Why did you choose that mental health self-help material?
"They were websites I were familiar with and had heard of through school. They were also easy to navigate and I knew them to be reliable and to give me what I needed to help myself."
What were you hoping or expecting the self-help materials would help you with?
"Just to help me feel calmer and to rationalise my thoughts. I also wanted to explore why I felt how I felt and to feel less isolated in my feelings."
What caught your eye and got you to engage with the material?
"Easy to navigate website, bright colours but also equally layed out logically and easy to read. Not too much jargon but still enough detail to be really useful"
Looking back over the past 12 months, can you remember a time you used self-help materials to support your mental health? What did you use?
"Wellbeing Dashboard from my sixth form with resources designed by the school counsellor about topics like exam stress, sleep, healthy diet, and anxiety - Talking Therapies anxiety course workbook with writing prompts and exercises and information about anxiety symptoms and preventative measures - YoungMinds website"
What were you hoping or expecting the self-help materials would help you with?
"Understanding my thoughts and feelings mainly, rather than trying to fix them. I expected to hear the same sort of stuff about talking to people and doing mindfulness exercises so I didn't think I'd take away many new ideas for preventing the thoughts- I just wanted to understand why they happen. It resulted in me learning things such as the fight/flight/freeze/fawn responses, and reminded me that I'm not the only one struggling with certain things."
What caught your eye and got you to engage with the material?
"Personal stories (even if they are fabricated for the sake of example) because they put mental health issues into context rather than a pile of vague information being thrown at you which is more overwhelming when you're already overwhelmed."