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Youth Mental Health Day 2023

September hosts Youth Mental Health Day. This day encourages understanding and discussion of mental health in young people, enabling them to live happy and healthy lives. The day aims to get young people, and those who support them, talking about how to improve mental health.

The theme for 2023 is #BeBrave. Focusing on what it takes to be brave aims to give hope, courage, and confidence to young people to achieve their ambitions and goals, and be the best version of themselves.

We have asked our Teen Outreach Worker, Kelly Castledine to provide us with her thoughts on youth mental health:

Working with young people over the last 6 years, I have seen the impact domestic abuse has had on hundreds of young people’s mental health. Domestic abuse affects young people differently. However, there are many similar outcomes to the negative impact this has on their mental health, including:

  • Experiencing low levels of anxiety
  • Low mood
  • Little confidence and self-esteem
  • Struggling to function on a higher level

The above can cause young people to feel despair and many turn to self-harm as a way of trying to cope with everyday life.

Young people having to experience poor mental health because of something that has not been their choice is destressing. For me, I feel privaledged to support young people by letting them know it is ok not to be ok, and to support them on their journey to seeing more light in their life.

This year’s Youth Mental Health Day #BeBrave makes me feel that all young people are brave in having the courage to engage in support and give it a go, especially as it can be difficult to talk to a stranger about their trauma and experiences.

Childhood trauma and the brain

Once a young person is able to understand how their brain works, they can then work on what they need for themselves to be able to cope with triggering situations. A positive support network will help them look at situations from a different perspective.

Every young person has good qualities and it is down to adults to nurture young people to improve their mental health.

This video provides a general introduction to what happens in the brain after young people face traumatic experiences in childhood, such as abuse and neglect.

Watch the video here.

Apps to improve mental health

Here are some apps that could help a young person to improve their mental health:

Learn more about our youth services:

Teen Outreach Service

Children’s Outreach Service