As you get older it is likely that you will want to spend more time with your friends. During teenage years our friends become even more important to us, and they are often the first people we talk to about our problems. The way our friends see us and whether we feel accepted is closely connected to the way we see ourselves and our self-esteem.
Social interaction is recognised as having a positive impact on mental health, but everyone is different in the amount of interaction with others they like. Some people are very socially active, others like lots of quiet time. Whichever you prefer, there are ways to enjoy spending time with others to suit everybody, some ideas are:
- casual time with friends
- internet forums
- writing letters or phone conversations,
- working together on a project or area of special interest
- organised youth groups, such as sports or activity classes
- after school clubs.
You can spend time with friends both face-to-face and on-line and you should take steps to keep yourself safe in both situations, see our keeping safe page for more advice.
What you can do to help
If you are finding friendships hard or are being bullied, you can access support from a trusted adult. This could be a parent or carer, member of the school staff team or another adult you feel safe with.
This might include being discriminated against, called names or other people using hurtful language towards you and this can happen in-person or online. If you need someone to talk to about this, you can access our text messaging service ChatHealth to speak to one of our school nurses.
If you are feeling lonely and struggling to form relationships, you can see some top tips here.