therapy

Social Media Detox: Why having a break is so good for your Mental Health

Social Media Detox: Why having a break is so good for your Mental Health

At the end of January, I noticed I was feeling very worried and anxious. The world has been a strange and unsettling place in the last year. Yes, I do have a very heavy job and it can get personally draining at times.

As I preach to my clients, self-care is crucial in life and I apply that to myself everyday. However, I realised the excess of information and the general collective anxiety was taking its toll on me.

So I decided to delete all my social media apps from my phone. It was meant to be just for that weekend. But I felt such a positive difference, that I decided to continue my ‘experiment’. Six weeks later, I’m still off the apps and I’m truly loving it.

Are you ‘Working From Home’ or ‘Living At Work’?

Are you ‘Working From Home’ or ‘Living At Work’?

Most people are finding difficult to switch off from work and separate their personal and professional lives. On one hand we are saving time from commuting, moving around between meetings and travelling. On the other hand, that time seems to be transferred and fully dedicated to work duties, without much change or respite.

Suddenly, life is becoming an endless list of obligations and demands, without the release that comes from social activities and other distractions, from meeting different people and being in different environments.

How is all this affecting our mental health and our emotions? How can I then separate my personal and professional life? How can I switch off from work?

Why we will need to start all over again after lockdown. And how to make that transition as painless and beneficial as possible

Why we will need to start all over again after lockdown. And how to make that transition as painless and beneficial as possible

While we had to readjust and find new ways of living during lockdown, we will need to rethink our lives and habits when this is all over.

While many people used the lockdown as an opportunity to rethink their lifestyle, become healthier and slow down their pace. Many others reached a much higher level of anxiety and insecurities, or threw themselves into unhealthy habits such as much more alcohol and excess eating, less motivation for physical activities and less interest in social interactions.

How to keep sane and well during the ‘social isolation’ and ‘collective anxiety’

How to keep sane and well during the ‘social isolation’ and ‘collective anxiety’

This has been a very difficult time for most people. Uncertainty and the unknown shake our most basic life structure, we lose routine and we end up feeling confused and lost. Right now, nobody seems immune to the ‘collective anxiety’ that has been taking over our society in the last few weeks.

If we let ourselves get sucked into all the stress, if we don’t focus on what can be done right now, if we don’t create a healthy mindset, we are in danger of freaking out and losing touch with the things that are really important in our lives.

Many people fear ‘they’ll go crazy’ by being stuck at home. So these are the things I would suggest:

Why do I feel so sad and in a low mood for no reason?

Why do I feel so sad and in a low mood for no reason?

We all have ups and downs. Life isn’t a linear state and if your mood changes from one moment to another, it means that you are alive and open to your feelings. However, sometimes it feels that the low mood is taking over. From the moment you wake up, there’s that darkness and inexplicable sadness in your heart. You feel heavy and your mind seems filled with negative thoughts. What’s going on? What’s wrong with me?

Why does separation hurt so much? The emotional stages after a breakup

Why does separation hurt so much? The emotional stages after a breakup

If you are going through a breakup, separation or divorce, you might be feeling sad, distressed, angry, or perhaps numb, lost and confused. If the decision to end the relationship wasn’t yours, there might be feelings of rejection, insecurities, low self-esteem, low self-confidence and vulnerability.

‘Midlife crisis’ can happen at any age. What to do if it hits you?

‘Midlife crisis’ can happen at any age. What to do if it hits you?

Some call it ‘existential crisis’ or ‘life crisis’. And it can happen at any stage of your life. It’s that moment when you look in the mirror and ask: ‘Is that it?’. Or ‘What’s the point of this?’. Or ‘What am I doing with my life?’. Those thoughts can make you anxious and feeling lost. Not knowing where to go or how to take the next step.

Why Counselling can be so powerful. And why I admire the ones who reach out for help.

Why Counselling can be so powerful. And why I admire the ones who reach out for help.

It takes courage and strength to face your problems and reach out for help. It’s not an easy decision and it will likely involve talking about things that you would probably prefer to forget about. But, as most of us might have noticed, ‘forgetting’ is impossible and doesn’t really help.

Why do I feel like I am a different person at different times? Understanding the several parts of ourselves

Why do I feel like I am a different person at different times?  Understanding the several parts of ourselves

‘Why am I so confident sometimes, and the next moment I act like a small child?’ ‘Why do I feel so vulnerable and lost in certain situations? And in others I am a control freak and in charge?’ ‘Why do I feel so intimidated by that person, but so authoritarian when I am with that other person?’‘Who is the REAL me?’