It’s Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK and the theme for this year is anxiety. On 26 April 2023 we attended a brand-new Charity Awareness Day at Colchester Sixth Form College set up by Charity Coordinator, Michele Perrin. Sandra (Community Fundraiser) and I (Digital Marketing Assistant) took this opportunity to engage in conversations about anxiety with students aged 16-19. We asked them how they feel when they’re anxious and how they relieve anxiety.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is our response to feeling threatened, like when we are worried or scared. It’s normal to feel anxious at times, especially when something is out of our comfort zone. However, anxiety can become more severe and start impacting a person’s daily life. This is a time that tools to relieve anxiety can be helpful. Our team have created a few resources, such as this activity for a parent helping a child with difficult feelings and this guided meditation.  The key to helping relieve anxiety is finding a tool or practice that works for you. It is not something to be ashamed of.

How do you feel when you’re anxious?

Each of our bodies respond differently to anxiety – displaying itself both physically and mentally. Anxiety can speed up your heart rate, it may make you sweat or shake and it could make you feel overwhelmed and find it hard to concentrate.

It’s good to talk about anxiety because the more we talk about it, the less stigma there is that surrounds it. I wasn’t sure how comfortable students at Colchester Sixth Form would feel with the topic, but it wasn’t long before the board began filling up with post-it notes. Students came forward to share how their body and mind feel when they’re anxious:

• “My chest feels tight”

• “Upset and trapped”

• “Shakey and faint”

• “Overwhelmed”

• “Meltdowns and can’t communicate”

• “Can’t concentrate”

• “Very dizzy and cold”

• “Loss of sensation in my hands”

• “Brain fog”

• “Nauseous”

How do you relieve anxiety?

Students identified how their body or mind may feel when anxious, but what do young people do to relieve that anxiety? This is what students at Colchester Sixth Form College told us helped them:

• “Talking to my friends and family”

• “Listening to music”

• “Dancing”

• “Drawing”

• “Going for a walk”

• “Double inhale and exhale. Empties lungs of Co2 and fills with oxygen”

• “Going to the gym”

• “Spending time with my dog”

• “Don’t bottle it up. Let it all out”

You could even try some of our very own Wellbeing Activities.

The ‘Positive Tee’ Activity

When we are feeling anxious, it’s easy to get stuck in our own heads. A lot of the time thinking of positive things to say about ourselves is really difficult, especially when we are trying to flip a negative thought on its head. We came up with an activity called the ‘Positive Tee’, and encouraged students to pick up a sharpie and fill a t-shirt with positive affirmations.

Affirmations challenge bad thoughts we may be having. The idea is that through repetition, the more we consciously try to challenge negative thoughts, the more natural it will be for us to be kinder to ourselves. This can be helpful when it comes to anxiety.

An inspiring personal story

I had an inspiring conversation with one student called Teddy. Teddy approached me, tentatively asking if it was ‘ok’ to write the words ‘I’m hot’ on the t-shirt. The story that followed was moving. He has allowed me to share his story of using positive affirmations in therapy.

Teddy said that he recently had his own therapy where the therapist worked with him on his self-confidence. A part of this process was using the affirmation ‘I’m hot’ to challenge the negative feelings he had about his appearance. Teddy explained how he would say these words whilst looking at his reflection. He admitted he wasn’t sure at first, and that it felt silly at times, even making him laugh when he said it. But gradually as it became part of his routine, Teddy felt the positive impact on his mental health. He would do this every morning and then get on with the day.

 I felt touched that he shared this with me, and to hear first-hand how affirmations had helped a young person. Each of the affirmations written tell their own story.

What have I learnt?

Sandra and I were blown away with how open young people were. It was good to see students write that talking to others helps relieve they’re anxiety – especially talking to their family and friends. I thought back to when I was at college and appreciated how far we have come with talking about mental health and times such as Mental Health Awareness Week really do encourage those conversations. It’s only in my adult life that I began to understand anxiety, and piece together my own memories and feelings from when I was at secondary school and college. I also learnt from Jo Cadman, the Designated Safeguarding Lead for Colchester Sixth Form that psychology is the most popular subject with over 600 students currently studying it! I wonder if this partly explains how many responses we got.

A special thanks to Michelle Perrin at Colchester Sixth Form College for inviting us to this event. Mental Health Awareness Week runs from 15 – 21 May 2023. You can learn more about young people’s mental health by attending of our new virtual trauma informed training dates in June and July.

Written by Laura Whitehead, Digital Marketing Assistant.