FAQ-Frequently Asked Questions

Symptoms of depression vary from person to person, but often include feeling low, numb, worthless or without hope. You may find you sleep too much or too little, don’t eat properly, and withdraw from social contact with friends and family.There are lots of reasons why someone might feel depressed, but sometimes there isn’t any obvious reason. It can be caused by a difficult life event – losing a job, relationship difficulties, or physical health problems like illness and disability, or low self-esteem.

Here are some suggestions for how you can help people living with anxiety and depression: encourage them to seek help, don’t be afraid to bring it up, don’t blame them and be patient.

One of the most important things to do if you’re feeling down is to open up. Most people feel more comfortable confiding in a close friend or family member in the first instance. Often simply talking about it helps. If the problem continues and begins to interfere with everyday life, you can speak to your GP, who can talk you through the support that’s available.

We all have mental health to look after, as well as physical health, and the way we live our lives has a direct influence on them both. Such as diet, sleep, being outdoors, exercise.

Being sectioned means that you are kept in hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983. You can be sectioned if your own health or safety are at risk, or to protect other people. There are different types of sections, each with different rules to keep you in hospital. How long you have to stay in hospital depends under which section you are hospitalised. Before you can be lawfully sectioned, you will be assessed by a team of health professionals. If you are sectioned, you can be kept in hospital, stopped from leaving the ward and given treatment for your mental health problems, possibly without your consent. You can lose certain rights, including the right to leave hospital freely.

If you have been diagnosed with a personality disorder it doesn’t mean that you’re fundamentally different from anyone else, but at times you might need extra support. Personality disorders are a type of mental health problem where your attitudes, beliefs and behaviours cause you longstanding problems in your life. Your experience of personality disorder is unique to you. However, you may often experience difficulties in how you think about yourself and others. You may find it difficult to change these unwanted patterns.