Did I miss the memo? Is the pandemic over? I ask not because life is slowly but surely creeping back to normal in much of Europe and the US. Nor because of the rising vaccination rates, the opening of borders or the fact that…
What if I were to tell you about an insidious being that comes to you in the night and whispers hurtful things to you as you sleep? You’re not fully aware that it’s there, but you’re absorbing the awful messages it delivers to you,…
2020 hasn’t been easy. Over the last six months, it has felt like the news cycle has been hitting us over the head repeatedly with a lead brick, one negative headline after the other. From the early days of COVID-19, through to the bush fires…
Over the past two weeks I’ve been having a difficult time with fear. I’m in the process of making some fairly big life decisions, which have been long overdue and will lead me down some unexplored paths. Since the day that I made one…
Anxious Fear Happy Inspired Mental health exercises New Sad Stressed
Dear Me: Writing a letter of self-compassion to yourself
You probably won’t be surprised if I tell you that the writing process has helped me immensely throughout my journey to better mental health – I am a writer, after all. For example, just after my breakup four years ago, I signed up for…
I used to drink so much that, at times, I’d black out. If you’ve been through this before, you’ll know how awful it is to wake up and find that half of the previous night has seemingly been erased from your memory. A recent…
One of the many breakthroughs I made in my journey to better mental health was finally having the ability to recognise the onset of a depressive episode. It was surprisingly simple and staring me in the face all along, but when you don’t know…
Anxious Inspired New Notes From my Journal Stressed
Notes from my journal: On how to make a decision
I’ve decided to start a monthly series on musings I have on various mental health topics. It could be anything from an issue that I’m struggling with during that week, through to something new that I’m trying out (like a mindfulness app or a…
“Ma’am, you have discolouration. Would you like to speak to a dermatologist about this?” These were the words of a beauty therapist as I was trying (in vain) to enjoy a facial a few months ago. To this day, I don’t know what discolouration…
During my difficult breakup, I started pinning inspirational quotes on Pinterest every morning as part of my ‘self-care rituals.’ Here’s an assortment of the things that I saved at the time: “The comeback is stronger than the setback.” “What if you simply devoted this…