It was a beautiful afternoon in December. A middle-aged man, driving a silver Audi A4, found a parking space at my University campus (which is remarkable in and of itself). He exited the car and looked, well, a lot like me. He was dressed in clothes from a Next outlet (his wife probably bought them for him), his hair was thinning, and his face no longer had the glow of youth

Professor Colin Espie, the author of Overcoming Insomnia, explains why cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective way to tackle insomnia and other sleep problems.  Sleep is not one of life’s “nice to have’s”, although it is of course nice! Sleep is a “need to have”, just in the same way that oxygen, water and food are essentials. Sleep is vital, and we

Why should we focus on being kind to ourselves? It’s important because life can be stressful especially when we are juggling many different roles (employee, parent, carer, partner, colleague, friend, etc.) and life events (illness, menopause, relationship breakup, etc.). One way to help cultivate kindness is to note down all the things you are juggling on a piece of paper or multiple pieces of paper. This is a good way

Hot flushes are one of the most common symptoms of the menopause, and many women find them to be uncomfortable and embarrassing. Fortunately, there are many different approaches that you can take to manage your hot flushes and stop them from limiting your lifestyle. Hot flushes are commonly described as sensations of heat in the face, neck and chest, frequently accompanied by sweating or shivering, and sometimes palpitations – but they vary

With winter approaching, it is important to be aware of our bodies’ mental and physical changes as we adapt to colder temperatures and shorter days. A big part of maintaining good health in winter (and, of course, also throughout the year) is sleeping well, as sleep is responsible for our memory, metabolism and – importantly – mood. It is important that everyone practises good sleep hygiene.  Sleep is vital for

Sometimes the main problem in OCD is the presence of unpleasant thoughts, or intrusive thoughts, which just pop into your mind. The thoughts are usually horrible and repulsive. But the harder one tries to avoid having them, the worse the thoughts seem to get.    Some examples of intrusive thoughts  Derek had intrusive thoughts about stabbing people when he saw knives, and had at least one intrusive thought about

Feeling worried, unhappy or unfulfilled? Are you smiling on the outside, pretending that everything is okay, when really it’s not? Don’t worry, you’re not alone and there is a way out with ACT. But what is ACT, we hear you ask? It stands for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and works just in the same way as CBT or talking therapy. You need to address the situations

Social anxiety can be relatively limited and confined to a few situations, such as eating in public, or it can affect the majority of the situations involving interaction with others - here's a few tips on how to overcome the latter. Social anxiety is a shorthand term that describes the fear, nervousness and apprehension most people at times experience in their relationships with other people. Some people who suffer from social

Our self-esteem is vital to how we see and value ourselves. Self-esteem can affect confidence, interactions with other people and, more generally, can stop you from living your life the way you want to live it. If we don’t address low self-esteem, it can lead to mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Here, Melanie Fennell and Lee Brosan, authors of An Introduction to Improving Your

2020 and 2021 have been an unprecedented time of turmoil, stress and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. The novelty is long gone, and people are left feeling burnt out. As we are dealing with trauma after trauma, not just our own, but seeing the suffering of multiple people around us, we might become completely overwhelmed. After a while, we might feel numb, we might shut down, we might become more irritable

Alexander Kriss is a psychotherapist and the author of The Gaming Mind. Here, he asks whether we should be concerned about videogames. Are the claims often made in the media correct? What does our relationship with games say about us? Videogames are increasingly a topic of interest—and concern—for parents, teachers, mental health professionals and others. Recent decades have seen an explosion in the popularity of games. They have

Elaine Beaumont and Mary Welford are the authors of The Kindness Workbook, a manual of compassionate and creative ways to support your wellbeing. In this article, Elaine explores the meaning of 'acts of kindness', using excerpts from the book. If you look up the word ‘kindness’, you’ll probably find something along the lines of: ‘the quality or act of being helpful, caring, considerate, generous, gentle and thoughtful