Mental Health Awareness Week

Looking for a few tips on increasing your mood? Dr Jitka Vseteckova explores the relationship between depression and exercise. 

Each year thousands of pounds are spent on medications to treat conditions such as anxiety and depression. These medications often have negative side effects. Exercise is an alternative treatment that is low cost and has few side effects. In this free course, Exercise and mental health, we will look at the links between exercise and improved ...

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased focus on the value of participating in nature. This article explores how outdoor spaces can improve our mental health.

An area that has been of particular interest is providing traditional talking therapy outdoors. This article explores the pros of connecting with the natural world...

Can being outside gardening improve our wellbeing? Discover three factors that account for the positive effects of 'green care'.

What is it about new technology that is making many of us anxious and stressed? Dr Gini Harrison and Dr Mathijs Lucassen explore the top five stressors:

Modern life can leave many of us feeling stressed out. Here Dr Mathijs Lucassen offers five tips so that you can relax.

This free course, Understanding depression and anxiety, explores the causes of these mental health issues, with a particular focus on stress. You will consider some risk and causal factors for some depression and anxiety disorders, and learn about the biology and psychology behind them.

How can we avoid the stress and anxiety associated with the digital age? Dr Gini Harrison and Dr Mathijs Lucassen give us five tips...

This free advanced level course, Exploring anxiety, serves as an introduction to masters level study in neurosciences and mental health. Focusing on anxiety, you will consider key issues concerning diagnosis, causes and interventions. You will also learn how to evaluate news items, and to go behind the headlines and begin to explore some of the ...

How do we recognise if a reaction to a stressor has developed into a mental health problem? Here's a five point guide...

Over the past century there has been a radical shift in responses to people who experience mental health problems. In this free course, Making sense of mental health problems, you will learn about how key perspectives in the field have made sense of mental health problems. By directly relating key perspectives to a case study, you will reflect ...

It's well-documented that loneliness can cause depression and have negative effects on health and lifespans, equal to that of smoking. Explore why friends are good for your wellbeing, then invite them round for a catch up - it's important!

What can you do if you're not comfortable talking about mental health issues with your peers? Dr Jonathan Leach and Dr Mathijs Lucassen set out six ways of getting the support you need.

Is the rise of the selfie a sign of a culture collapsing into narcissism - or is there something positive in the trend of arm's length self portraiture?

It is time for medical education to take nutrition seriously argues Dr Joyce Cavaye, Senior Lecturer in the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care at The Open University.

Although being at work during periods of mental illness can be difficult for those with mental health problems, most people with these difficulties could take paid employment if it were not for numerous barriers in the workplace and the wider community (Centre for Mental Health, 2013). In this free course, Work and mental health, you will look ...

Mindfulness is about focusing on the present moment, whilst at the same time accepting your feelings, thoughts, and body’s sensations. But why does mindfulness matter?

Should we talk about size in therapy? Does your weight impact on your wellbeing? Psychotherapist and OU PhD student, Michelle Oldale, tells us what the research shows...

So you think you're supportive? But are you really an LGBTQI+ ally? Test yourself by using our immersive film-based interactive.

In this free course, Emotions and emotional disorders, you will learn about some of the disorders related to the feelings of stress, sadness and anxiety including how these disorders are diagnosed, their biological correlates, and evidence of their possible causes.

This free course, Mindfulness in mental health and prison settings, introduces the key ideas and practices of mindfulness, describes how it is helping counselling clients and prisoners, and also looks at some of the criticisms mindfulness has received in recent years.

Do mental health issues rest solely in the mind? Or do other factors contribute to psychological problems? 

This free course provides an introduction to adolescent mental health. The course is designed to encourage a greater understanding of mental health issues as well as to explore the variety of strategies that can be employed to support young people.

This free advanced level course, Exploring the relationship between anxiety and depression, serves as an introduction to masters level study in neurosciences and mental health. Focusing on anxiety and depression, you will consider key issues concerning diagnosis, causes and interventions, exploring how these conditions relate to each other. You ...

Take a journey through Wellbeing and see how factors such as where we grow up, what happens to us, and our physical health, can all impact on our mental health and wellbeing.  

Can "e-therapies" be beneficial to those experiencing psychological issues, particularly young people? Dr Mathijs Lucassen looks at the evidence...

Do you have a professional or personal interest in the mental health issues affecting young children? Are you working with children or are you a parent or carer? This free course, Supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing, is designed to give insight into the factors that are contributing to our youngest citizens’ poor mental health; ...

This free course, Supporting children and young people's wellbeing, looks at some of the broader concerns regarding wellbeing and the idea that children and young people today are increasingly reporting feelings of unhappiness. By completing the activities, you will be introduced to different ways of understanding children and young people’s ...