October Mental Health

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It’s cold, it’s wet, winter is on its way and it’s getting darker for longer. Seasonally Adjusted Disorder aside, there’s a lot to feel down about this month but there is also a lot you can do about it as, mental health and wellbeing-wise, there’s quite a bit going on this October. Not only do we have World Mental Health Day, but we also have that perennial NHS stop smoking initiative, Stoptober. Stopping smoking will do wonders, not only for your physical health but also for your mental health. But, what exactly is the link between smoking and mental health?

Most people who smoke say smoking relaxes them but it can’t. It just can’t. Nicotine is a stimulant you see, not a relaxant. Smoke too much and you become over stimulated and more prone, therefore, to stress and anxiety. Studies have also shown that, over time, smokers are more likely to become depressed than non-smokers. 

When you quit the fags, however, you’re more likely to feel more calm and positive. There’s a strong correlation between quitting and improved life satisfaction levels.  You’ll feel more in control for a start. Some studies have suggested that the beneficial effects of stopping smoking on anxiety and depression can equal that of medications often prescribed for the two conditions.

By the by hypnotherapy (of which I am both a proponent and a practitioner) is one of the more successful methods for stopping smoking.

World Mental Health Day, meanwhile, is an opportunity for us all, at both a professional (i.e., at work) and personal level (i.e. in our day-to-day lives), to increase awareness of and decrease the stigma attached to mental health issues.

I personally would like to get to the point where going for a mental health check up is seen as just as important and just as routine as going to the doctors or the dentists.

Held every year on 10 October, the theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day is suicide (and more importantly) suicide prevention.

Every year 80,000 people around the world take their own life and many more attempt it. Here in the UK, it is the leading cause of death among young people aged 20-34 years.

Do you have a mental health advocate where you work? If so, ask them what they have planned for the day.

Or perhaps, think about what you can do to help.

For more information on World Mental Health Day click here and for more information on Stoptober click here.

Brand New Bristol Based Therapist

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Well, fairly new; well, sort of new. New-ish; okay, I moved here from London in January 2016 but, due to other work commitments, it’s taken me this long to sort a private practice out. However, I am a psychotherapist and I’ve been working as one since 2004. Read more

Stop Smoking: Hypnotherapy can Help

It’s very nearly Stoptober, the month the NHS would like as many of you to quit smoking as possible. To that end, the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation have compiled a very handy infographic on all the goodness that comes from quitting cigarettes. You can find more details, plus other information over at their website (click here). Sadly, the only thing they haven’t included is how good hypnotherapy is at helping people quit.  Read more

Stop Smoking for October

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October is nearly upon us and what an auspicious month it is; not only does it contain Halloween and my mum’s birthday (Happy Birthday Mum!), but it’s also the month that the NHS invites you to quit smoking (Stoptober) But, can it be done? Can you successfully ditch the cigarettes and remain a non-smoker in just one month?  Read more

Why You Need to Give up Your Demands

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In Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), the form of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) that I advocate, we say that your demands are at the root of your psychological disturbance. But, what is a demand exactly, and how does it disturb you?  Read more

You’re not such a hard habit to break

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So, here we are, just a few short days into October, a month designated for giving up not one, but two unhealthy habits: namely, drinking and smoking. Yep, MacMillan would like you to go sober for October (click here), while the NHS would like you to use this month to stop smoking for good (click here). But, just how hard are these habits to break? Read more

Stop Smoking in Stoptober

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Yes folks, it’s that time of year again. Forget your New Year’s Resolution, that’s so nine months ago. And forget National Smoking Day, that’s so 14 March and you were busy then. Today, the Government launched Stoptober 2014. Read more

Stop Smoking: Once A Quitter, Always A Quitter

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I’ve blogged about this before (click here), but stopping smoking is one of the most successful methods for stopping smoking and study after study seems to back this up. And, ahead of National No Smoking Day, new research sheds light on new benefits to quitting. Read more

Sex, CBT and Hypnotherapy: Boosting it in the Bedroom

Superdrug, the health and beauty chain, are making a fortune out of red hot lovers up and down the country this week and estimate they’ve been dispensing one erectile dysfunction treatment every three minutes since Wednesday (with a 20 per cent surge in prescription requests this week alone). The store claims this Valentine’s Day will be the busiest in the history of its Online Doctor service. But, little blue pills are not the only solution for problems in the bedroom.  Read more

Resolutions: How to Stick to the Plan

Yes, it’s that time of year again. People will be wishing you a ‘happy new year’ for the next two or three weeks and a fair few of you will be talking about (if not exactly making) their New Year’s resolutions. But, a resolution can be made at any time of the year, not just the beginning. Making one is easy; it’s sticking to it that’s the hard part. Hard, but not impossible, if you know what to do . . .  Read more