Young Healthy Minds

in East Riding

Information on mental health for children and young people, brought to you by East Riding of Yorkshire Council public health in collaboration with partner services.

Crisis support 24/7

Crisis support

A mental health crisis is a time when you feel like you're at breaking point and need help urgently. You might be extremely anxious or thinking about self-harming or suicide. You may have felt this way before and know where to get help, or it could be the first time you've felt like this.

There are several ways to get urgent help: you can call a crisis helpline, call 999 or go to A&E, or make an emergency appointment with your doctor. What works for you might change depending on how you're feeling.

The most important thing to know is that help is there for you when you need it.

Self help techniques

What is a healthy mind?

It's important to understand what a healthy mind is for you. Mental Health is as much mental as it is physical reactions to our environment and social needs. You may have heard of terms such as neurodivergence to explain different ways our brains are wired, but personality, how we are raised, and where we are raised, all have significant contributions to our resilience for change, life events and going through natural developmental stages, whether good or bad.

As we age from children to young adults and finally to adulthood, it is natural to feel different, to go through phases of interests, styles and beliefs, to learn things and change our minds. It can sometimes feel there is little consistency as the years go by, or it could feel stagnant and you need a change in something and not really know what. It's natural, and you get to try things out, experiment and talk about it with people you trust.

Building a self-care routine for a base level of mental health

The services on this page can help you when you are in the depths of the mental health spectrum and need some advice on how to regulate your emotions and feel safe again.

Part of caring for your mental health is learning how to recognise and create a support network for your base mental health, to build a strong foundation of resilience and understanding of yourself as you grow.

Everyone deserves to feel safe in themselves. Always reach out to a trusted person, a GP or one of the services on this page when you need to.

Move your body

Discover ways to get exercise into your day that you love.

Whether it's joining a club, walking to school, or dancing around for half an hour in your room to your favourite music.

The mind needs your body to move.

View resources for help with physical activity to support wellbeing.

Reach out to prioritise social health

Meet with friends outside of your normal environments.

Visit a library, take a walk, somewhere that isn't just a house or school.

Manage expectation in relationships

Mobile phones and social media have made our world seem immediate and always on. You do not need to be.

Talk openly with friends and family about how much contact feels good for you, and honour how much feels good for them.

Compromise where needed, and be okay with picking up conversations after time has passed.

Sleep is vital

A good night's rest is needed to think clearly the next day, for your body to grow and for your brain to develop. A lost hour's sleep cannot be 'caught up' by an extra hour nap sometime else. Revenge procrastination at nighttime can be tempting, to keep reading a book, playing a game, scrolling through social media, chatting with people or doing art, anything that gets you that you time. Worries, stress, and other things can keep us awake even when we try to sleep. The blue light from screens affects circadian rhythm, telling our brains to keep awake longer. Making a routine of no lit screens for an hour before you plan to sleep is advised to allow your brain to quiet and rest. Writing down all the thoughts in a journal allows our subconscious and nervous system to believe we have done something with the thoughts, and allows us to rest as well.

View resources for help with sleep.

Get to know yourself every day

Between the ages of 5 and 25, humans are learning who we are and how we fit in the world. Each day, we gather new evidence of what we can be, how we want that to play out, and what we want the world around us to do for us. Allow yourself to go through phases, let yourself be different when you need it - that's growth. So each and every day, you are allowed - and no matter what people who've forgotten what youth is like say, you are expected to - feel different, be different, want different.

All of these things are very much easier said than done.

Be patient with yourself as you figure it out, change it up, or create the habits.

A few days of missed yoga, or forgetting to reply to a text until you go to send a meme a week later, will not undo all the self-care you have done or that you will do in future.

Deciding that something isn't for you after all, whether in a week or a year, or you simply need a break from doing the thing, is as powerful a self-realisation as committing to it every day.

You are building a base you can come back to, again and again, when you need.

Information for adults supporting young people

Young Healthy Minds Directory

The Young Healthy Minds Directory is a downloadable resource for emotional and mental health support available for children, young people and families in the East Riding.

Download the Directory (PDF 1.26 mb)

Still unsure which service to use?

The Healthy Minds team is here to support you to find a service that suits your needs. If you are unsure which of the services explained on this page may be right for you, please email the team on healthyminds@eastriding.gov.uk.

Explore the Healthy Minds in East Riding campaign

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