. In 2017 we raised 103,000 signatures…
Top 10 Children’s Mental Health Resources
Children’s mental health has never been more critical. We’ve just been through an extraordinary worldwide event, children have been thrown in and out of their routines and kept away from…
How to look after men’s mental health
In the UK, around 1 in 8 men have a common mental health condition and 3 out of 4 suicides are committed by men. Why, then, do so few men…
Signs of anxiety to look out for in children
Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness or fear that, in many situations, is normal to experience – however when you feel this way most of the time it can be…
Why think about mental health first aid in the workplace?
We know we talk about mental health first aid in the workplace a lot, but it is increasingly important for businesses to make sure they are doing everything they can…
Help with Health Anxiety
Health anxiety (or hypochondria) is when you become obsessed with the idea that you are – or will be – physically ill. Worrying about your health can lead you to…
BreatheUni: What are Toxic Relationships and How to Deal with Them?
By Anisa D., MSc Health Psychology Student & Nazia U., MSc Psychology Student and Volunteers Toxic relationships are broadly defined as ones that are repetitive, mutually destructive and have…
BreatheUni: 5 Steps to Combat Loneliness
By Mariam G., BSc Psychology and Counselling Student and Volunteer The Office for National Statistics stated that in April-May 2020, around 2.6 million people reported feeling lonely “often” or…
BreatheUni: Friendships and Feeling Lonely at University
Bianca R., MSc Psychology Student and Volunteer It has been one year since the first UK lockdown, and national restrictions are still in place. No university student could have…
BreatheUni: Depression and Coping
By Anna P., MSc Psychology and Shania Z., BSc Psychology Students and Volunteers Depression We have all felt negative emotions, whether that’s sadness, anger, anxiety or frustration. These emotions…
Children and teachers must be given the opportunity to tell their stories…
After a second period of Covid lockdown, seeing children being educated at home and online for nearing 3 months, schools began to unlock on Monday 8th March. Of course, schools have…
Signs of anxiety to look out for in the workplace
Anxiety is a normal response to worrying situations and everyone is likely to feel moments of anxiety in their lives. However, when feelings of anxiety persist it can be…
What does mental health first aid training cover?
This April is Stress Awareness Month. With 55% of sick days in 2019/20 being directly attributable to workplace-related stress, anxiety and depression*, we wanted to look at one of the…
BreatheUni: Tackling Burnout
By Patricia D. and Lauren T., MSc Health Psychology Students and Shawmind Volunteers What is burnout? We’re starting to hear this term more and more – burnout. But what even…
How mental health affects education
NHS research suggests that 1 in 6 UK school children struggle with mental health. Mental health challenges make it difficult for children to achieve high grades, form friendships and make…
BreatheUni: Men’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Alfie P., BSc Psychology Student and Volunteer Are you or do you know someone struggling with mental health? Is substance abuse the way it is being coped with? Because…
BreatheUni: The Numbers Behind the Men’s Suicide Crisis
By Jeremy L., MSc Psychology Student and Volunteer In England, around one in eight men has a common mental health problem such as depression, anxiety, panic disorder, or obsessive…
BreatheUni: More on Procrastination
Laura B., BSc Psychology & Counselling Student and Volunteer There is not one individual who has not procrastinated at least once in their lifetime. Individuals who might say ‘I…
Let’s improve your mental health awareness…
Mental health awareness is crucial to being able to support your friends, colleagues and relatives during difficult times. Having an awareness of some common mental health challenges and their symptoms…
BreatheUni: Tips for beating procrastination
Mariam G., BSc Psychology and Counselling Student “I’ll do it later” … “Let me finish one more episode” … “There’s no point in doing it now” These are the…
Why mental health first aid is important
Why do businesses need mental health first aid? It is estimated that about 1 in 4 people experience poor mental health during their working life. Everything from stress to clinical…
BreatheUni: Imposter Syndrome – What it is and what you can do about it?
Bianca R., MSc Psychology Student and volunteer Do you struggle to recognise and internalise your achievements and other’s praise? Are you often working yourself into the ground to deliver…
BreatheUni: More on Coping – Insights on Grounding
Lauren T., MSc Health Psychology Student and volunteer So we’ve talked a bit about coping – what it is, how it can help, yeah? Now how about let me…
The Story Behind the Story: Understanding how employees really feel
We’ve acknowledged the problem but organisations have not yet had their epiphany. Understanding how to systematically measure and manage intangibles like mental health and social capital will have a…
BreatheUni: Coping Amidst the Pandemic
Anisa D., MSc Health Psychology & Lauren T., MSc Health Psychology Students and volunteers Since this pandemic started, many of us have experienced a whirlwind of emotions. Admittedly as…
BreatheUni: More on Anxiety
by Nazia U., MSc Psychology Student & Jessica P., BSc Psychology and Counselling Student and volunteers What is anxiety? Anxiety is a natural, emotional response to an encounter that…
BreatheUni: About OCD & Anxiety
by Anna P., an MSc Psychology student volunteer On the 2nd February, at our Breathe Café online, we had an inspiring talk by Helena Tarrant, Cartoonist and author of…
We Are In A Mental Health Pandemic Too And We Need To Realise It
The true impact of COVID-19 goes far deeper than the physical effects of the virus. Each day, we see the new horrifying death rate and the many thousands of new…
Teachers’ journey throughout the pandemic
What was going through your head when the first lockdown was announced? I know my first questions were ‘How long will we be in this lockdown for?’ and ‘When will…
The importance of looking after your wellbeing when you work from home
When the UK went into a national lockdown in March of this year, it’s probably fair to say none of us expected the impact would last as long as it…
Relationships and Mindfulness in Quarantine
The current times are often described as unprecedented. Most of us have been presented with new experiences and challenges to overcome. It continues to be a time where our limits…
Men’s Mental Health: be innovative in the way you adapt to the change in your circumstances
Men really don’t ask for directions, and most also don’t speak about the mental wellbeing challenges that they go through. Either we feel we don’t want to burden our partner,…
From Broken to Balanced
How to Break Bad Habits Before They Break You Many bestselling self-help books are about creating healthy habits. You may have read several of them such as ‘The Seven Habits…
Confessions and advice from the self-employed
We are told to ‘switch off’ and ‘relax’ as business owners, but that’s easier said than done. Add in the backdrop of COVID-19 to the cocktail of commercial uncertainty, lockdown,…
Progress vs. Perfection: The healthy way to achieve your goals
The word perfect originates from 13th Century France meaning “consummate state or form, that degree of excellence which leaves nothing to be desired”. Nothing to be desired… We all strive…
Eleven Ways to Reduce Stress Right Now
We are under unprecedented levels of stress as a society. Even before the C word we were experiencing a stress epidemic. Stress is self-inflicted (sorry!) when you are trying to…
Therapy Myths Busted
Let’s take a moment to consider Sigmund Freud, the so-called father of psychotherapy. A quick image scan on Google provides many images – most of which are similar; a stoic…
The Battle for the Mind
I’m in a street fight with Depression and it fights dirty, using all the sneaky tricks it can. It knows they work – they’re tried and tested on millions of…
Not Sleeping on the Job: an Event Manager’s Top Tips for Resting
If I wanted a 9-5, Monday-Friday routine then I definitely picked the wrong career. Working in events means that yes, some of my year is spent in the office working…
The Benefits of Writing a Mental Health Memoir
A lot of aspiring authors believe they have a story in them. But sometimes, what they fail to realise that they are that story. Writing a memoir can certainly be…
Surviving Freshers Week – Mental Health Edition
Freshers’ Week activities have come a long way since our marketing manager went to university (back in 2001), but that doesn’t mean that her top tips for making it through…
What Back to School Means for Kids in 2020
This first full week in September has meant the return to school for millions of children in England after a six-month lockdown. For those who are starting at a new…
Studying, Strategies and Staying Mentally Healthy
I’ve been a student for 7 years post high school. Studying both in my home town of Worthing and London, and now starting a Masters course in Brighton. It’s been…
7 Signs to Signify Your Emotions Are Out of Balance
Looking after our physical and mental wellbeing are things that more and more of us are starting to do, because we’re becoming increasingly aware of the long-term benefits. But what…
Teaching Mental Health Education, Are We Ready?
There has been great progress in the narrative surrounding mental health and education and it is wonderful that Shawmind, through their tremendous Headucation campaign in 2017, achieved the compulsory teaching…
How Do We Alleviate the Looming Mental Health Crisis?
The mental health and wellbeing of the nation has been pulled into sharp focus following the lockdown and subsequent limitations imposed on ‘normal life’ thanks to Covid-19. In a range…
Three Top Tips to be More Mindful: The Yoga Edition
The top tips I share below stem from yoga and are great ways to be more mindful, reducing both mental and physical stress. I hope you find ways to implement…
