Blog
IBS Awareness month
The month of April is IBS awareness month (irritable bowel syndrome) and helps to raise the profile of this, often, debilitating condition. IBS is recognised as affecting between 9% and 23% of the worlds population, and these are only the figures of those who have been diagnosed with the disorder. Many people remain undiagnosed so I am hoping that raising the awareness of Irritable bowel syndrome will help more people to seek help, and although there is no cure for IBS, it can be managed with both medication and through the use of...
read moreMore Children smoking today!
I was astonished to learn that around 207,000 children between the ages of 11 and 15 start to smoke every year in the UK. This can be broken down to approximately 567 children a day, who take their first steps to smoking. This leads me to ponder if kids begin to smoke for the same reasons that children smoked 20 years ago. And all the more reason for introducing plain cigarette packaging into the UK. But will this actually deter the youngsters. Will making the packets a little more taboo, increase or decrease the sale of tobacco to...
read moreFrank Bruno mental illness fight
Frank Bruno’s fight with mental illness has been a very public battle, much as Paul Gascoine’s battle with alcohol. But anything that raises public awareness of issues such as these are always welcome in my opinion. Frank is often heard stating that his battle with his mental health has been the hardest battle of his life. To help him win this battle he certainly needs more help, and he took steps to raise the awareness by visiting the Houses of Parliament and the health minister Norman Lamb. Mr Lamb had invited Frank along...
read moreHow to get the depressed mind motivated!
When we feel depressed, we feel deflated and de-energised and so it is natural to feel very demotivated, it can be a real challenge. Not only does depression affect the mind it also affects the body, leaving the sufferer feeling exhausted. You know there are things needed to be done, but somehow the will to carry them through doesn’t exist and even the small tasks seem to be too much to take on. To some, even getting out of bed, getting showered and dressed can all seem very challenging. People who suffer from depression...
read moreQuit Smoking can reduce your anxiety!
It has been found that quitting smoking actually helps reduce your anxiety, this is especially true for those people who use cigarettes to cope with situations in their everyday lives. This new research has come from Oxford and Cambridge Universities and from Kings college London. Smoking doesn’t relieve stress and anxiety, this is more psychosomatic and lives in the brain of the smoker as a belief. However, smoking is more of an ‘anxiogenic’, which means it causes anxiety! If your a smoker it is important that you know this...
read moreBlue Monday 21st January 2013
What is Blue Monday? The 21st of January is considered to be the most depressing day of the year! I am unsure as to how this came about or indeed, who decided it was the worst day of the year but there is a really decent campaign behind this date run by the MHRUK (Mental health research UK). This charitable organisation aims to raise funds for help in researching mental health issues and raising public awareness to them. At this time of year depression can be worse due to the lack of natural light. Everywhere is dark, gloomy and rainy. It is...
read moreDoes diet affect depression?
How our diet affects depression Depression is remaining to be one of the biggest problems that our society faces. If you look at the NICE website (that’s the National institute of clinical excellence) up to 36% of adults in the UK suffer from varying degrees of depression. The figure involved here means that by 2026, the amount of people in the UK suffering from depression could be 1.45 million, and this is just the figure reflecting the identified number of individuals, there may be many thousands more who have depression but...
read moreBrian Conley reveals his fight with depression!
Brian Conley has had to leave the jungle on ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’, due to exhaustion and malnutrition. This, of course, wasn’t the only reason. Brian later revealed that he has suffered from depression for the last 15 years and has taken anti-depressants for the same amount of time. He made the decision to stop taking his medication whilst in the jungle, and quite rightly, the producers of the show got very concerned.It had been written in his contract that he take his medication daily or...
read moreCould exercise make us smarter?
Could Exercise make you smarter? For a long time, scientists have been researching exercise and its effect on emotional and physical factors, looking particularly at stress, heart conditions and bone density. More recently exercise has been studied along side our mental functioning. It is obvious that the mind and the body are connected and good functioning of our cognitive processes have a positive effect on our bodies, and the same visa versa. So is there a link here? Our cognitive processes relate to how we think and process thoughts...
read moreLeona Lewis seeks hypnotherapy
Singer Leona Lewis has reportedly been using hypnotherapy to help her with performance nerves. The X-Factor winner and now world wide star has been linked has apparently been using hypnosis to help her deal with her anxiety when she performs in front of large crowds. She hopes that it will calm her nerves and help her to feel more relaxed when she starts a huge world tour. This has lead her to feel much more confident and relaxed. A source told the Sun newspaper. “She already has bags more poise and confidence than she used to,...
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