Mental health issues

People with anorexia try to reduce their calorie intake. They might also try to lose weight to work off any food they have eaten. Anorexia leaves people feeling they look fat, even if they're very thin.

People with bulimia binge (eat lots of food at once) and then get rid of the food (usually by making themselves sick).

Both conditions leave people worrying about their weight or body shape. They will also be anxious about gaining any weight. 

There are lots of different types of eating disorders, and we’ve got information and advice to help.

Anxiety is an uncomfortable tense feeling that can make you feel tired, upset, worried, shaky or light-headed. Lots of people feel anxious from time to time, but for some people it can make them struggle to live their daily life.

A panic attack is when you get a sudden rush of fear and feel less in control. Panic attacks a can make your heart beat really fast, give you shortness of breath and can make you feel faint. A panic attack can be scary but it won’t physically hurt you.

Read more about managing your anxiety.

Someone with ADHD has a lot of energy and might find it hard to concentrate on something for a long time. They'll also find it difficult to control their behaviour. ADHD affects around 1 in 100 young people and is more common in boys than girls.

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition which leads to somebody changing from being really hyper (or manic) to feeling very low and depressed. You could feel extremely happy or extremely down for days or even weeks.

We’ve got information and advice to help if you’re worried about bipolar disorder.

A personality disorder is a mental health condition that makes it hard to manage thoughts about how you see yourself, and how you deal with or act in relationships with others.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is one of the most common personality disorders. It affects your mood and how you communicate with other people. It has a lot of different symptoms, and lots of people without BPD might have some of those symptoms. Whether someone has all of these symptoms or just a few of them, there are ways to cope.

Living with Borderline Personality Disorder

Whether you’ve been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder or you think you might have it, there are things you can do to cope:

• Focus on something you enjoy. This can help distract you from difficult feelings.
• Find somewhere you feel calm. If you’re struggling to manage your feelings, taking some time to relax can make a big difference
• Make a plan for when things get too much. It could be having somewhere to go, someone to talk to or doing something that calms you down.
• Talk to other people or to a Childline counsellor. This can help make sense of confusing feelings you may be having.

Only a doctor or mental health professional can diagnose Borderline Personality Disorder. If you’re worried about seeing a doctor, you could practise with a Childline counsellor what you might want to say.

It’s natural to feel sad or down sometimes. But if your sad thoughts and feelings are stopping you from enjoying things in your life that you used to, or you feel that life isn’t worth living, it’s important to speak to a doctor.

When someone talks about feeling depressed they might mean lots of different things. Some people might say it when they’re feeling down or sad, other people will have a diagnosis of depression.

People might be depressed after something happens, like someone close to you dying. Sometimes it’s hard to see any reason why you’re depressed.

Speaking to someone about how you feel is the first step in getting help with depression. You could ask an adult you trust for help or see your doctor.

OCD is a mental health condition that makes someone think about things over and over and repeat an action or behaviour again and again. This can cause a lot of anxiety.

OCD can affect people in lots of different ways, and can have a big impact on your life. Someone with OCD has:

• Obsessive thoughts – Thoughts or images that keep coming up for you, making you feel bad or anxious
• Compulsive behaviours – Things you feel like you have to do to stop yourself from feeling bad

For example, someone with OCD might be worried leaving a door unlocked. Because they’re worried, they’ll lock and unlock their front door over and over again, even though they’re already running late.

If you’re worried about OCD, or it’s having an impact on your life then it’s important to get support. You can speak to your doctor, or visit YoungMinds to find out more about it.

We’ve also got lots of advice to cope with anxiety.

Psychosis is a mental health condition that causes people to have very different experiences of reality from other people.

Someone with psychosis might:

• hear, see or sense things which other people don’t
• have jumbled or paranoid thoughts, including worries about what other people may be thinking about them
• experience muddled speech

Lots of people might have these symptoms but not suffer from a form of psychosis.

Hearing, seeing or sensing things that other people don’t doesn’t necessarily mean you have psychosis or a disorder like schizophrenia. Talking to yourself or listening to your thoughts is different to hearing voices which are out of your control. Most young people who hear voices don’t have these conditions as the symptoms can be triggered by lots of different things.

Only a doctor or mental health professional can diagnose a psychotic disorder.

Living with psychosis

Whether you've been diagnosed with psychosis or not, there are some things you can do now to help manage the symptoms.

• Visit your doctor. If you’re worried about forgetting what you want to say, why not visit Docready to make a checklist before you go?
• Keep a diary. You can write about things that make your feelings worse, and think about how to cope if it happens again in the future. Try our mood journal.
• Create a plan for when you’re feeling unwell. Include things to help others notice when you’re struggling and what support you might need.

It's normal to have experiences that are difficult to cope with. When someone feels like their life is in danger this can be traumatic and make it hard to cope in the future.

Not everyone who has a traumatic experience will get PTSD. And you might struggle to cope but not have it. PTSD can make someone:

• have flashbacks, problems sleeping and nightmares
• become depressed
• struggle to cope or experience other mental health issues.

There are ways to cope and get help when you’ve experienced trauma. If you think you might have PTSD, it's important to visit a doctor for support.

Find out more about PTSD and flashbacks.

Schizophrenia is a mental health condition where someone may find it hard to tell what’s real and what’s not.

Schizophrenia is a type of psychosis, so someone with schizophrenia might:

• hear or see things that other people don’t (hallucinations)
• have muddled or confusing thoughts (delusions)
• feel paranoid, or think people are against them or trying to hurt them.

Lots of people might have these symptoms but not suffer from psychosis or schizophrenia. Only a doctor or mental health professional can diagnose the condition.

Visit the YoungMinds website for more information on schizophrenia.