Looking after your mental health is as important as looking after your physical health.

• Kids Helpline – Life throws us curve balls every day. Kids Helpline has lots of information to help you manage the tricky times, or connect with someone to get advice.
• ReachOut: Stress – We all experience stress from time to time. To help you manage stressful situations and get back a sense of control, check out these helpful strategies from ReachOut.
• ReachOut: Mental fitness – Mental fitness is just like physical fitness - we have to work at it. ReachOut can show you a number of ways to look after your mental fitness.

Sometimes you might be the first one to notice when your friend seems to be doing it tough and you need some ideas on how to help.

• headspace: How to help a friend going through a tough time – Knowing what to say or do when a friend is having a tough time can be hard. Check out headspace for tips on what to do, even if your friend is pushing you away.
• ReachOut: How to ask a friend if they're okay – Not sure how to ask if your friend's OK? Here's some helpful tips from ReachOut on how to start the conversation.
• Beyond Blue: The Check-in App – Beyond Blue's Check-in app guides you through four steps to helping a friend. It can also link you up with online and phone services - all on your mobile.

Where to get help

• For support, speak with a trusted friend, family member, carer or school staff member.
• School staff are available to listen to your concerns and provide you with assistance.
• For primary school students, talking to your class teacher is a great place to start.
• For secondary school students, you can to speak to the year adviser or head teacher, wellbeing.
• School counsellors and school psychologists and other wellbeing staff are available to help.

Useful resources

• Department of Education: Wellbeing services – Everyone needs help sometimes and there's lots of advice and support out there. Many services have online and phone options, so you can chat with a mental health professional at a time and in a way, that works best for you.
• ReachOut School – tools, advice and resources for students in Year 7 and beyond.
• ReachOut: 6 ways to get help for mental health – If you feel you need some help but don't know where to start, ReachOut has some great ideas for where to go for the support you're after.
• headspace: how headspace can help – When things get tough, it can help to talk to someone who understands what you're going through. headspace has lots of support services to get you back on track and look after your mental health.