CORA: Hi I'm Cora
HELEN: Hi I'm Helen and I'm a Childline Counsellor
CORA: And today we're talking about opening up about mental health
CORA: So do you get many calls through to Childline about mental health?
HELEN: I've certainly dealt with quite a large number of calls about mental health, when
young people contact Childline there's quite often some kind of mental health issue involved,
whether it's been diagnosed or not. Quite a lot of the time when I'm speaking to young
people, Childline might actually be the first person they've told. And they often find it
difficult to tell people in their life. There's a huge amount of fear involved about being
judged or about being treated differently if you sort of admit to struggling with your
mental health, or having mental health problems.
CORA: What are some of the problems they could get if they do keep it to themselves in that
way
HELEN: Quite a lot of the time, in my experience of talking to young people, they say what
a weight it's been for them to keep it to themselves and they often talk about feelings
building up over long periods of time and that can make things feel more overwhelming,
and can make things feel incredibly difficult. SO when they do finally open up and start
talking about things, they can often feel like a weight has been lifted
CORA: SO there can be a lot of positive things that come out of people opening up about their
mental health. Can you tell us like what a few of them might be?
HELEN: Yeah, I mean, I think the more people start talking about mental health, the more
it starts to break that stigma that exists in society, and I think also one of the key
things is that often when people keep mental health problems to themselves their friends
and family don't actually know that they're struggling, so there's nothing somebody can
do to help you, unless they know that you're having a hard time.
In terms of talking about it for the first time, it's the start of a process. I think
the more people talk about mental health, the more society becomes educated and the
more sort of an environment is created where people feel more able to understand mental
health, and I think that gives not only people suffering from mental health problems the
sort of the ability to feel more comfortable to open up but it also equips those who are
trying to help them with the skills to know how to provide them with the right support
CORA: For some people who are trying to open up about their mental health, they could be
worried about how people are going to react when they try and tell them
HELEN: People can act in a variety of different ways - when you open up about your mental
health especially for the first time, but I think it's important to give people time
to let that sink in because if somebody isn't aware that you're struggling you know it might
take a little bit of time for them to start understanding that. But don't let that put
you off, you know, keep talking about it. One of the great things about Childline is
that you can contact us to talk that through - it's a space for you to be able to explore
the kinds of things you might wanna say, who you might want to tell, and how you might
want to tell them, so you can always talk it through with us before you open up.
CORA: So what other barriers could there be in the way of opening up about mental health?
HELEN: A really common one in my experience of talking to young people at Childline is
not wanting to worry people, whether that be friends or family - there's a lot of issues
around feeling like you don't wanna be a burden. But actually what we find when we do talk
to young people is that often the people in their lives really want to help them, and
quite a lot of the time they know something's wrong but they're just not aware of what it
is. So, telling people and being open and honest about your mental health can actually
be really good for the people around you too, because it lets them in. So, dealing with
mental health problems can be really really difficult but I think it's really important
to remember that it's also really normal and that most people at some point in their lives
do experience some kind of issue around their mental health and that doesn't make it any
easier for you when you're going through it or you know, it doesn't make it any easier
to talk about it and you know we recognise how difficult that can be, but it's really
important to remember that it is normal and that you're not alone.
CORA: and don't forget you can also talk to childline or if you'd rather speak to people
your own age you can go on our message boards and talk to people there.
Thank you so much Helen for coming in
HELEN: Very welcome
CORA: Until next time - Bye!
HELEN: Bye!