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| How you doing? Eating well? Sleeping well? Most of us have a fair idea about how to look after our physical health but, have you ever done anything to look after your mental health?
We’re looking at different themes to get you thinking about how it can affect your mental health. We’re using polls and quizzes to get you thinking, but there are no right or wrong answers. You can find advice on how to look after your mental health in our slideshow and relevant helplines in the blog.
If you need help right now go to http://yourmentalhealth.ie/support_s...
for places that can help you right away. This page is only moderated a few times a week, so if you need to reach out to someone, please contact one of the organisations listed in the blog like Samaritans. | Gender | | | | Female | | | | Last Active | | | 9 hours | | | | Share the Luv | |  | 55 |
| | | | Your Mental Health's URL | | http://www.bebo.com/yourmentalhealth | | | Member Since | | | October 2007 | |
Your Mental Health says: "Check out our new polls" (1 week ago) me too! | | Loneliness | | Over the last few weeks, we’ve been running a poll to see what topics you would like to see us talk about here on Your Mental Health. Thanks for all your suggestions. The topic most people voted for was loneliness, so that’s what we’re going to be looking at for the next while. We have some tips for beating loneliness and some polls to see what you think. Leave a comment and tell us what you think. Maybe you’re feeling lonely and don’t know what to do about it. Or maybe you have some good suggestions to share with people who might be lonely. Let us know what you have to say. | | | Loneliness | | Most of us feel lonely every now and again. You might be shy or find it hard to make friends. Maybe you have started a new school or college, or have moved away from home. Maybe you have fallen out with your friends or broken up with a boyfriend or girlfriend. There are lots of reasons why someone might be feeling lonely. Loneliness can make you feel like you have nobody to share your feelings with and can be bad for your mental health. It is important to realise that there are things you can do about it. | | | Ways to avoid loneliness | | One of the best ways to avoid loneliness and meet new people is to get involved in an activity that you like. Figure out what you are interested in and join a club or organisation which is involved in that activity. It is much easier to talk to people and make friends with people who share your interests. Sign up for a course and learn about something new. Another great way to meet new people is to do some volunteering work. There are lots of charities and groups who need people to help them with their work and volunteering is great way to meet people. There’s lot of information here about volunteering at www.volunteeringireland.ie and on SpunOut.ie at http://www.spunout.ie/health/work/vo... . | | | Samaritans | | Remember, if you need someone to talk to, you can always contact Samaritans on 1850 609090 (from Ireland) or 08457 909090 (Northern Ireland) or email jo@samaritans.org. | |
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I relate to Kathy (below), as I live in a rural area and although it is only a small town and I know everyone, I do not feel comfortable going out and meeting people or joining a group. It is totally beyond my ability + the paranoria prevents me from doing this. I agonise over going to the shop for food never mind going out to socialise. What few friends I have know that I don't like visitors so leave me in peace. They're also sick off listening to my tragic life that I don't mention it any more. I hurt badly inside but the pain doesn't ease with time, and I suppose talking about it all only re-opens old wounds 
