There are many different approaches when it comes to anxiety and depression, but one you may not have considered before is neurofeedback. What is neurofeedback? Neurofeedback is a type of therapy where an EEG (electroencephalogram) is used to monitor your brainwave activity. A program will then use cues such as Read more…
Mindfulness seems to have become ubiquitous lately; it’s everywhere, mentioned in relation to just about everything. It’s the buzzword on everyone’s lips. But what is it, and can it help your mental health? What is mindfulness? The short answer is that mindfulness is being aware of the current moment – Read more…
The thing about mental health is that it’s not just a case of “one and done.” In my experience, you don’t get depression, get it fixed and then go on your merry way. For those of us who have experienced any sort of mental health problem, however large or small, Read more…
I wrote a whole book about having a nervous breakdown… but the truth is that there’s no such thing. Wait, what? No such thing as a nervous breakdown? Yes, really. There’s no such thing. When I had a breakdown/lost my mind/went mad the official diagnosis on my sick note was Read more…
One of the biggest problems with any kind of mental health issue is that we often can’t bear to leave the house in order to get help. Some days we just can’t face going out of the front door, and so it can be hard to get any sort of Read more…
When you’re struggling with any kind of mental health issue, some form of counselling or support can be really helpful. Often one of the main problems with depression and/or anxiety is that we don’t like to burden our friends and family with our problems. When I was ill, I felt Read more…
Maintaining mental health is a balancing act. It’s a bit like housework, in that you can’t just do it and then it’s done; you have to sweep your floor every day. Taking care of your mental wellness is something that requires regular attention. Sometimes it can feel like it needs Read more…
Last week after the announcement of Chester Bennington’s death a friend posted a brutally honest update on Facebook, saying their antidepressant dosage had been increased and they were suffering with the side effects. This post was not to garner sympathy but rather to encourage people to talk about their mental Read more…
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week this week. I’ve written a lot in the past about my own mental health struggles, but the theme for Mental Health Awareness Week this year is about “Surviving or Thriving” so I thought it would be good to talk about the difference, and how I Read more…
When I had a breakdown in 2010, I wasn’t honest – not with myself, and definitely not with the people around me. I didn’t really understand that I was depressed; it felt more like something had snapped irreparably deep inside of my head, and I tried my best to hide Read more…
Six years ago, I was working in pensions. I would have a personal training session before work, spend the day fiddling with spreadsheets and having meetings with Spanish men in expensive suits. I lived alone in a two-bedroom house with a garden, trained for an ran a half marathon, and Read more…
I think it’s fair to say that I have had a tendency toward the melancholy in my life. Just recently, I wrote about how when I was depressed, I didn’t want to get “better”; I felt that happiness would be fake somehow. What I didn’t really mention was the fact Read more…
Many people who follow this blog will know that I had a breakdown in 2010. My GP told me I was clinically depressed – she figured that out from one of those handy questionnaires they have on their computers these days. For a while there, I was visiting my GP Read more…
If you google “five minute rule” you’re likely to find all sorts of things, from computer science to procrastination. This is a different one. A couple of days ago I was listening to a podcast where Hal Elrod was being interviewed. (by the way, I would definitely recommend his book if Read more…
In a post earlier this week, I mentioned going on the radio to speak about life as a single mother. During the conversation, Nick Ferrari asked if I had help with S from my family. He asked if my dad helped, and I replied that no, my dad Read more…
It’s hard to get over a nervous breakdown. When you’re stuck in the midst of it, it feels like nothing will ever be normal again; there’s no way back to life. When I had a breakdown, I stopped sleeping, eating and reading. The sleeping was the worst part, closely followed Read more…