It’s Children’s Mental Health Week and at Sheffield Children’s there are many people across the Trust working to support the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.
Lily Roscamp is a Clinical Mental Health Nurse at our Becton Centre. The Becton Centre for Children and Young People is a state-of-the-art centre for children and young adults aged up to 18 with serious and complex mental health issues. The Centre offers intensive outreach treatment, day and inpatient services in four lodges: Amber Lodge (ages 5-11), Emerald Lodge (ages 10-14), Ruby Lodge (ages 8-18) and Sapphire Lodge (ages 14-18).
Lily has worked on the Sapphire Lodge for four years now, supporting young people with their mental wellbeing.
Lily described her role: “I support young people in group sessions and through 1:1's. I promote techniques to help them manage their mental health symptoms, like dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) and mindfulness techniques. I do a lot of work with young people with eating disorders too, helping young people to challenge their disorders and thinking, as well as meal time support with young people and families.
“On Sapphire Lodge I get to be very hands on and support people 24 hours a day which I love. My favourite things to do are activities with young people like yoga, walks, sports and dancing. I love having fun with the young people on Sapphire and most of them will tell you I'm very silly! I also love getting to work with young people’s families as this is crucial to their recovery, so we do supported meals with families and attending family therapy.”
Key tips for young people to promote good mental health
Lily said: “My key tips for young people to promote good mental health are; be active even if this is just a ten minute walk or some gentle stretches, create a good routine for yourself (especially your sleep) and don't compare yourself to others.
“I also like to promote having a positive mind set, reframing some of you negative thoughts and creating a more positive idea for yourself can be super helpful or even having someone help you do this if you can't. A little tip for this - take ten minutes out of your day to find 5 positive things that have happened today and try and let go of two difficult things.”
Talk to someone
“Lots of young people find this really tough but talking to someone whether it’s your parents, a professional or friend when you first start to struggle, there are so many people out there to help you!
“I have found that young people and families I meet sometimes feel a stigma when they struggle with their mental health. I always tell young people I look after - If you broke your leg you wouldn't expect to be running the next day, you would allow yourself rest, treatment and medicines so why should your mental health be any different?”
Reach out for help
If you know someone who is struggling with their mental health, encourage them to go to their GP.
You can find out more about other ways to get support, here: https://www.sheffieldmentalhealth.co.uk/covid/covid-children-and-young/