Where to go for support

Call: If you are a child or young person, parent or carer in crisis, you can call the Alder Hey CAMHS crisis care line 24 hours a day, seven days a week on freephone 0808 196 3550, Email CrisisCare@alderhey.nhs.uk.

Face-to-face: YPAS’s Walk-In Support Hubs provide a safe space for children and young people to come to. Our trained professional staff will listen and support you through difficult times. Available across three community hubs.

Text: the word SHOUT to 85258 for a free, confidential, 24/7 text message support service for anyone who is feeling overwhelmed or struggling to cope.

The service is staffed by trained volunteers who will work with you to take your next steps towards feeling better. We can help with issues such as stress, anxiety and depression and are here to talk at any time of day or night.

Online: Kooth

You can also find information on the Young Minds website.

Low mood and depression in children and young people

Signs your child might be experiencing low mood or depression

Thoughts and feelings

Feeling hopeless, having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of wanting to hurt themselves.
Feeling irritable, upset, miserable and lonely. Being self-critical.

Behaviours

Not getting any enjoyment out of the usual things they would find enjoyable. Having a lack of concentration, under or overeating, avoiding friends or social situations, teary or crying repeatedly.

Physical symptoms

Sleeping lots or none at all, having a lack of energy, tiredness.

How you can support your child/young person experiencing low mood and depression

Work together to find positive coping strategies.
Keep a mood diary.
Plan their week around positive activities.
Talk to the child about getting enough sleep and how their mood is affecting their sleeping patterns. Check the child’s diet includes enough nutrients. Encourage the child to take part in sports as these will increase mood.
Ask the child to focus on good times and places and reflect upon a time when they felt happy. What were they doing? Could they do this now?
Highlight the child’s achievements, point out things they are doing well, and talk to them about the good things you’ve noticed about them lately. Reflect on this with them and ask them how they feel about this.
Enable the child to have a laugh. They could watch some funny videos on YouTube and talk about a time when they found something really funny.
Allow the child to know that you understand feeling this way must be difficult, but they are not alone, there are lots of ways you can overcome this together.