BBC Radio 1, BBC Health, Comic Relief and the Open University are joining forces to talk about our mental health, and the glitches, problems and illness experienced by at least a quarter of all of us in the UK.

Across tv, national and local radio and bbc.co.uk, Headspace shows how any of us can experience mental health problems - regardless of gender, social background, ethnicity or age.

One out of every four people will, at some time in their life, experience emotional problems that have got so bad that they'll need professional help to overcome them.

These are called mental health problems although lots of people don't like calling it that because 'mental' can be used as an abusive term.

Sometimes a first step to preventing a bad situation from becoming worse can be to write down the stuff that's doing your head in.

Then you might want to talk to someone, but whom? Some people want to talk to a friend but don't know how to start.

You could try sending a sympathetic friend a link to our "tips for mates" page as a first step.

Some other people have prefered to find other people to talk to - here's some suggestions. Would any work for you?

• A parent or other older person - maybe a teacher or your doctor
  
• Talking to someone, anonymously, like the Samaritans
• Emailing someone - try Young Minds, who've got a massive collection of organisations and resources organised by type of problem in their infocentre
  

Are your studies stressing you out?

Don't let it get to you, ask for help from a tutor, teacher or study advisor at your college or school.

If you need a bit of help organising your thoughts, you can find a lot of useful tools to make things easier on OpenLearn.

Do you have a mental health problem?

It can make you feel alone, but you don't need to be. A young person being treated for depression - our survivor - shares what he's learned from his illness: it's your head.

Are you worried about a friend?

Not sure what to do or even if you should do anything at all? It might help to get advice from people who've been there. Our survivor offers her tips for mates.

The eating disorders site b-eat.co.uk has lots of good advice for worried friends that applies whatever concerns you.

Can doing drugs really do your head in?

Let's just put it this way. Drugs contain chemicals that interfere with the way your brain works. So they affect your mind. Everyone's mind is different so everyone is affected in different ways.

Sometimes, for instance, using cannabis (particularly skunk) can lead to experiencing frightening feelings of paranoia. Occasionally these feelings can remain with you for a very long time and develop into schizophrenia. Could this happen to you? No-one can say for certain, but it is more likely to happen to some people than to others. You can find out more about the risks at Young Minds' cannabis facts.

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