Bridlington children urged to think and talk about mental health
Children in Bridlington and the East Riding are being urged to think about their mental health.
Children in Bridlington and the East Riding are being urged to think about their mental health.
It is part of an awareness week which highlights what support is out there for young people and their families.
One of those is the NHS-based Hull and East Riding Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
Emma Train Sullivan, Early Intervention Lead, said:
"We should be focusing on children's mental health all the time but I think having a full week where we can really come together to celebrate and promote children's mental health as one is fundamental in getting some of those messages out there.
"Some children, young people, families and services maybe don't realise that they're actually working with children's mental health when they are. So by working in a week together where we can do specific things to really promote children's mental health, I think is just really fantastic.
"Everybody is completely different. The key thing really is to be very open and honest and to be talking all of the time because talking is key. If you really are trying to think about what you should be looking out for, for me it's really about understanding that young person.
"They will have a change in their kind of attitude, communication and motivation. They might become a little bit withdrawn, they might be spending more time in their rooms and they might just physically look like they are struggling or a little bit unhappy.
"There's some young people the way they communicate their distress is through their behaviour. So again, trying to look out for any signs or symptoms such as have they become a bit more agitated? Are they maybe behaviourally expressing themselves in more of a negative way?
"If our mood is changing or we can recognise that somebody around us who we care for that their mood, their attitude and their usual behaviours are changing, that we really start to have that conversation around what's happening for them? What are they thinking? What are they feeling? And what do they need?"
Get in touch and find out more about CAMHS here: https://camhs.humber.nhs.uk/ and other services include Anna Freud and Kooth.