I dread January 16th. 4 years on and it still sucks. Someone said recently that I should “just move on”. 4 years is a long time after all. I was honestly shocked that someone would say that; blown away really. It’s certainly not something I would ever say to someone about loss. Whether it was meant in a malicious way or not, I’ve taken a long time to think about it. So let’s talk about it. Grief is a heavy and overwhelming feeling. We all experience grief in our own way. For some, the first few years after a loved one’s death may be the hardest. The initial shock and numbness may have worn off ..read more

Winter can be a challenging time for many people, with shorter days, colder weather, and Christmas stress and pressure contributing to a decline in mental health. Research has shown that the lack of sunlight and the changes in temperature and weather patterns can disrupt the body’s internal clock, leading to symptoms of depression and anxiety. Add to that the current cost of living crisis in the UK, and you have a recipe for a decline in mental health. One condition that is particularly common during the winter months is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression that is related t ..read more

It’s been a while… I took a break. It was supposed to be a short break but here we are 7 months later. Many of you have been asking when Mind and The Gap will start again, and until now I didn’t really have an answer for you. The truth is, often we need a lot longer than we think to recharge. With everything—work, life, entertainment—being made virtual over the last couple of years, we’ve all spent a huge proportion of our time staring at screens. Working on social media for my full time job as well as writing here in the evenings was a lot for my brain to digest. I found myself doom-scrolling ..read more

For some people, suicide isn’t part of regular everyday conversations. You see it on the news, you text your friend “I can’t believe they’re dead”, and you move on with your life. September 10th rolls around and your company sends out a quick email reminding people that it’s World Suicide Prevention Day, and to speak up if you’re feeling blue. You skim read it, move it to trash, and forget about it. It’s not like that for everyone. Suicide is a very real and unavoidable part of many people’s lives. In 2019, more than 700,000 people died by suicide globally. It’s the 4th leading cause of death ..read more

“How are you?” is a question that gets asked countless times a day. If you’re anything like me, you automatically respond with ‘fine thanks, you?’, because that’s the response that’s easiest to give. It’s the response we grow up hearing the adults around us use; and they probably learned it from the adults around them. People are becoming increasingly aware of this. Various campaigns encourage us to ‘ask twice‘ or to ask ‘how are you, really?’. The problem is though, we don’t always have an answer. We don’t always know how we are, let alone be able to put it into words. we have brain fog Somet ..read more

There are times when no matter how many people we have around us, we feel alone – even in a room full of our most favourite people. Depression weighs us down and anxiety clutches our chest. It feels like there’s just no escaping it. “but you’re not alone” The standard response to ‘I’m feeling lonely’ is ‘no you’re not’. It is so frustrating and doesn’t change how we feel. You might think you’ve heard ‘you’re not alone’ so many times that it has now lost all meaning. When we feel isolated, being told that we’re not alone doesn’t fix the situation. It doesn’t matter ..read more

written by Greg Hall / @tofeelhealed We’re taught from a young age that ‘practice makes perfect’. With that notion in mind, the better we get at something the higher chance we have of executing exactly that in a successful manner. For example, a physically demanding activity if performed incorrectly can result in injury but in time the chance of injury is far less due to the practice being put into place. Makes sense right? But sometimes injury happens regardless of how much practice is put in however preempting injury isn’t something that sits at the forefront of our minds because we are awa ..read more

What is it about animals? When bad days strike, I often find myself sending, “I feel terrible, send dog pics to cheer me up” to my friends. The response is always the same: a torrent of pictures of animals doing cute, daft things – but somehow it has a magical, calming effect. The therapeutic effect of the human bond with our pets, particularly dogs, is increasingly recognised by researchers. Marion Janner, a mental health campaigner and all-round animal lover, says that dogs teach us a whole range of lessons. “Dogs love us unconditionally. They’re the ultimate in equal opp ..read more

what is BPD? Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a disorder of mood and how a person interacts with others. It’s the most commonly recognised personality disorder. If you have BPD, everything feels unstable: your relationships, moods, thinking, behavior—even your identity. Small things can trigger intense reactions in people living with BPD. Once upset, it can be very difficult to calm down and control. Some people get stuck in a cycle of self destruction and find it hard to escape. Common symptoms include: Fear of abandonment Unstable relationships Unclear self image Impulsive and/or se ..read more

Written by Sarah Craig (@teenytinytank) If this blog post were written by certain brand of #fitfam influencer, it might include phrases like, “exercise is the best antidepressant” or, “the gym is my therapy”. While I’d like to believe such attitudes and phrases are well intentioned, they are at best condescending and, at worst, potentially damaging to those for whom getting up out of bed in the morning is a physical and mental climb akin to K2. Before the collective #fitfam call me overdramatic, allow me to justify my stance. I am an exercise professional. My passion is in educating and empowe ..read more