Here to help: Our mental health self help guides
One in six of us will experience mental ill health. At some point in our lives we will know someone who is struggling. That could be us personally or a partner, family member, friend or colleague. Sooner or later, we will all know someone who is struggling.
We have written a series of self help guides covering a wide range of topics such as depression, anxiety and stress which offer users the opportunity to find out more about the causes of mental health issues and provide tools to work through feelings and emotions.
Our self help guides contain verified information and are written by NHS Clinical Psychologists with contributions from service users, healthcare and voluntary sector staff.
They’re not intended to replace the advice of a medical professional. If it’s not a medical emergency and you’re unsure about what to do next, our self help guides can suggest next steps.
We hope you find our guides helpful.
Self help topics
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Abuse
This guide aims to help you to begin to understand the effects of childhood abuse and explores ways in which you may begin to overcome the effects of the abuse. It provides details of further sources of help and support.
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Alcohol and You
This guide is for people who think they may have a problem with their drinking. It will help you decide what kind of drinker you are and describe how you might change if you want to.
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Anxiety
This guide aims to help you understand what anxiety is, what can cause it and keep it going and how to overcome your anxiety by learning better ways of coping with it. It includes sources of help and support.
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Bereavement
This guide is for anyone who has experienced a bereavement either recently or in the past. It may also be helpful to relatives or friends of a bereaved person. It will help you to understand the grieving process, and what you can do to help yourself.
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Depression and Low Mood
This guide helps you to understand depression, recognise symptoms and learn new ways of coping so you can begin to feel better.
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Depression and low mood: A guide for partners
This guide is for anyone whose partner is depressed. It wll help you understand depression better and learn what you can do to help.
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Domestic Abuse
This guide is for anyone affected by domestic abuse. It describes different types of domestic abuse and provides practical tips and information on how to seek help if it is happening to you.
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Eating Disorders
This guide aims to help you to recognise an eating disorder and understand the things that cause and keep it going. It will help you think about whether you want to make changes and suggests further sources of help and support.
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Food for Thought
This guide provides information about healthy eating and exercises to increase your activity and develop a healthier lifestyle.
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Health Anxiety
This guide helps people who have a health problem but find that they worry about it too much. It tells you about the signs of health anxiety, how to mange these signs and offers sources of help and support.
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Hearing Voices and Disturbing Beliefs
This guide is for people who experience voices or disturbing beliefs. It has tips on how to manage them and provides information for family and friends as well as further sources of help and support.
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Managing Anger
This guide aims to help you understand anger and what causes it. It explains how to control anger and has helpful tips for changing angry behaviour.
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Obsessions and Compulsions
This guide explains the symptoms of obsessions and compulsions, provides tips for tackling negative thinking and compulsive checking and suggests further sources of help and support.
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Panic
This guide aims to help you understand panic, what causes it and what keeps it going. It includes techniques to reduce panic and further sources of help and support.
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Post Traumatic Stress
This guide aims to help you to understand your reactions after a post traumatic incident and offers practical suggestions to help you cope.
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Postnatal Depression
This guide aims to help you identify whether you are suffering from postnatal depression. It explains what can cause it and how to get help and support.
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Prisoner - Anxiety
This guide aims to help you to understand anxiety and make it more manageable. It offers practical suggestions on how to cope and has details of further sources of help and support.
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Prisoner - Depression and Low Mood
This guide aims to help you cope with depression and begin to feel better. It has practical suggestions on how to cope and provides details of further sources of help and support.
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Prisoner - Post Traumatic Stress
This guide aims to help you to understand reactions to post traumatic stress such as flashbacks, tension and nightmares. It offers practical suggestions on how to cope along with further sources of help and support.
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Self Harm
This guide aims to help you to understand self-harm, what can cause it and keep it going. It explores ways of controlling self-harm and offers practical suggestions to help you cope.
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Sleeping Problems
This guide aims to help you understand sleep and sleeping problems and learn some simple ways to sleep better. It includes good sleep habits and sources of help and support.
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Social Anxiety
This guide aims to recognise whether you may have a problem with social anxiety, what can cause it and what can keep it going. It includes further sources of help and support.
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Stress
This guide will tell you more about stress and will help you to see if stress is a problem for you. It makes simple suggestions about how to overcome stress and what other help may be available.
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Self help poster
A self help guides poster which lists all of the guides along with the different formats available.
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