Youth Mental Health: 5 Tips for wellbeing

March 10, 2023

What is Youth Mental Health Day?

Youth Mental Health Day (YMHD) encourages understanding, discussion and awareness of mental health in young people and highlights the importance of intervention in teenage mental health issues.

Being a teenager can be tough. Many teenagers will experience problems with their mental health with four in ten young people reporting that they experience difficulties such as anxiety and low mood.

Challenges faced by blind and partially sighted young people

Being a blind or partially sighted teenager can be even harder. Research by the RSBC found that those with vision impairment were more than twice as likely to have experienced difficulties with unhappiness or depression than the UK average. One of the main challenges faced by this group of young people is social isolation. They may find it difficult to meet up with friends and take part in many of the social activities and hobbies that their sighted peers can easily access. This then leaves them with feelings of loneliness and isolation with over half of young people with sight loss reporting that they feel left out, all or most of the time.

Find more facts and stats

5 tips for well-being by Jody, RSBC Family Practitioner

Our Family Practitioners work with many young people who are struggling with their vision impairment as well as experiencing mental health issues, low self-esteem, and feelings of social isolation. We work with teenagers and support them to improve their mental health and emotional well-being.

Here are 5 tips that our Family Practitioner finds helpful to aid good mental health:

1. Give young people a confidential space to talk and explore their feelings in a safe and non-judgemental environment.

Two woman sitting in a room talking to each other.

It’s important that young people feel that they can talk openly about their feelings and that we respect their emotions and respond with active listening and empathy. This helps build up trust in the relationship and enables the young person to talk openly and honestly.

2. Help them to identify their needs and accept the difficult or challenging feelings that they are experiencing.

A young man leaning against a white wall holding a cane

One way is to help them explore what they are finding difficult but also acknowledge that the challenges they are they are experiencing are normal and to be expected. It’s important to validate their feelings and give them permission to feel angry, sad or any other feelings they are experiencing.

3. Help them to build on their self-esteem, resilience, and confidence.

A vision impaired young person smiling in front of a multicoloured wall.

This can be done by helping them challenge their negative thoughts and think about how they have dealt with difficult situations in the past. We explore what skills they have used before and how these skills can help them deal with the ongoing challenges they face. It’s also important that we help them acknowledge how strong they are and celebrate the things they are really good at too.

4. Work to help them identify coping strategies for the ongoing challenges that they face and give them the tools they need to put these strategies into practice.

A vision impaired young man in a kitchen looking down with his hand in a bag.

For instance, we can ask them to reflect on coping strategies and skills they’ve previously employed to navigate challenging situations. Then, engage in a discussion about adapting these strategies to the new situations they encounter. We can help them problem solve and think about what skills and tools that they have and show them how they can use them in different situations.

5. Encourage them to be #BeBrave. Help to give them the confidence to push themselves to try something new.

A vision impaired young man doing archery.

This could be by encouraging them to try different activities that might initially push them out of their comfort zone – but that they might love! Many young people with a vision impairment struggle with team sports and ball games, but they could be brilliant at sports such as swimming and climbing – they just need to give it a go. Encouraging young people to take part in physical activities can also play a key role in helping them manage their mental health.

Besides, they might also find meeting other blind and partially sighted teenagers really helpful and meeting online might feel more manageable initially. Once they feel more confident, they might feel brave enough to meet people face-to-face.

Albie was born with severe sight impairment, having been diagnosed when he was 4 months old. His mum and dad, Abbie and Lewis, are both running the 2025 London Marathon to raise funds for RSBC – the first time that two parents of a child supported by the charity have run together at this famous […]

Julie, a light skinned woman with long brown hair sits at a desk with her hands folded in front of her. There are wooden shelves in the background. She is smiling broadly and wearing a metallic bronze coloured top.

No categories March 28, 2025

Mother’s Day: our CEO shares her story

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone celebrating! In recognition of this special day, we sat down with our CEO, Julie, to hear about her relationship with her daughter, Saime, who is registered blind.

Camille, a young person with black rimmed glasses and long dark hair, wears a black jacket and white shirt and smiles broadly at the camera.

No categories March 20, 2025

What our young poets have to say this World Poetry Day

We were delighted to host two workshop sessions with renowned poet Dave Steele recently, and they certainly fired up the imaginations of the young people who attended! We’re pleased to be able to showcase the incredible talent that came out of the workshops in the beautiful poems written by those attending below.

Two women sitting at a computer in an office, one is helping the other with work. There is a man sitting at his computer to their right.

No categories March 10, 2025

RSBC’s 5 key reforms to support young people into work

The government has just announced plans for a major shakeup of the welfare system, with £6bn of proposed cuts. Personal Independence Payments (PIP) are a lifeline for many people in our community. We understand the system needs reform, and that tough times can call for tough measures. But cutting back on PIP without making it […]

A member of Dorton College's team with three students. Two are standing to the team members left and one is on the right. They are all linking arms with big smiles on their faces. They are standing in front of the RSBC Dorton College sign, which also has purple bunting and a sign that says: Careers Day above the bunting.

No categories March 7, 2025

Dorton College careers day: giving our students the confidence to shine

Too often, young people living with a vision impairment aren’t given the career opportunities they deserve. That’s why RSBC’s Dorton College hosted a careers day recently, inviting external speakers to inspire our students and help provide them with the tools they need to enter the world of work.

A photograph of the Royal Society for Blind Children Dorton College sign. The sign is on a wall to the right of where the camera is pointing. The camera is pointing down the Dorton College hallway.

No categories March 5, 2025

Gary O’Donoghue’s win at the RTS Television Journalism Awards

Each year, the Royal Television Society hosts the Television Journalism Awards, celebrating the most prestigious change-makers in the British journalism space.

A photograph of Dave The Blind Poet. He is standing in a field wearing a black coat, burgundy roll-neck top and a grey hat. The top of his cane is in view on his left. His head is faced slightly to the left and tilting upwards.

No categories March 4, 2025

Young people unlock their imagination at The Blind Poet’s workshops

Dave Steele, popularly known as The Blind Poet, is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning poet, author, speaker and singer – and an advocate for people with vision impairment.

Members of the Youth Forum group and VI mentors in line against a wall. They are all smiling an posing for the camera creating a warm, friendly and dynamic atmosphere.

No categories March 3, 2025

Helping young people be heard: RSBC’s Youth Voice Strategy Day

Recently, RSBC’s Youth Forum, Young Ambassadors and members of the RSBC team came together for a Youth Voice Strategy Day at our Life Without Limits Centre in London. The mission was simple: young people were tasked with coming up with their own objectives and create a roadmap for the future, which would help RSBC identify […]

Latest Get our help