Talk to someone if worried about mental wellbeing
Date published:
Loneliness
Loneliness can affect your mental and emotional wellbeing.
Many people have experienced, or are experiencing, feelings of loneliness.
Sometimes admitting you feel lonely is difficult.
It’s important to try to connect with friends, family and communities, and to look out for those who may be experiencing loneliness.
If you're struggling and need to speak to someone, there are helplines on the Helplines NI website.
Start a caring conversation
Start a caring conversation with someone you're concerned about. Let them know about that concern.
Give them the space to explain what's going on and how they're feeling.
Offering a gentle word of support and listening in a non-judgemental way can make all the difference.
Encourage them to tell their story in their own way and at their own pace. Let them know that you will support them to find the help that they need.
By asking the questions ‘are you feeling a bit low?’ or ‘are you worried about something?’, you're:
- acknowledging their distress
- giving them the chance to talk about something that is probably very frightening for them
It's even okay to ask someone if they have had thoughts about harming themselves or about suicide.
Talking about how they're feeling could be the first step towards recovery.
You can find information on what you can say and do to help someone on this Public Health Agency leaflet.
Training courses
There are training courses available in:
- mental and emotional wellbeing
- suicide prevention
You can find out more at this link:
Recognising potential warning signs
Mental health issues can affect anyone at any time of life and in different ways.
There are some early warning signs that may show mental ill-health or a mental health problem, including:
- mood swings or a consistently lower mood
- lack of care for personal appearance or personal responsibilities
- increased use of alcohol or other drugs
- a loss of interest in doing things they previously enjoyed
- withdrawing from social activities or spending less time with family and friends
- disturbed sleep, perhaps not getting enough sleep or sleeping too much
- eating less than normal or overeating, perhaps losing or gaining weight
- being more irritable, over-sensitive or aggressive
- having difficulty following a conversation, remembering things or concentrating
- experiencing repeated physical symptoms such as aches and pains or unexplained illnesses
- a drop in work performance
- doing things that don’t make sense to others
- hearing or seeing things that no-one else can hear or see
- talking about not wanting to live
Someone having suicidal thoughts may not ask for help, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want help and support. It can be difficult finding the words to say how they're feeling.
You can find out more about what to do if you think someone might be in need of immediate help on the Mental health emergency - if you're in crisis or despair page.
You can find out more about mental health on these pages:
In distress or despair - Lifeline
If you or someone you know is in distress or despair, contact Lifeline on:
- phone: 0808 808 8000
- Lifeline website
This is a confidential service, where trained counsellors will listen and help immediately on the phone and follow up with other support if necessary.
The helpline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Take steps to improve your wellbeing
By taking simple steps and introducing them into everyday life you can improve your mental health and wellbeing.
Connect with people
Spend time developing relationships with family, friends, colleagues and neighbours.
Be active
Exercising can make you feel good, so find an activity that suits your mobility and fitness.
Go for a walk or run, cycle, play a game, garden or dance.
Take notice
Pause to look around you. What can you see, feel, smell or even taste?
Look for beautiful, new, unusual or extraordinary things in your everyday life and think about how that makes you feel.
Keep learning
Try something new, sign up for a course or rediscover an old hobby.
Set a challenge you will enjoy - learning new things will make you more confident, as well as being fun to do.
Give
Do something nice for a friend or a stranger.
Volunteer your time for a community group or charity.
Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you.
These can all lead to improving your wellbeing.