Whatever is causing you concern, we’re here to listen. Whether it’s your mental health, your studies, worries about money or relationships, we can support you and help you move forward.
Many things can happen to us and trigger feelings of low mood and depression. Often this lasts or a few hours, days or weeks, before we start to feel better. However, sometimes we can stay 'stuck' for longer than this, and it can start to impact our every day life. We might withdraw from friendships or activities that we previously found fun.
Accessing support is key to understanding how we are thinking, and then challenging our thoughts and finding new ways of thinking. You can access resources to support depression here.
Depression effects people differently, however there are also common symptoms people share. It can make us feel lost, hopeless, de-motivated and so much more. Experiencing depression is at times exhausting.
Socialising can improve your mood. Keeping in touch with friends and family means you have someone to talk to when you feel low. Isolating ourselves often makes the symptoms worse.
Take up some form of exercise. There's evidence that exercise can help lift your mood. If you haven't exercised for a while, start gently by walking for 20 minutes every day.
Don't avoid the things you find difficult. When people feel low or anxious, they sometimes avoid talking to other people. Some people can lose their confidence in going out, driving or travelling. If this starts to happen, facing up to these situations will help them become easier.
For some people, alcohol can become a problem. You may drink more than usual as a way of coping with or hiding your emotions, or just to fill time. But alcohol won't help you solve your problems and could also make you feel more depressed
Some people don't feel like eating when they're depressed and are at risk of becoming underweight. Others find comfort in food and can put on excess weight. If you're concerned about weight loss, weight gain talk to your GP
When people feel down, they can get into poor sleep patterns, staying up late and sleeping during the day. Try to get up at your normal time and stick to your routine as much as possible. Not having a routine can affect your eating. Try to carry on cooking and eating regular meals.
When to get help?
If you have been experiencing a persistent low mood for several weeks or months you may benefit from visiting your GP. Your GP may talk to you about anti-depressants to help manage your mood.
You might also want to consider Counselling or Cognitive Behavioural therapy. You can access these through the NHS in your home area by visiting this link. Or you can register with the Life Lounge.
Self-care is an important part of managing Depression. Visit our Self Care page to find out more
Students Against Depression offers information and resources validated by health professionals alongside tips and advice from students who have experienced it all themselves.
http://studentsagainstdepression.org/
Sometimes when we feel really low and depressed we can experience such strong feelings of hopelessness we may have suicidal thoughts or self harm.
It is important to reach out and seek help before you are at a crisis point. It is hard to do but there are lots of people who can help.
Take a look at the next section for where to get urgent help.
If you are looking for support or someone to talk to outside of Life Lounge opening hours, we recommend the following services:
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust 24/7 helpline
https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/crisis-care/
0800 953 0285
STUDENT SPACE
Get free, confidential support by phone from a trained volunteer, from 4pm to 11pm every day.
Whatever is causing you concern, we’re here to listen. Whether it’s your mental health, your studies, worries about money or relationships, we can support you and help you move forward.
SHOUT is a free crisis text service. Text SHOUT to 85258 and you will be contacted by a specially trained volunteer who will give you support through text. SHOUT is a particularly good service if you are in a living situation where talking is difficult for privacy reasons, or when you find it too hard to say the words out loud. They are accessible 24/7 and will be support you through your time of crisis.
Text Shout to 85258 - (it is confidential and free for all UK major networks - you can find further details on the FAQ page on the website).
Papyrus HopeLineUK -
HopeLineUK is a service for children and young people under the age of 35 who are experiencing thoughts of suicide and for anyone concerned that a young person could be thinking about suicide. Visit the webpage https://papyrus-uk.org/
Call: 0800 068 4141
Text: 078600399670
Email: pat@papyrus-uk.org
Opening hours: 9am – 10pm weekdays, 2pm – 10pm weekends, 2pm – 10pm bank holidays
Visit Staying Safe website which explores ways to help keep yourself safe, safety plans and more.
Call 0800 58 58 58 (5pm–midnight every day) support for men or use webchat service.
Nightmail is a confidential email listening and information service run by Nightline. It’s open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Our team of specially trained volunteers run Nightmail all year round – even outside of term time. We aim to respond to emails within 48 hours. The email address for Nightmail is: nightmail@manchester.nightline.ac.uk
Visit the Mind Website to find out more about different types of depression, symptoms, treatment options, self care and more.
Depression UK are a National Self-Help Organisation helping people cope with their depression.
Students Against Depression offers information and resources validated by health professionals alongside tips and advice from students who have experienced it all themselves.
http://studentsagainstdepression.org/
Togetherall offers some great support with Depression and Low Mood.
You can take self-assessments to monitor your mood, and you could try their online Depression and Low Mood course.
Log on to Togetherall and sign up for free with your University email address.