What this course will cover

Watch Dr Faith Orchard introduce this first week in the video.

You can choose to work through the course Step-by-Step or dip into the parts you think you’ll find most useful (you can see content in both Week 1 and 2). This run of the course has a free upgrade, which means you have access to the content for as long as it appears on FutureLearn. You can ‘mark as complete’ each Step using the pink circle button. This will help you keep track of your progress and once you’ve completed 90%, you will be emailed a free digital certificate.

We encourage any young people who are working through this course to involve their parent(s), carer(s) or an adult supporter. This will help you to discuss the different strategies, come up with ideas about how to implement them, and give you a chance to explore together the best way of being supported.

Before we go any further, it’s important to highlight what this course doesn’t cover.

Whilst the course offers a number of practical strategies to support young people with low mood and depression during these difficult times, it’s not intended to be a replacement or substitute for specialist psychological treatment; we cannot comment on individual cases and you should always seek professional advice should you be concerned about yourself, a family member, friend or young person who is under your care.

In the UK, your first point of call would normally be your General Practitioner (or out of hours service). Other sources of help are ChildLine which can be contacted on freephone number 0800 1111 and The Samaritans which can be contacted on freephone number 116 123 (UK) or via their contact page. Childline is based in the UK and The Samaritans is based in the UK and Ireland. Since 2003, Samaritans has been working with Befrienders Worldwide, a network of 400 international centres in 39 countries set up to help people who need emotional support, to talk about problems in a confidential space. Visit the Befrienders Worldwide website to find out more.

Important point to note

When people experience low mood or depression, sometimes they also experience dark or suicidal thoughts or urges to self-harm. This can be common, especially for young people, and at times can be very distressing. We are unable to address these difficulties here in this short online course. If you are experiencing this we urge you to talk to someone you trust about it, preferably an adult who can look after you. We also recommend that you get in touch with your healthcare provider or an organisation mentioned above.

If you would like to read more on this subject, these websites may be a good place to start:

• Symptoms of self-harm and suicidal feelings on the YoungMinds website.
• Harmless website

Don’t forget to ‘mark this Step as complete’ using the pink circle button, before you move on.