Here For You Afghanistan Crisis Support

We know many of you will be directly or indirectly affected by the situation in Afghanistan.

This may be due to having family and friends who are affected, or you might be involved in supporting refugees as they arrive.

The Here For you Team, the mental health and wellbeing resilience service for NHS staff across Essex and Hertfordshire, is ready to help anyone who needs support.

If you need someone to talk to, the Here For you Team are ready to listen in whatever way suits you. You can either send them an email or give them a call on 0344 257 3960.

Even if you don’t feel like talking at all, here are some tips to help look after yourself at this time

• Focus on what you can do and consciously accept what you can’t change. It can help to discuss this with someone and say this acceptance out loud
• Once you know what you can do, for example raising money for charity, work on that – trusting this will bring some relief to those who are suffering
• Eat healthily, keep exercising, get plenty of sleep and keep connected to others – stay healthy for those who need you
• Don’t suffer alone. Talk to friends and family and seek formal counselling if you think this will help
• Minimise social media, this can make you feel worse, and be mindful about sharing stories which may be upsetting to others. Allocate a short amount of time, for example 30 minutes, to look at the news each day

For more information on you can visit the Here For You website.