Mental health and wellbeing

Mental wellbeing doesn't have one set meaning. We might use it to talk about how we feel, how well we're coping with daily life or what feels possible at the moment.

Good mental wellbeing doesn't mean you're always happy or unaffected by your experiences.

But poor mental wellbeing can make it more difficult to cope with daily life.

Mind advises five ways to wellbeing.

Connect with the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community. Building these connections will support and enrich you every day.

Regular physical activity is associated with lower rates of depression and anxiety across all age groups. Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game, gardening and dancing.

• Get active Isle of Wight
  
• Leisure and sport.

Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment.

Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun.

Why not learn something new today? Search for community events or courses and workshops in our events section of Isle Find It.

Also see the: Reading well booklist.

Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you.

See the Community Action Isle of Wight website for volunteering opportunities.

Try to get enough Sleep

• Establish a routine
• Avoid Screens before bed
• Try to wind down with a relaxing activity or a bath and avoid caffeine
• Try to make your sleeping environment comfortable and restful

More information on healthy sleep and support available is available on the Mind website.

Relax and reduce stress

Find ways to relax and help manage stress:

• Relaxation tips from Mind
• 10 stress busters from the NHS
• What is stress information.

• Wellbeing self help from the Isle of Wight Youth Trust
• The NHS Mind Plan asks five simple questions to get your personalised mental health action plan, with tips and advice to help you be kind to your mind.
• Self-help therapy ideas from the NHS
• Little book of sunshine.

The Mental Health Alliance (MHA) is a partnership between:

• NHS
• Voluntary sector
• Other organisations
• Ourselves (Isle of Wight Council)
• Other relevant statutory bodies

The MHA is a partnership bringing all areas of mental wellbeing support together to help reduce stigma, increase partnership working, increase community resilience, prevent mental ill health, promote support available and ways to help oneself. involved in supporting people’s wellbeing or working with people to build their resilience to manage mental health issues.

It aims to:

• Improve individual emotional and mental resilience
• Support communities to enable safe, non-medicalised approaches to support and building community resilience
• Reduce numbers of those in crisis
• Reduce incidence of death by suicide.

We recognise that people have different needs at different times We are working to provide information about the resources, services and sources of support available on the Island. The IW Mental Health HUB can help.