History and Culture

Mental Health Christmas Gifts That Aren't Just Another Candle The Discovery Journal - £24.99 Best for understanding your own patterns, tracking and managing anxiety and mental health. For someone who wants to understand themselves a little better, the Discovery Journal goes beyond the traditional blank page. Structured pages help you explore thoughts, emotions, behaviours and everyday patterns without the pressure of knowing what to write. It's also refillable, so pages can b

There is a strange kind of loneliness that appears when you can hear other people having fun. Bonfire Night is a perfect example. You can be perfectly content sitting at home until the first fireworks start outside. Suddenly you're imagining families wrapped in scarves watching displays together, couples standing beside bonfires and groups of friends drinking something warm while you're sitting on the sofa wondering why nobody asked what you were doing. Then Christmas arrives

Apparently Christmas is the season of giving. Unfortunately, some people interpret this as giving away your money, time, spare bedroom, emotional energy and every free weekend between November and January. Christmas has a strange way of making perfectly reasonable boundaries suddenly feel selfish. You don't want to attend something? "But it's Christmas!", You don't want someone staying for five nights? "But they're family!", You don't want to spend £100 on presents? "Don't be

Christmas comes with an unusual amount of emotional pressure. You aren't simply expected to celebrate it, you're expected to love it. You should be excited, grateful, festive. Surrounded by people you adore while wearing an excellent Christmas jumper and somehow serving twelve perfectly cooked vegetables simultaneously. And if you aren't feeling particularly merry? That can feel like another thing you're getting wrong. The reality is that Christmas anxiety can affect people f

There is something strange about September. One minute you're sitting outside at 8 pm wondering whether you need another barbecue, and seemingly five minutes later it's dark; you're wearing a jumper, and someone has started discussing Christmas. For some people, autumn is wonderful, but for others, it brings a subtle shift that is much harder to explain. You might feel more anxious. Your motivation drops. You feel unusually tired or overwhelmed. Perhaps you're more irritable

It's only an hour. So why can changing the clocks make some of us feel as though somebody has quietly rearranged our entire operating system? When the clocks go back in autumn, we technically gain an hour. That sounds wonderful. An entire bonus hour of sleep, except the reality doesn't always feel like that. You may find yourself waking earlier, becoming tired ridiculously early in the evening or feeling strangely out of sync for several days. Some people also notice changes

Winter wellbeing advice can sometimes feel as though it was written by someone who has never actually experienced winter. Have a bubble bath. Light a candle. Drink some herbal tea. Apparently, emerge three hours later as a completely different human being. There is nothing wrong with candles or baths, but when the darker months genuinely affect your mood, energy or anxiety, you might need something slightly more substantial than a lavender-scented evening. A winter mental hea

Summer ends and something feels different. The evenings suddenly seem darker, mornings become colder, and the freedom that comes with long summer days begins to disappear. Perhaps you're sleeping differently; maybe you feel less motivated to leave the house, or you might notice yourself worrying more, feeling restless, or simply feeling slightly unlike yourself without being able to explain why. If you've found yourself wondering, "Why does my anxiety get worse in autumn?", y

When people think about fresh starts, they usually think about New Year's Day. New goals. New routines. New habits. But for many people, September feels like an even more natural time to reset. There is something about the beginning of autumn that encourages us to organise our lives, clear our minds, and start again. Whether you are returning to school, sending children back into education, beginning a new job, or simply noticing the change in season, September often feels fu

Starting university is often described as one of the most exciting chapters of your life. You are told it will be full of new friendships, independence, unforgettable experiences, and opportunities to discover who you really are. While all of those things can certainly be true, they only tell part of the story. For many students, the reality is much more complicated. Moving away from home, meeting hundreds of new people, managing your own finances, navigating unfamiliar surro

For many teenagers, going back to school is exciting. Seeing friends again, starting new subjects and looking forward to clubs, sports, and new experiences. But for others, the return to school can bring something very different. A racing heart, a knot in their stomach, sleepless nights, constant worry, or even a complete refusal to go through the school gates. School anxiety in teenagers is becoming increasingly common, and while a certain amount of nervousness is perfectly

Most people think anxiety starts with worrying. Worrying about the future. Worrying about what might happen. Worrying about things going wrong. But for many people, anxiety begins somewhere else entirely. It begins with trying to keep everyone happy, not to upset or disappoint anyone. Even when it comes at the expense of your own wellbeing. Over time, this becomes exhausting, and eventually, many people find themselves overwhelmed, anxious, resentful, and wondering why they f

Have you ever felt the need to double-check that the door is locked or wash your hands repeatedly until they feel just right? While these behaviours may seem like a normal part of everyday life for some, for others, they can be debilitating symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCD). I'll be exploring the truth behind OCD, debunking myths and shedding light on the reality of living with this condition, as I do every day. From understanding the signs and sympt

Menopause. It's a word that carries so much weight yet is often shrouded in secrecy and taboo. But actually, this natural phase of a woman's life can be empowering, transformative, and full of potential. In our recent interview, we delved into perimenopause, nutrition, body image, and the pervasive influence of diet culture. We talk to specialist Laura Clark - The Menopause Dietitian, about this fundamental stage of life as well as the development of what went on to become Di

I don’t know about you, but I can’t scroll through TikTok, Instagram, or even YouTube shorts these days without coming across someone explaining the signs of ADHD, autism, or anxiety. Sometimes it’s a psychologist sharing genuinely useful insights. But more often, it’s a 20-second video with a caption like: “If you do these three things, you probably have ADHD.” Cue thousands of comments like “Oh wow, that’s me!” and “This explains everything!” It’s fascinating, and a little

There is a reason certain characters stay with us long after a show ends. They feel familiar. They feel real. Often, those characters are the ones who struggle. They overthink. They worry. They doubt themselves. They feel deeply and sometimes painfully. Characters with anxiety resonate because they reflect something many people recognise in themselves, myself included. They are not perfect or fearless; they hesitate and spiral. They care too much, and in doing so, they make a

Supporting a partner through their healing process can be a delicate dance, one that requires empathy, understanding, and a genuine commitment. But when that healing is related to trauma, the complexity of the situation can feel overwhelming. How can you be the supportive partner your loved one needs? How can you create a safe space for communication? And how can you ensure that your efforts make a real difference in their recovery? In this article, we will explore the essent

There was a time when messages were exciting. When hearing a notification felt like someone reaching out because they genuinely wanted to talk. Now it feels very different. Many people see their phone light up, and instead of feeling glad, they feel a sharp pull of stress in their chest. Another message. Another thing to reply to. Another moment of pressure. We have reached a strange point where people are more connected than ever, yet feel more drained than ever. The constan

For years, I used the words stress and anxiety interchangeably. If I felt overwhelmed, I called it stress. If I felt uneasy, I called it anxiety. If I could not sleep, it was probably both. I never really stopped to ask what the difference was, and because of that, I did not always respond most helpfully. Understanding stress vs anxiety changed how I manage my mental health. Not because I needed perfect labels, but because clarity reduces fear. When you know what you are deal

For something we talk about almost daily, stress is surprisingly misunderstood. We say we are stressed when we are busy, stressed when we are tired. Stressed when we are overwhelmed. But very few of us actually pause and ask what stress is or how it shows up in our bodies. I used to think stress meant I was coping badly. I believed it was something dramatic and obvious. Something that would announce itself clearly. Instead, stress crept in quietly. I did not notice it at firs