In this section
Physical health describes the condition of your body.
This includes whether you have an illness, injury or a health condition.
Physical Health Conditions
There are lots of different types of physical health conditions:
- Some are acute which means they happen suddenly, like breaking a bone.
- Some are chronic which means they are long-lasting, like asthma.
Some physical health conditions might need lots of support and treatment such as visiting hospital or having operations. This can have a big impact on your life.
Your physical health can be affected by lots of things including:
- Your lifestyle – This includes your diet, level of physical activity/exercise, your sleep and behaviours such as smoking
- Your biology- This includes your genetics and how your body is built up
Medical care- This includes noticing and looking after any illness or injury you may have.
Our physical health can have a big impact on our lives, including how we think and feel and our relationships with others. How we think and feel (our mental health) can also affect our physical health. Living with or experiencing a physical health condition can be tricky and this can affect your mood, well-being and quality of life. A physical health condition may mean lots of adjustments or changes and managing treatments or procedures. CAMHS can help you understand and think about this and offer support for difficulties related to your physical health. For example, low mood, guilt or anger about your physical health condition, worry about medical procedures or treatments, pain or symptom management, body image concerns and adjustment to your physical health condition. They can also offer neuropsychological assessment (IQ assessments) where your physical health may have had an impact on your thinking skills. CAMHS will work closely with your medical team to contribute to your care and may meet with you and/or your family in or out of hospital.
We can help you:
- Mange procedures and treatments
- Manage your pain
- Understand any problems you have with learning
- Get used to living with a health condition
- Understand the links between your physical health and your feelings
If your physical health condition has had an impact on your thinking skills, then we can offer an assessment (called a neuropsychological assessment).
Looking After My Physical and Emotional Health
Your physical health affects your emotional health; and your emotional health affects your physical health.
There are lots of ways you can look after your physical and your emotional health.
The Five Ways to Wellbeing might give you some ideas about little changes you can bring into your life:
Videos
A short video to help prepare you for coming to hospital for a procedure
Comic Books
A comic book to help you know what to expect when you come to hospital
Apps
Sleep Doctor: Helps children with sleep problems and their family
HospiChill: Helps you prepare for going to hospital
HeadSpace: Bite-sized mindfulness exercises