www.mentalhealth-uk.org

Mental Health UK brings together four national Mental Health Charities working across the United Kingdom (Rethink Mental Illness, Support in Mind Scotland, Halal and Mind Wise). As a result of this range, they are able to offer services relevant to the area with which the reader is from, be that England, Scotland or Wales.  

In addition they are offering support to young people through Bloom, a programme  targeting 14 to 18 year-olds at school, working alongside teachers to support and train them in the course content that is offered. Supporting young people throughout the COVID pandemic is addressed with downloadable resources and support.

Due to their links with the Lloyd Banking Group, they have been able to develop a service which offers advice and information about benefits, budget management as well as a referral only phone line for personalised support on mental health and money advice.

This clear focus on the link between financial and mental wellbeing has developed throughout the last year and has continued to provide vital information and links to help provide support, particularly through the COVID outbreak. Information in their Up-To-Date Blogs detail the launch of their tool kit of new resources “Mental Health & Money Advice Service” in November 2020, giving advice on Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance, as well as navigating through Universal Credit. In addition, the resources enable the person to talk through the issues with any money or debt advice appointment.

Within the ‘help and information’ section, they have a number of resources again which appear practical for the workplace and can be printed off as booklets; these include ‘5 Top Tips for Mental Wellbeing’ ,  ‘Managing Stress and Building Resilience in the Workplace’,  as well as videos of people talking through their experiences of working to better their Mental Health at work. They also offer downloadable posters for companies to have in the workplace to raise awareness of the issues. Furthermore, they have a ‘Live your best Working Life’ section, which focuses on useful tips, a particularly interesting one offers the advice of ‘take your thoughts to court’- a cognitive behavioural technique which helps address negative thinking.

From the homepage, the reader is able to access information on some of the more common mental health conditions ( anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, depression, eating disorders, personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychosis, Schizoaffective disorder and Schizophrenia) and  have good reference documents to start having a discussion with others.

www.timetochange.org.uk

This website reflects a social movement to make mental health problems more openly discussed and to remove the stigma and discrimination surrounding  it. As such there is more emphasis on the lived experience and a lot more blogs and content from those who manage their mental illness.

The homepage offers tips in supporting people during Covid -19. There are relevant Blogs from those with mental health issues and how they are managing within the lockdown. They offer a video and discussion relating to how to support someone with a mental health problem; both friend and colleague –  suggestions are even given as to how to start the conversation with someone with verbatim statements, with their current campaign ‘Ask Twice’ empowers the individual to feel confident in approaching those whom they believe may be struggling.

The homepage also has a ‘Myths and Facts’ section which directly addresses stereotypes associated with mental health and how attitudes towards mental health can really impact upon those who live with their conditions.

Information is also provided on the following disorders;; Anxiety and Panic Attacks, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Eating Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Personality Disorder, Psychosis, Schizophrenia, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) , Self Harm, and Suicidal feelings.

Due to the aim of this charity being to enable a discussion relating to mental health, the ‘how’ to develop positive attitudes around mental health is the primary focus. It tries to enable people to try and engage with employers and others to increase their support for positive Mental Health in the workplace. As such, they offer free posters, leaflets and logos for schools, workplace and community. In a section called ‘Get your employer involved’, support is given to employees to encourage their managers to sign up to a ‘Time to Change’ Employer Pledge – support is then offered to the company, with action plans and guidance offered, based on the principles of the 2017, ‘Thriving at Work’ Report. A link is available to a half-hour YouTube presentation by Professor Sir Cary Cooper CBE, which focuses on the costs of not having a wellbeing culture, what causes the stress and what can be done about it. This sets up an interesting discussion point with employers and employees.

Under the section “Support for employers’, a link is given to the ‘Mental Health at Work’ Gateway, which offers access to tools, resources and information to help support employees wellbeing (mentalhealthatwork.org.uk). Through this link, a huge number of resources are on offer, from fact sheets and publications, to videos describing stress and how it can be managed.

Guidance is given to the employee in seeking assistance with any discrimination within the workplace, directing them to services which are available within the organisation, and referencing their legal rights ( Equality Act 2010), but also offer Useful links to Mind’s website and their legal advice service and telephone number.

Personal stories are offered as a separate section and the writer can type in the area they are interested into the filter, and peoples experiences are present. On reviewing this the most recent story was downloaded on the 14th August 2019, so very recent.

The webpage advertises the network of ‘Time to Change’ Hubs campaign with opportunities to look at what is going on in the local areas. Overall, it is an easy to navigate webpage with a huge amount of personal stories.

www.nipinthebud.org

This charity was set up to encourage awareness about mental health disorders in young children.

It has done this by creating short films and fact sheets to help teachers, parents and others caring for and working with children to recognise mental health disorders and inform them of how to obtain professional assessments; the current films address ADHD, Anxiety, Conduct Disorder, Depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)  and Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),  all of which come with a fact sheet explaining the different conditions with information about their symptoms and advice on how to get help.

In response to COVID-19 the site has developed a “Families under Pressure” series, with 12 parenting tips to help families struggling under the pandemic. This has been developed as a collaboration between King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Maudsley Charity.

Both the films and the fact sheets are very good at giving a description of the disorders and the benefits of having this recognised, offering guidance on how to go about getting support if the symptoms indicate a concern for the reader.

www.youngminds.org.uk

This website is targeted at young people and their parents who are suffering from mental health issues or other problems which are associated with young people and children. It is also a good starting point of professional working with young people to consider support in promoting resilience in the children they work with.

This Charity’s mission is to ‘lead the fight for a future where all young minds are supported and empowered, whatever the challenges’. They are very active in writing responses to current political issues associated with Mental Health and Young People and have a page dedicated to their policy reports, helping any reader to identify with the current issues  within the field.

The website offers crisis lines for those who need support, as well as texts lines and a direct link to Childline. There are also links for adults too, directing the reader to Samaritans. There is more focus on issues likely to be faced by young people, such as bullying, exam stress and problems at school, but also talks about eating problems, grief and loss, anger, abuse, body image, self-harm, suicidal feelings and sleep problems. Clicking onto each of these issues on the webpage, takes you to further information, further support that can be accessed and sometimes videos helping the reader understand more and offering advice and tips to the person suffering; there are also blogs offered raising specific issues such as bullying and autism.

There has been a lot of information relating to Coronavirus and mental health, accessible on the home page. This offers tips, advice and guidance on where to get support, as well as advice for parents during this time including, My child isn’t following the restrictions; I’m struggling with my child’s behaviour; My child is struggling at University. What is particularly powerful are the personal struggles of the ‘bloggers and activists’ who reflect on their own coping strategies and challenges during the pandemic. This ranges from dealing with change of routine for the autistic young person to managing an eating disorder during lockdown.

For the reader accessing the webpage as a parent, there is support and advice offered including a free parent’s helpline, as well as advice on how to have difficult conversations with their child to managing childhood anxiety. They offer a ‘Parents Guide to Support A-Z’ which offers advice on a range of issues related to children (Abuse, ADHD to exam time and Gender Identity issues) again offering further links to other avenues of support and information for the reader. The focus is on supporting the Parent reader in both supporting the child, but also in looking after themselves as a career.

There is also has a list of guides for the reader on a number of conditions; ADHD and Mental Health, Anorexia, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Bulimia, Depression, Mania and Hypomania, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) , Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Psychosis, Schizophrenia and Autism and Mental Health. This is the first of all the webpages which has a focus on Autism and is possibly due to focus of this developmental disorder in children. The page links to the National Autistic Society webpage which again gives the reader valuable information about assessment and diagnosis. Also, there is information in how to support pupils with Special educational Needs and Difficulties (SEND).

There is one page which is rightly titled ‘Looking after yourself’. The focus is to offer advice as to how to make ‘simple changes to our lives’ in order to help with our own mental health.This is primarily targeting  young people, with a specific section on young carers and cyber bullying, as well as how to manage changes like divorce or separation.

Information is also given to guide people in accessing the NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) as well as further helplines and websites where additional information can be found, in particular a link to a website offering information about legal rights under CAMHS and a method of identifying the readers nearest CAMHS service.

The Charity offers training on courses for professionals working with young people and children, focusing on anxiety, resilience, self-harm, social media and adolescent mental health, as well as consultancy with mental health services and schools, offering a 360 degree schools programme which help focus on wellbeing. Some different paid resources are available to download online for the a number of areas, one in particular ‘The Wise Mouse’ which is a book aimed to help 5 to 11 year olds understand which is happening to a family member who maybe experiencing a mental illness.

Finally, there is also a Blog page with a number of young people’s experiences, such as online pressures and body image issues, most recently uploaded in June 2019.

www.amha.org.uk

It should be noted that this webpage is currently under review and it may not be accessible due to updates over the new few months. When the updates are completed the web page will be called The Neurodiversity Project.

This is an autism mental health awareness project, with the aim to raise awareness of those who are on the Autistic Spectrum, those with mental illness and those with comorbid conditions alongside their Autism. The premise of the website is to be a platform for people to share stories of their experiences of mental health issues. The developer Sonny Hawkins is a service user with a history of mental illness and a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome.

The stories give an interesting insight into the difficulties presented by those who are on the autism spectrum, talking about the need for routine and structure and some of the sensory issues which are often present. The contributors on the web page note the relatable mental health conditions which present alongside their autism, with useful YouTube clips.

This webpage does not help in giving guidelines and resources for people to print and use, however it does help in understanding the experience of those having to deal with these diagnosis and the daily impact upon them.

www.headstogether.org.uk

This Charity is spearheaded by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Duke and Dutchess of Sussex. The target population for this charity is young people, homeless and veterans with mental health issues; their overall aim to tackle stigma associated with mental illness. The Charity is partnered with a number of other charities already discussed: Mind, Youngminds, as well as Campaign against living Miserably, CALM, The Mix, Best Beginnings, Place2be contact and Anna Freud.

The reader is offered instant links to support, for those suffering mental health issues: ‘Shout’ crisis text line offering immediate support, as well as an information providing service via ‘Mind’ or a male only support line (CALM).

The web page focusses firstly on work supporting maternal mental health looking at early intervention, from support for mothers, parents and teachers to help give children a better start in life. Secondly, the focus is on the Armed Forces Community and developing a more constructive understanding of promoting good mental fitness across the military. Another aspect includes the ‘Mentally Healthy schools’  – a website is linked which brings together information advice and resources to help primary schools understand and promote children’s mental health and wellbeing, with the aim of increasing staff awareness in schools and inform and develop confidence in order for them to help the children they work with. Teaching resources are offered as well as advice on issues which can undermine a children’s mental health.

In this section advice is given as to how to support staff members, with a section looking at what mental health is, early warning signs and guidance on conversations with members of staff, with links to websites which can offer support (Mind,  NHS Choices). It also links the reader to a document on Guidance for Managers in support of disclosure of mental health problems by employees, created by the Campaign Time for Change. In addition, there are  links to the  Mind website and the resources which they have in the ;Free resources to help you take care of business’ section, such as the ‘People managers  guide to Mental Health’ (September 2018) and ‘Introduction to mentally healthy workplaces’, and many others.

The final initiative which is presented is Workplace Wellbeing; it reports the estimation that mental ill health is costing UK businesses £35 billion annually and is the leading cause of sickness in the UK, with 127 million hours work lost in 2015 due to mental health-related absences. In conjunction with Mind, the Royal Foundation has been developing the Heads Together Workplace Wellbeing Programme, which delivers much of the help and support recommended by the government-mandated report “Thriving at Work”. The programme concentrated on the employer, by offering an Employer Gateway – an online portal offering resources for employers to address workplace mental health constructively, and employees by offering  online Employee Training aimed to equip employees with information and training about workplace mental health (although this is not freely accessed through the website, it does however give a direct link to the MentalHealthatwork.org.uk page, which talks about these issues. One of the most powerful parts of this webpage are the videos of those individuals who had experienced mental health issues whilst at work, from a variety of industries; people discussing the need for support from line managers as they navigate difficult challenges within their life.

Please feel free to share our Mental Health Website Review 2021 to anyone you feel it may help. If you would like to bring online resources to our attention, please let us know by contacting us.