A young woman in Wellington with lived experience of recovery has created a website to help other teens on their road to recovery from mental-health issues. Verity, the creator of the site, writes “It started off just being a resource for my friends at the unit to use. I had posted the link to my Facebook and as the months went by, Teen Recovery …[was] noticed by organizations such as Youthline and Live For Tomorrow.“
At Teen Recovery, young people can find out about recovery strategies like distractions and breathing techniques, learn more about things like anxiety attacks, self-care after self-harm and finding reasons to stay alive, and read recovery stories or share a recovery story themselves. There’s an FAQ page that answers some of the common questions young people might have about recovery. There’s a Support Services link that lists all the nationwide helplines and a Websites link that lists a bunch of useful websites.
The Teen Recovery website also recommends other young people connect with their public Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) if they would like more support. Every DHB has a CAMHS, though some services go by different names. If you search online for ‘CAMHS’ and the region you live in, you should be able to find the service nearest to you. Each service has different referral pathways – at some, young people and their families can self-refer for a first appointment; at other services, you may need to see your GP or School Guidance Counsellor to arrange a referral for a first appointment at your local CAMHS. You can always give the service a call to find out if you aren’t sure.
