signposts and pointers: useful places to find more help
The CICRA emotional wellbeing kit is designed to help you and your family cope with the feelings that can come with IBD. You can download the kits for parents and carers, young people with IBD, and their brothers and sisters.
There’s a lot more help out there if you need it. We’ve listed some of our favourite websites, apps and services here.
Let us know if you have found something you think would help others like you, and we’ll see if we can add it.
caring for your mental health
- The Mix offers free information and support for under 25s in the UK about sex, relationships, drugs, mental health, money & jobs
- Anna Freud NCCF is a charity dedicated to children's emotional wellbeing
- MIND has lots of tips for young people who want to open up to friends and family
- Young Minds has lots of help and advice for children and young people struggling with their emotional wellbeing
- On My Mind aims to help young people make informed choices about their mental health and wellbeing
- Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) CAMHS are the NHS services that work with children and young people who have difficulties with their emotional or behavioural wellbeing. Speak to your healthcare team to find out about services in your area
- Samaritans provides online and emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide
- Childline is an online and telephone counselling service for children and young people up to the age of 19.
- PAPYRUS offers confidential support and advice, as well as trusted information, to young people thinking about suicide
- BlueIce is an NHS-approved app that helps young people manage their emotions and reduce urges to self-harm. It includes a mood diary, techniques to reduce distress and automatic routing to emergency numbers if needed
- Ieso is an online course that has been approved by the NHS. It uses instant messaging to put people with mental health problems in touch with cognitive behavioural therapists
- The NHS-approved MeeTwo app provides a safe and secure place for young people to anonymously discuss any issue with experts or other teenagers going through similar things
coping with bullying
- Bullying UK offers help and support on dealing with bullying
- Childline has lots of tips and information on coping with bullying
- The Young Minds website covers how bullying can make you feel and what you can do about it
mindfulness, yoga and meditation
- The Calm website and app feature lots of different ways to try mindfulness. It is aimed at adults but is useful for older children
- The Headspace app has guided mindfulness exercises and videos. It is aimed at adults but is useful for older children
- Cosmic Kids: Yoga, mindfulness and relaxation for younger children through interactive adventures
- Smiling Mind is a web and app-based meditation program developed by psychologists and educators
- Feeling Good has a series of audio tracks designed to help you build confidence, energy and a positive mindset
coping with IBD
- whatwhychildreninhospital.org.uk has lots of information and videos to help prepare parents, carers, young people and children hospital visits
- HospiChill is an app-based relaxation programme that helps children and young people to prepare for hospital visits
- IBD Relief has a section on IBD and emotional wellbeing
- Student Health App is aimed at university students, and has more than 900 pages of reliable health information
support for parents:
- The Australian Parenting Website has lots of articles, apps and videos offering parenting advice from experts
- Young Minds has lots of tips and advice for parents of children and young people struggling with their emotional wellbeing
extra help
Sometimes, you might need a little more support in coping with the way IBD makes you feel – and that’s OK.
If you spot any of the following signs, it might be a good idea to ask your healthcare team if they can offer any extra psychological support, or at least point in the right direction of services in your area:
- Feeling like you can’t cope
- Struggling to use the tools in this kit
- The tools in this kit don’t seem to be working
- A lack of interest in the things you usually enjoy
- A feeling of sadness that doesn’t go away
- Thoughts of harming yourself or others
