Knowing what to do, or how to handle things when someone you know has depression or anxiety can be tricky. You can feel like there’s a constant elephant in the room, or that your treading on egg shells. Everyone’s journey is different and even if you’ve battled through depression or anxiety, your journey will be different to anyone else’s. There are hundreds of different blogs, articles and books aimed at explaining and simplifying what you can do to help someone going through depression, anxiety or any other mental health issue, but in all honesty there is no straight forward answer. I’ve heard some stupid advice over the years ” …you have nothing to be depressed about, there are plenty of people who have things worse.” If that was how being depressed was determined, then by the same token, why bother being happy as there is always someone who has it better. I know for me personally my biggest problem has always been, and will probably always continue to be my self confidence. There is nothing I doubt more than my place in the world, my own abilities and how other people see me. Depression and anxiety aren’t things based purely on have vs […]
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Years ago the only ones waffling on about the benefits of being grateful or showing gratitude were religious folk, you know… priests, ministers, and religious eduction teachers. Nowadays though, gratitude is basically a scientific field with countless studies showing the many benefits of establishing an attitude of gratitude. People talk about the numerous and far reach benefits of adopting a grateful philosophy, going so far to even attribute positive changes in career, health, personality, emotional health and social presence to a simple change in attitude. The flow on, and key effect being “happiness”… all these articles, motivational talks, memes, and self help books boil down to one thing… In an interview with Gretchen Rubin, author and University of Houtson research professor Brené Brown said “I think the change [in her happiness levels] is the result of letting go of perfectionism, embracing vulnerability, and practicing gratitude.” Brother David Steindl-Rast, a monk and interfaith scholar, suggests happiness is born from gratitude. Fuck it! I thought, I do want to be happy and this sounds too easy. So I challenged myself to take a moment at the end of each day to mentally list 3 things I was grateful for that day, the point, […]
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While there are parts of winter I love… electric blankets, winter clothes and winter food, but I’m not really not that fond of what makes actually winter. It’s the cold, I’m more of a hot house flower as my Nana would say, I’m not lover of cool temperatures and I most definitely suffer from the Winter Blues. The Winter Blues are actually a thing. As the days get shorter and nights get colder some of us tend to suffer from low energy, mild depression and the desire to hibernate until the warmer temperatures return. Severe Winter Blues is also actually a thing, a very real thing, known technically as Seasonal Affect Disorder (S.A.D), which for sufferers obviousyly occurs every year at the same time… winter. The exact cause of S.A.D isn’t really known, but many people believe the seasonally depression is linked to reduced exposure to sunlight, as sunlight can affect some of the brain’s chemicals and hormones. Lack of sunlight is thought to affect the production of mood hormones melatonin and serotonin. Serotonin is a feel good brain chemical and low levels have been linked to mood, stress, anxiety and poor sleeping patterns because serotonin can also be converted into melatonin […]
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