Mental Health Resources
We have put together a collection of resources for you to access mental health support whenever you need it.
Apps
Headspace is your guide to everyday mindfulness in just a few minutes a day. Choose from hundreds of guided meditations on everything from managing stress and anxiety to sleep, productivity, exercise and physical health. Headspace offers a 10 day free trial for you to try out the app.
Calm is the number 1 app for sleep, meditation and relaxation. It provides guided meditations, breathing programs, stretching exercises and relaxing music. Calm offers a free 7 day trial.
This app is a pocket suicide prevention resource packed full of useful information and tools to help you stay safe in crisis. You can use it if you are having thoughts of suicide or if you are concerned about someone else who may be considering suicide.
StayAlive is a confidential app.
Cove helps you to express your emotions through making music. Cove aims to improve emotional and mental health by encouraging self-expression. It is especially good for anyone who experiences anxiety or depression. The app is completely free to use.
What's Up? Is a free app that utilises some of the best CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and ACT (acceptance commitment therapy) methods to help you cope with depression, anxiety, anger, stress and more.
Insight Timer is a free app that aims to help with sleep, anxiety and stress. It offers mindfulness and meditation sessions, along with live stories from people about how they look after their mental wellbeing.
The aim of the app is to help people find the support they need and give them the easiest possible access to the professional members of our extensive wellbeing network.
Whether you’re looking to speak to a counsellor, hypnotherapist, coach, nutritionist or complementary therapist, you’ll be able to find a fully qualified professional in your area with just a few clicks of a button.
Podcasts
Happy Place is a podcast created by Fearne Cotton, which builds on the success of her book “Happy”, where Fearne draws on her own experiences and shares advice from experts on how to work through feeling blue, to finding joy each and every day.
The series delves into this subject further through chatting to inspiring individuals who have either made a change in their own lives or who help people every day to find a different way of looking at life. Happy Place is available on Apple, Spotify and other major podcast apps.
1 in 4 people experience mental health problems every year – half of them say that isolation and shame is worse than the condition itself.
In Open Mind, Frankie Bridge opens up about her ongoing journey from her breakdown to her breakthroughs, and invites her guests to share their own experiences with mental health. Open Mind is available on Apple, Spotify and all other major podcast apps.
The charity Mind has set up a podcast series, to look at what it’s really like to live with mental health problems. You can access the podcast through Audioboom, iTunes, or your podcast app of choice by searching ‘Mind charity’.
Hosted by Ellen Scott and Yvette Caster, from metro.co.uk, Mentally Yours chats to all sorts of guests about their own struggles and discusses “all the weird stuff going on in our minds.”
With mental health as an ongoing theme, the pair talk with no stigma about everything from mental health in fiction to planning a wedding with anxiety and the stress of money, with guests sharing plenty of personal experiences and tips along the way. You can access the podcast through Audioboom, Spotify and Apple.
Websites
This is a website for people based in Leeds. You can find plenty of information if you are looking for support for yourself or someone else, such as clear information about support and services available in Leeds, help for what to do in a crisis and downloadable resources.
Mind is a charity that supports people with mental health difficulties, providing supportive services throughout the UK.
When you're experiencing a mental health problem, supportive and reliable information can change your life. Mind empowers people to understand their condition and the choices available to them through their info-line, their legal line and award-winning publications.
The NHS has created Every Mind Matters to provide people with information and tips on looking after their mental health.
It gives you simple and practical advice to get a healthier mind and get more out of life – from how to deal with stress and anxiety, to boosting our mood or sleeping better. It will help you spot the signs of common mental health conditions, get personalised practical self-care tips and information on further support. You'll also learn about what you can do to help others.
Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service
Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service provides various support and therapy to those who are experiencing stress, anxiety or low mood. Note – must be 17 or above and registered with a Leeds GP.
They offer a range of evidenced based psychological interventions, including group based and 1:1 therapies, classes, one-off sessions and online support options.
Student Minds is the UK’s student mental health charity. They empower students and members of the university community to look after their own mental health, support others and create change. They have also created Student Space, a collaborative mental health programme.
Student Space was made to support students through the unique circumstances created by COVID-19, it will act as a single point of access to support such as online guidance, peer support, volunteering opportunities, and accessible therapeutic interventions.
This organisation supports those who are bereaved by suicide. You can use their helpline (0800 054 8400) from 9am-9pm Monday to Friday and access their free counselling service.
This website is available for those at risk of suicide and people worried about someone. You can find urgent support, resources, information about suicide and where to find counselling services.
You can apply for Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) to cover some of the extra costs you have because of a mental health problem, long term illness or any other disability. The money to cover these costs will be sent directly to the organisations offering the support. You will not need to repay DSAs.