Email support

Writing an email is a bit like writing a diary or a letter, in that it gives you an opportunity to spend some uninterrupted time putting into words how you feel. Because of that, it can be more helpful than texting or chatting online, where typically the messages are shorter and exchanged more quickly. It could be a good option if you want to give someone a proper insight into what you’re feeling or tell them in detail about something you’ve been through. Getting it out into an email might release some of the worries you’ve been carrying around with you or bottling inside you.

You could consider asking a friend, teacher or other professional if you could send them an email about something important, so that they have a head’s up and know what to expect. This is also a way of checking if they’re in a good position themselves to read what you have to say. If you are planning on disclosing information to a teacher or professional that leads them to believe that you or others may be in danger, they may have to tell someone else in order to keep you safe. 

Alternatively, you can try emailing the Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org to speak to a volunteer via email – the volunteer won’t see your email address because it will be removed before they read it.

I didn’t expect it to be so reassuring to speak to someone and explain what’s going on. It was such a relief to get such a kind response and feel like someone was on my side.

There isn’t much academic research in the area of self-care for young people who are living with mental health issues. We are trying to find out more about what works for different people so we can better advise other young people what to try.

If you’ve tried this activity when you were struggling in relation to your mental health, please let us know if it helped you and how by clicking on the ‘Did this activity help you’ button.