Love it or Hate it? Staying Sane with Exercise

Exercise is a part of many people’s lives for different reasons; for some, exercise is an obligatory chore to fit in, for others it features as a key hobby which other things revolve around. For some, exercise is about burning calories or staying healthy. For others, exercise can provide a focus; a goal or a challenge to work towards. We know exercise provides all sorts of health benefits for our bodies. It reduces our risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer. It burns fat, strengthens muscles and develops resilience. But what about our mental health? Strangely we often think of this as something separate. But inevitably our minds and our bodies are linked. Research now highlights the significant and enduring benefits of exercise on our emotional well-being and mental health. So what does exercise do for you?

Come and join these psychological workshops run locally by an experienced Clinical Psychologist. Topics range from challenging anxiety and minimising stress, to parenting dilemmas and parent-infant attachment. These workshops will include an element of teaching alongside interactive exercises and discussions, ensuring you leave with some key ideas and tips to try out. 

Self-Harm in Children and Young People

Deliberate self-harm has increased significantly in recent years amongst children and young people. Recent figures suggest 13% of young people may try to harm themselves between the ages of 11 and 16, with a 70% increase in the number of young people attending A&E because of self-harm. Examples of self-harm include cutting on the arms or other body parts, over-dosing or self-poisoning, burning, skin picking or hair pulling. In the time I have worked for local mental health services, I have seen an increase in the number and severity of self-harm incidents amongst young people. Sadly, this is alongside ever-increasing pressures on local mental health services, leaving many parents struggling to know where to turn for support. Despite a growing awareness of these difficulties, there remains a number of myths out there about self-harm. For example, many people worry that self-harm is always associated with a desire to seriously harm or end lives. This is not the case amongst many young people who self-harm. In addition, many consider self-harm to be “attention-seeking” in nature. Again, a significant number of people who self-harm are extremely secretive about this coping strategy and will go to great lengths to prevent those around them finding out. As a result, published figures are likely to massively under-represent the issue. If you are a parent or work with young people, it is worth knowing some key signs to look out for.

Do You Have The ‘Just Get on With It’ Approach?

There are lots of reasons why some of us tend to ‘bottle things up’ and just ‘get on with it’. The British ‘stiff upper lip’ tendency of remaining unemotional and resolute in the face of difficulties stands strong. While slowly being recognised, male culture is still dominated by messages of needing to be ‘strong’ and ‘unemotional’, as though the two are inherently linked. There remains a stigma attached to expressing and talking about feelings; whether this is a result of pride, a fear of being perceived as weak, or simply feeling uncomfortable disclosing personal experiences. Having said this, there is a balance to be sought; there are times when we need to be able to remain emotionally stable, perhaps at work, or in supporting others. Breaking down in the middle of the office, or demonstrating your overwhelming anxiety in front of your children, may not be optimal either. Regulating our emotional experiences is a functional skill. Many people may have a tendency to keep things to themselves, but that is not to say they are not processing things in their own way or doing what they need to do to get through the day. So where does the balance lie? And are there downsides of ‘bottling things up’ or is this as good a strategy as any?

Challenging Anxiety Day to Day

Worrying, over-thinking, second guessing constantly….a lot of people will identify with these as features of day to day life. Surprisingly common place, these can be significant drains on our energy, our emotional well-being and our ability to enjoy experiences. For some, these thinking patterns can, over time, edge towards much more significant experiences of anxiety and low mood. Can you think of a time when you’ve convinced yourself out of giving something new a go? Or perhaps a time when you’ve spent the day feeling tense and preoccupied, only to kick yourself later on for ‘worrying for nothing’? Most people can think of a time when they have laid awake at night thinking over something without being able to reach a resolution. So is there a way of tackling some of these experiences?