Blue Monday was originally created in 2004 by psychologist Cliff Arnall.  The idea was originally created in 2004 by psychologist Cliff Arnall. He came up with a "statistical formula" for the January blues after he was asked to do so by travel firm Sky Travel. "I was originally asked to come up with what I thought was the best day to...

We work to earn money. After taking care of the usual monthly essential bills and maybe a bit for a rainy day, we have money in our account to spend on what we desire and like to own. Does spending lift our mood ? Make us feel good about ourselves ? The research says yes, but it depends. Spending our money on product stuff, gives us pleasurabl...

World Kindness Day is celebrated each year on November 13th to support the act of making the world a better place through small acts of kindness. It was launched in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement which had been formed the year before in Tokyo through a group of like-minded people and organisations. This year's theme for World Kindness day is E...

With much of the UK either under lockdown or working under restrictions, many more people are again working from home.  For a lot of freelancers, this may mean little has changed for them, however, if you are new to home working or felt it didn't work well for you last time, we've compiled some helpful tips to make the process a more prod...

What is mindfulness?  Mindfulness is the act of being fully present at that moment, aware of our own body's feelings, where we are, and what we're doing. While we focus on these things we can assess them while not overreacting or being overwhelmed by our feelings. We all possess this ability but like a muscle, it builds strength with practice....

Approximately two-thirds of women in the UK feel there is a general lack of support and understanding around menopause and the various transition stages of women's life (Nuffield Health). With 80% of women going through menopause experiencing some symptoms - that's 1.5 million women in the UK affected at any one time (...

Historically, if you were overwhelmed by a Mental Health crisis you booked an appointment with your GP, turned up at your local Accident and Emergency Department or you rang 999. In recent years, Crisis Interventions teams were created but these are in secondary care and in scarce supply. Historically in Cumbria, you must have been their patie...

Happy Sunday!  Let's take a little Sunday self-care time to recognise the little things each day that we're grateful for, taking time to focus on the things we have, rather than the things we don't. In his research Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D. has studied the link between gratitude and well-being, leading multiple experiments into the sub...

I have spent most of my working life with people who have been struggling with suicidal feelings. I vividly remember a time when I unexpectedly found a person hanging from the ceiling. I lifted the person up to help them keep breathing. They were heavy, I felt my strength ebbing as time went by, until more help arrived. This was during my time in&n...

Mental Health Foundation warns about the long-term risk to mental health of loneliness, and you can view the findings from their latest survey here. According to their survey of UK adults, which took place during lockdown (2 – 3 April), one in four said they had feelings of loneliness in the "previous two weeks".  When the same question was as...

Emergency legislation has been introduced to Parliament which includes temporary measures to change the Mental Health Act. This is because the government is concerned that COVID-19 will reduce the available number of mental health professionals to help people's mental health, placing them at risk. These measures were fast-tracked thr...

According to NHS statistics, Post Natal Depression affects more than 1 in every 10 women within a year of giving birth. Being alert to postnatal depression can be very problematic especially when it can be hidden by the natural tiredness of new motherhood, or tied up with feelings of guilt and shame. With people now returning ba...

 As a young 20-year-old in the 70s, I felt my fate had already been sealed to go and work for our family business, that was until my sister invited me to a nurse's house party. The atmosphere and camaraderie were such that I began to question if my career should actually be general nursing, my sister went to great length explaining all the job...