During the ‘’Troubles’ we went out to a Victim group to talk. Most had had a family member murdered and all lived in politically traumatised and disadvantaged areas. We asked what symptoms they had noticed. Most reported that they had few or none – apart from ‘nerves’ for which they were largely prescribed benzodiazepines. In addition, they reported many minor physical illnesses (known to be a trauma symptom in itself). When we later assessed them for trauma symptoms however, we found that the results were in the very severe range. To me it seemed that trauma symptoms became more evident afte ..read more

Recently I received an email from a distraught wife. Her husband had an affair six months ago and she found out only when the other woman texted her. He wants to stay in the marriage, but she says she can no longer trust him. The husband complains to her that he has apologised numerous times and answered her questions, but she refuses to draw a line under it. Tom. It’s not that she refuses to draw a line under it Tom. She cannot. Trust that has been undermined needs root and branch analysis in order to be re-built. That can be acutely painful and many couples avoid it. Often the relationship ..read more

Do you remember, the 13 symptoms of panic in last month’s blog and how they make us catastrophise (make something catastrophic out of something minor?) Well, when we get some of the frightening symptoms of panic what we might do is begin to breathe more quickly (hyperventilate). This is just nature’s way of preparing us for fight or flight. Unfortunately, we cannot run away from a panic attack so we tend to repeatedly hyperventilate – prepare for fight/flight even when we’re not aware of doing so. Hyperventilation (taking too much oxygen in by breathing quickly) upsets the balance of oxygen a ..read more

When we come along to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy the words themselves are a bit off putting – what is it? Yet good CBT should be simple. It just means that we learn to change how we think and behave. Today we’ll look at how we might need to change our thinking.  One example is that when we panic, we typically get some or all of the 13 symptoms below:     Palpitations, pounding heart or accelerated heart rate Sweating Trembling or shaking Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering Feelings of choking Chest pain or discomfort Nausea or abdominal distress Feeling Dizzy, unst ..read more

This can be a particularly difficult time of year for students studying towards exams. For too long the myth that school days are the happiest in our lives as been held up as a universal truth but for far too many students this is unfortunately not the case. More teenagers than ever before are reporting difficulties with depression and anxiety with symptoms increasing during the exam period. Indeed in most recent years a worrying trend has emerged which indicates that people are experiencing mental health difficulties more severely and at a younger age. No wonder considering that teenagers and ..read more

  The ways in which we speak about mental ill health are crucial. It is only in recent decades that conversations about mental health have really begun to open up for the public.   Stigma There are many ways in which the language of mental health has been stigmatising. Whilst we are making strides in addressing this, it is important to acknowledge how far we have come. The first attempts to classify mental ill health and learning disability left much to be desired – in 1840, the US census listed only two options: ‘idiot’ or ‘insane’. As the number of classifications increased over th ..read more

“The right to the highest attainable standard of both physical and mental health is a fundamental human right.” World Health Organisation As an independent cognitive behavioural therapy centre, we are all too aware of the need for GP practices to have mental health expertise available within their clinics. For years we have endeavoured to support GPs in the provision of mental health services, but with an ever increasing need and limited funding available, it has been a continual struggle to provide the level of support which is needed. #123GP is a grass roots campaign that aims to secure incr ..read more

As new research into the prevalence of mental health difficulties is published, we are seeing a common trend – that across many types of problem, including depression, anxiety disorders, trauma and eating disorders, the gender gap is narrowing. In older research, we used to see that for many difficulties, such as depression and anxiety, many more women were receiving diagnoses and treatment than men. For others, such as difficulties with using alcohol, we saw that many more men were experiencing the problem. Recent research has shown increases in the prevalence of many common mental health di ..read more

‘We were crying out for help and support for a very very long time and she shouldn’t have deteriorated to this level’ Claire – Mother of Jess, BBC Panorama It was hard to hear this heart wrenching plea issued by a mother on last week’s BBC Panorama presented by Sean Fletcher and aired on the twenty fourth of September. We could not agree more and echo her sentiments resolutely. The programme raised a poignant but important concern that has long been a topic of discussion amongst mental health professionals and those families whose children are impacted by mental health difficulties. The quest ..read more

Elyn R. Saks at University of California campus ‘The humanity we share is more important than the mental illnesses we may not.’ Elyn Saks After viewing the inspirational TED talk ‘A Tale of Mental Illness – From the Inside’ by Elyn Saks, a woman with schizophrenia, these words have resonated profoundly.   ‘What’s Left of Me?’ Mental illnesses of all kinds can make us feel as though our identity has been stripped away – our hopes, our vitality, our humour, our passions, our motivation, our drive. Even our sense of what is real, what we can trust. Feelings of disconnection from other peop ..read more