Alcohol and Drugs

Sometimes talking to someone about your personal issues can be difficult, and substance use can be a way of suppressing this. By suppressing this, it can have an impact on your wellbeing both psychologically and mentally. It can also have an adverse effect on your studies, work life and relationships. 

Being Bullied or Harassed

Understanding and managing conflict is an important part of growing up. Bullying is not simply a 'falling out'. To ensure we can prevent bullying, act quickly when it takes place and avoid misidentifying bullying, it is vital that we have a shared definition of bullying. This should be understood by everyone. Bullying can be:

• Physical – pushing, poking, kicking, hitting, biting, pinching etc.
• Verbal - name calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, threats, teasing, belittling.
• Emotional – isolating others, tormenting, hiding books, threatening gestures, ridicule, humiliation, intimidating, excluding, manipulation and coercion.
• Sexual – unwanted physical contact, inappropriate touching, abusive comments, homophobic abuse, exposure to inappropriate films etc.
• Online /cyber – posting on social media, sharing photos, sending nasty text messages, social exclusion
• Indirect - Can include the exploitation of individuals.

Harassment is any unwanted behavior, physical or verbal (or even suggested), that makes a reasonable person feel uncomfortable, humiliated, or mentally distressed.

Bereavement and Loss

Bereavement affects everyone in different ways, and it's possible to experience any range of emotions. There is no right or wrong way to feel. Feelings of grief can also happen because of other types of loss or changes in circumstances, for example:

• the end of a relationship
• the loss of a job
• moving away to a new location
• a decline in the physical or mental health of someone we care about.

Disabilities

You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

• ‘Substantial’ is more than minor or trivial, eg it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task like getting dressed
• ‘Long-term’ means 12 months or more, eg a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection
• A progressive condition is one that gets worse over time. People with progressive conditions can be classed as disabled.

Discrimination

Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age or sexual orientation. That’s the simple answer. But explaining why it happens is more complicated. The human brain naturally puts things in categories to make sense of the world. Very young children quickly learn the difference between boys and girls, for instance. But the values we place on different categories are learned – from our parents, our peers and the observations we make about how the world works. Often, discrimination stems from fear and misunderstanding.

Feeling Down or Depressed

Symptoms of a general low mood may include feeling:

• sad
• anxious or panicky
• more tired than usual or being unable to sleep
• angry or frustrated
• low on confidence or self-esteem

A low mood often gets better after a few days or weeks. It's usually possible to improve a low mood by making small changes in your life. For example, resolving something that's bothering you or getting more sleep. If you have a low mood that lasts 2 weeks or more, it could be a sign of depression.

Other symptoms of depression may include:

• not getting any enjoyment out of life
• feeling hopeless
• not being able to concentrate on everyday things
• having suicidal thoughts or thoughts about harming yourself

LGBTQ+ Support and Information

LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.

Managing Exam Stress

Exam stress is the feeling of tension and worry that comes from test-taking situations. It is normal to feel some stress about upcoming tests, exams, papers or presentations. You may have exam stress for many reasons such as: feeling like you haven't studied enough, not understanding the material or topic, feeling pressure from your parents, teachers, friends, or yourself to get a certain grade.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens. Becoming more aware of the present moment can help us enjoy the world around us more and understand ourselves better. When we become more aware of the present moment, we begin to experience afresh things that we have been taking for granted.

Neurodiversity

Neurodivergent is a non-medical term that describes people whose brain develops or works differently for some reason. This means the person has different strengths and struggles from people whose brains develop or work more typically. Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one "right" way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits. 

Self-Harming

Self-harm is when you hurt yourself as a way of dealing with very difficult feelings, painful memories or overwhelming situations and experiences. Some people have described self-harm as a way to:

• express something that is hard to put into words 
• turn invisible thoughts or feelings into something visible
• change emotional pain into physical pain
• reduce overwhelming emotional feelings or thoughts
• have a sense of being in control
• escape traumatic memories
• have something in life that they can rely on
• punish themselves for their feelings and experiences
• stop feeling numb, disconnected or dissociated (see dissociation and dissociative disorders)
• create a reason to physically care for themselves
• express suicidal feelings and thoughts without taking their own life. 

Sexual Misconduct

Sexual misconduct is any conduct that is sexual, unwanted and causes distress, or that otherwise constitutes harassment, bullying or victimisation. Examples of Sexual Misconduct:

Sexually suggestive comments, for example remarking on your body or appearance, or name calling. Sexual jokes that make you feel uncomfortable, offended or intimidated, Leering' or unwanted and inappropriate sexual propositions, whether in person, or online.

Suicide

Suicide is complex and there is no single explanation of why people die by suicide. There are many different risk factors, including:

• previous suicide attempts, or previous self-harm. Many people who self-harm don’t want to die. However, research shows that people who self harm are at higher risk of attempting or dying by suicide
• being unemployed
• having a physical health problem, including chronic pain
• living alone
• being dependent on alcohol or drugs
• having mental health problems

There may not be an obvious reason why someone feels suicidal. But whatever the cause, there is help available.