Children's Mental Health Week 2023
This week is Children’s Mental Health Week (6-12 February 2023).
Run by children's mental health charity, Place2Be, its aim is to shine a spotlight on the importance of children and young people's mental health. This year's theme is Let's Connect.
Let’s Connect is about making meaningful connections for all, during Children’s Mental Health Week – and beyond. People thrive in communities, and this connection is vital for our wellbeing.
When we have healthy connections – to family, friends and others – this can support our mental health and our sense of wellbeing. And when our need for rewarding social connections is not met, we can sometimes feel isolated and lonely – which can have a negative impact on our mental health.
Place2Be has created various assets and resources to help spread the word. If tweeting, please remember to use #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek.
Get involved Social media graphics and resourcesBWC’s mental health support for children and young people
If you're worried about the mental health of your child, there's a lot you can do to help.
The mental wellbeing of children and young people is just as important as their physical health. But so often, those who suffer with issues such as depression and anxiety don’t get the help they need.
If you notice a young person has ongoing difficulty sleeping, is withdrawing from social situations, is taking little interest in things they usually like or neglecting themselves, it might be time to get professional support - and the Bank Workers Charity (BWC) are here to help:
Kooth
In partnership with BWC, Kooth provide a free, safe, and anonymous wellbeing support service for people aged 11-18 which includes:
- access to live peer-to-peer moderated forums
- self-help articles and tools including mood tracking and goal setting
- access to online trained counsellors via drop-in or booked live text-based counselling sessions
- links to further support
Relate
BWC in partnership with Relate (the UK’s largest provider of relationship counselling), can offer support to a child or young person in helping them talk about how they feel, for problems related to:
- bullying, harassment, self-harm or school pressures
- worries at home or trouble with their own relationships
- depression, loneliness, anger issues or other mental health problems
Support for neurodiverse children
If your child is neurodiverse (affected by autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD), the BWC may be able to help with:
- guidance on getting a diagnosis
- getting specialist support
- recommendations for and help with obtaining specialist educational equipment, such as a tablet or laptop, or adaptations.
BWC webinar: children and young people’s mental health
Join the BWC for a webinar on Thursday 16 February, 11am - 11.45am, to look at common mental health problems children and young people experience. They’ll explore the impact of some of the factors that can affect their mental health, like uncertainty and social media, and draw attention to a range of resources available to help you help your child.
What will I learn from this session?
- how the pandemic affected children's mental health
- what are the common mental health problems
- how to spot the signs of mental ill-health
- how social media affects mental health
- how we can support children's mental health
- other sources of support
