Abbie’s story

Since October 2017, thousands of young people have benefitted from the Blues Programme - Action for Children’s internationally-acclaimed evidence based ‘blues busting’ course for teenagers.

Today, Action for Children have agreed to share Abbie’s story – a teenager who was supported by the programme.

Before Abbie joined the Blues Programme, she experienced daily anxiety, low self-esteem and negative thoughts about how she was ‘a failure.’

When Abbie joined the six-week schools-based course, she learned to recognise and deal with negative situations and identify the fact that she was in a negative rut and seldom talking to others. The course taught her that ‘bottling things up’ never helps anyone and negative thoughts only serve to ‘drag us down.’

Speaking after the course, Abbie said: ‘I feel that I’ve gained useful techniques to help me better cope with everything.’

Abbie now uses writing and a mood diary to manage how she’s feeling on a day to day basis and is now less scared about discussing her feelings. She is currently deciding what she would like to do in the future, but knows that ‘being able to challenge negative thoughts like “I am a failure” means the tools I have learned will help me, whichever way I go.’

To anyone else considering taking part in the Blues Programme, Abbie said: ‘Your life experience doesn’t define who you are and it’s certainly not something to be ashamed of. Nothing is too big to be discussed – you won’t ever be judged at the Blues Programme.’

Royal Mail and Action for Children are working together to deliver better youth mental health across the UK. Thank you for supporting young people like Abbie, who now have the confidence and ability to challenge their negative thinking and improve their mental health.

If you have any questions or you would like any further information, please email Vicky at RoyalMail@actionforchildren.org.uk.