Coping with Difficult Thoughts and Feelings - For Children and Young People
When you are feeling unwell or have physical symptoms that don’t go away, it can be really tough. Feeling unwell isn’t just hard on your body – it can be hard on your mind and emotions too. You might feel frustrated because you can’t do the things you used to be able to do, or scared because you don’t know when you will feel better. You might feel sad or lonely if you’re missing out on seeing your friends, or worried about missing school.
It’s normal to have lots of different thoughts and feelings, but sometimes these thoughts and feelings can be very hard to deal with. These emotions, while challenging, are trying to tell you important information about something that matters to you. For example, you might have thoughts about wanting to get better or missing out on being with your friends, which might be important things to you.
Sometimes, thoughts can be really scary. It is important to try and remember that you aren’t alone, and people can help if you let them know what you are going through. Although these thoughts can be really tricky, there are some things you can do to help.
Things that can help:
- Talk to a trusted adult: If these overwhelming thoughts keep popping up, it’s important to talk to a trusted adult. If it’s a helpful thought or a question, you can work together to find out the answer, but if it’s an unhelpful thought then there are lots of things you can do to look after yourself and hopefully feel less overwhelmed by the thought. We’ve listed some below.
- Try some grounding exercises: Try to pay attention to your senses: think about what you can see, smell, touch, taste and hear. This video guides you through this technique: 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Method: 5 Senses Grounding Exercise to Manage Anxiety.
- Reach out to friends: Our friends can be really good when we are feeling overwhelmed. They can be helpful to talk to about what we are going through, and can also be a nice distraction from tricky thoughts and feelings. Although sometimes when we are dealing with difficult thoughts or feelings, we can want to be alone, it’s important to connect with people we care about and who care about us.
- Practice self-care: Self-care is really important, and it looks different for everyone. Find out what makes you feel good and take time to do those activities.
- Try to do some things you enjoy or that matter to you: This could be reading, art, sports or anything else! This can be difficult when your mind is telling you things like “I’m too tired” or “I can’t be bothered”. It’s trying to be helpful, but it’s stopping you doing things that may help you feel more like you.
- Stay active: This looks different for everyone – if you’re not sure about what activities you can do, ask your parent, carer, or trusted adult, and they can check with professionals if needed. It’s important that you enjoy the activity you do, so don’t force yourself to do something you don’t like – find what makes you feel good and start small. It can be good to do things with friends or family too.
- Checking in with school and other professionals: Your school and other professionals can provide specialist support if you need it. There are always adults around you who want to help you. If you are finding things really hard, you can go to your GP (your doctor) for help and support.
If you are worried about your mental health, and feel you may be unsafe (like having thoughts of hurting yourself), please see our Keeping Yourself Safe page. If you feel you are in immediate danger, please call 999 or visit A&E, and tell your parent, carer, or a trusted adult.
There are lots of different websites and apps to help support you with any difficult thoughts and feelings: