Mental Health
Mental health difficulties affect one in four of us at some point in our lives. They are very common and there are now lots of ways to overcome them, including some very practical steps we can all take on our own or services to access for guidance and support.
Good mental health means that we have a sense of purpose and goals in life, we have a sense of belonging to a community, we have good self esteem and feel valued and feel in control of our lives.
Support available
NHS support
The NHS is the main organisation responsible for local mental health services. These include general practice, talking therapy and more specialist mental health services.
In Birmingham, mental health specialist services are provided by Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust. You can access these services through your GP or in some cases you can self-refer for talking therapy support.
Birmingham City Council support
There is also information and advice from Birmingham City Council (opens in new window) on their website, including more individual level activities you can undertake yourself, such as the Five Ways to Wellbeing.
The Public Health service has support and resources available to help improve wellbeing and support your mental health. Alongside advice and general support, this includes NHS services, as well as information & resources for coping different crises - bereavement, financial, housing insecurity, severe weather.
In additional to these, the Public Health service has a dedicated section on suicide prevention and support.
