Mental Wellbeing
Mental health problems are common and can affect anyone, including veterans, serving personnel, reservists and their families. It is important to get help and support if you or someone you know has mental health problems.
(UK Armed Forces Mental Health: Annual Summary & Trends Over Time, 2007/08 to 2021/22)
Mental wellbeing describes your mental state - how you are feeling and how well you can cope with day-to-day life. Our mental wellbeing is dynamic. It can change from moment to moment, day to day, month to month or year to year.
If anyone experiences low mental wellbeing over a long period of time they are more likely to develop a mental health problem. If someone already has a mental health problem, they are more likely to experience periods of low mental wellbeing than someone who hasn't. But that doesn't mean the person won't have periods of good wellbeing.
The Very Brief Intervention (VBI) pages below recognise that it can be difficult to start a conversation about a person's mental wellbeing. The VBI guidance provided is based on the 'Time to Change' campaign led by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness.
Mental health can be impacted at any time in our lives. Whether from a relationship breakdown, a bereavement, financial worries or something else.
Let's get talking about mental health, it's OK to ask!
Very Brief Intervention
Ask
How long have you been feeling like this?
What do you think triggers these thoughts/feelings?
What’s been happening for you recently?
Imagine a scale from 0-10 where zero is the worst scenario and 10 is the most positive you could wish for?
Thinking about your current situation, what score do you think you are now? What do you think are the reasons for this score?
What puts you at this score? Why so low, or high?
If you scaled a higher number previously, what did you do differently?
How could you score yourself higher? What actions would you develop?
What could you do to get to a higher number on the scale over a longer period of time (timeline of your plan)?
Assist
You mentioned you're feeling low, can you tell me the reasons that have contributed to you feeling this way?
What have you been doing to make yourself feel better?
When you feel better in yourself, how would you like to improve more?
Reflect back what has been said to you: "You said you've not been sleeping well, tell me a bit more about that?"
It may be worth asking about the cause, and what could be done to address it?
This could include debt management, housing support, or stress management.
Talk about the Five Ways to Wellbeing
The Five Ways to Wellbeing is the mental health equivalent of the dietary advice to have ‘5 a day’ fruit and vegetables for physical health.
1. Connect - With the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community.
- As being well connected is good for your mental wellbeing… is there anything you could be doing more of?
- Can you think of connections that you would like to make or remake?
2. Be Active - Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity that you enjoy - one that suits your level of mobility and fitness.
- What activities do you engage with on a regular basis? How would you like to develop this?
- Are there any minor adjustments you can make in your life that can help you to be more active?
3. Take Notice - Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are on a train, eating lunch or talking to friends.
- How can you practice slowing down and pausing more often?
- What difference will adding this into your daily life make?
4. Keep Learning - Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work or home. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving.
- What would you like to learn about?
- What interests you?
- What do you value?
- What would you find useful?
- What do you need to do to make learning something you would look forward to?
5. Give - Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in.
- Do you notice what it’s like for you when you give to others?
- What else could you give others that you hadn’t thought of before?
Act
Give reassurances that there are a lot of sources of support available.
If you are worried that this person is in crisis, contact 999.
Direct them to their GP in the first instance.
If no immediate risk, consider the following support services:
Self Care
Every Mind Matters
‘Every Mind Matters’ is a national mental health campaign from NHS UK, as part of the Better Health website.
- It’s an NHS-approved digital hub full of expert advice and practical tips to achieve good mental health
- It also has a free NHS-approved online tool, Your Mind Plan, to help you to:
- deal with stress
- boost your mood
- improve your sleep
- feel more in control.
Search online for 'Every Mind Matters' or go to nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/
Support Services - Veterans
Combat Stress
Tel: 0800 138 1619
Web: combatstress.org.uk/get-help
Veterans Combat Stress is the UK's leading mental health charity for veterans. They offer treatment to veterans of the UK Armed Forces, non-operational reservists and former members of the Merchant Navy. They will be domiciled in the UK and registered with a UK GP and have complex trauma-related or stress-related mental health issues resulting from military service.
Self-help resources for veterans can be accessed at selfhelp.combatstress.org.uk/
OpCourage
Web: nhs.uk/nhs-services/armed-forces-community/mental-health/veterans-reservists/
An NHS service that provides mental health support for veterans, service leavers and reservists.
SSAFA
Tel: 0800 260 6767
Web: ssafa.org.uk
SSAFA's support covers both regulars and reserves in the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the British Army and the Royal Air Force and their families, including anyone who has completed National Service. They are all entitled to lifelong support, no matter how long they have served.
Our recent research shows that service leavers aged 25-64 need more specialised support. The challenges they face are complex – from low income to life-changing injuries or hidden wounds, like depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Armed with this information, we are improving our services for younger, working-age veterans, and we will make sure they know we’re here when they need us.
SSAFA helps the Armed Forces community in a number of ways, though our focus is on providing direct support to individuals in need of physical or emotional care. Addiction, relationship breakdown, debt, homelessness, post-traumatic stress, depression and disability are all issues that can affect our members of our Armed Forces community. Many of these problems only become apparent when an individual has to leave their life in the Forces and join ‘Civvy Street’. SSAFA is committed to helping our brave men and women overcome these problems, and rebuild their lives.
SSAFA HELPLINE - FORCESLINE
Tel: 0800 2606767 (open 09:00 - 17:00 Monday to Friday)
Web: ssafa.org.uk/get-help/forcesline
Our team is here to listen and not to judge. We can give you useful information and signpost ways to help you. Forcesline is a free and confidential telephone helpline and email service that provides support for serving (regulars and reserves), ex-Forces and for their families. SSAFA is outside of the military chain of command, we will listen and we will not judge. Your privacy when seeking help is fundamentally important to us.
Togetherall
Web: togetherall.com/en-gb/mental-health-support-for-all-uk-armed-forces-veterans/
Free mental health support for the British Army and Veterans. Togetherall is a 24/7 community of ordinary people, moderated by clinical professionals, where people can get (or give) the mental health support they need. It offers free mental mental health support for the British Armed Forces and Veterans.
Veterans' Gateway
Veterans' Gateway provides information and support for veterans and their families. We are the first point of contact for you and your loved ones. Contact us 24/7 for help across housing, mental wellbeing, finances and more. Get in touch with our friendly helpline team by phone, chat, text and email. You can contact our expert partners including Combat Stress, SSAFA and Poppy Scotland via our Self help section. And we can also refer you directly to our Referral Partners.
- Encourage the veteran to contact their GP, who will be able support the person in many ways (ask if they are a GP friendly surgery).
- Mind 'The charity for better mental health' has an extensive range of self help resources available, including the five ways to mental wellbeing.
- The NHS 5 Steps to Mental Wellbeing and other self-help tools.
- Andy's Man Club is a weekly talking group, a place for men to come together in a safe environment to talk about issues/problems they have faced or are currently facing. Meetings take place regularly in different locations across the country.
- CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer accredited, confidential and free support to anyone, anywhere in the UK through a helpline and web and webchat service. They talk through any issue with you and offer support, advice and signposting.
- Quell offer free, safe and anonymous mental wellbeing support for adults across the UK.
- Kooth is an online mental wellbeing community for 11-25 year olds. Access free, safe and anonymous support.
Support Services - Adults
Adults can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies (previously Improving Access to Psychological Therapies - IAPT). Talking Therapies is a national NHS programme, that offers evidence-based psychological therapies or interventions approved by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). It is primarily for treating people with mild to moderate mental health issues such as anxiety disorders, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Talking Therapies treatments are delivered via a stepped care model where patients are initially offered low intensity therapies, such as computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) and guided self-help. If these treatments are unsuccessful, or not appropriate for individuals, higher intensity therapies are used and include one-to-one cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or interpersonal therapy (IPT).
Find a Talking Therapies service - nhs.uk/service-search/mental-health/find-an-nhs-talking-therapies-service
Support Services - Perinatal
PANDAS Foundation
The PANDAS Foundation is here to help, support and advise any parent who is experiencing a perinatal mental illness. We also inform and guide family members, carers, friends and employers on how to support someone who is suffering.
Tel: 0808 1961 776 (0900 - 2000 hrs, 7 days per week)
Support Services - Carers
The Carers Trust
It is important that you take care of your own health, even if you are busy looking after someone else's health. Being healthy is not only important for you, but it also helps the person you care after too. This website contains some helpful guides on relationship management and information on self-care and respite care.
Web: carers.org/health-and-wellbeing/health-and-wellbeing
Support Services - Children and Young People
The Mix
The Mix is a support service that helps children and young people under 25 years old to take on any challenge they are facing - from mental health to money, from homelessness to finding a job, from break-ups to drugs.
Tel: 0808 0808 4994 (Freephone)
Web: themix.org.uk/
Support Services - For Parents
YoungMinds
YoungMinds run a free, confidential parents helpline, which parents/carers can call if they are worried about how a child or young person is feeling or behaving. They also run Parents Say, for parents whose children are accessing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
Web: youngminds.org.uk/