OUGD505 - Research Gathering

In order to create the Activity booklet I need to gather some research about techniques that are used to help children cope with anxiety. I therefore sent an email to MIND charity to see if they could offer any advice on the sort on techniques that would be important to include in the book. 

Hello,

I'm a student at Leeds University of Arts and I'm studying Graphic Design. A recent brief which I was given is to come up with some sort of solution to something I feel strongly about. As someone who has suffered with feelings of anxiety from a young age I wanted to come up with a way to make information about mental health more accessible to younger children in the hopes to help remove the stigma surrounding mental health as they grow up and also help them deal with these feelings from a younger age in the hope that this may reduce the amount of children that go on to develop metal health issues as adults. 

I was wondering if there was any information that you could give me to help in designing a child friendly app which would help children from the ages of 8 - 12 deal with stress and anxiety connected to their lives. 

I was hoping to include child friendly coping mechanisms, helpful websites and numbers etc.

Thank you,

Sophie Rose

Unfortunately, I did not receive a response from MIND but I thought it was worth the try to see if they would respond. I therefore searched the internet for some techniques that have been used in the past to help children struggling with mental health issues. 


5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Grounding Exercise

This technique takes you through your five senses to help remind you of the present. This is a calming technique that can help to get through tough or stressful situations.

• 5 things you can see.
• 4 things you can touch.
• 3 things you can hear.
• 2 things you can smell.
• 1 thing you can taste.

Drinking cold water

Having a drink of cold water has been proven to help calm down anxiety. Studies have shown that dehydration leads to higher level of the stress hormone becoming present in the body, making it harder to deal with everyday issues. Keeping hydrated and drinking water helps your brain to stay calmer and deal with situation better. 

Playing games to take the mind somewhere else

Imagine your favourite place.

Think of your favourite things.

Name animals alphabetically.

Think of the words to your favourite song.