Discussions about different mental health and well-being topics
As May is recognized in parts as World Mental Health Month, I thought it would be a good time to talk about it and look into the world of mental health and well-being. As a school counsellor, coach, and advocate for well-being in the local community, I feel very strongly about the importance mental health plays in our lives. My reason for choosing this topic for today was to also make talking about mental health and well-being more normal.
Continue reading “We all have a mental health”
In my pursuit of developing myself, both professionally and personally, I have started taking some personal therapy sessions. A surprising amount of people are surprised that a counsellor would attend therapy themselves. I explain it as, we can all benefit from time supporting ourselves, you can be amazed what you can learn about yourself and I am my only tool in my work, so I need to make sure I look after myself to be able to help others.
Continue reading “What is my value and worth?”
I am going to change up my post a bit today and try something new and different. I have written many different blogs around different topics, food, pets, self-care, parenting, dealing with lockdown, friendships, learning a new language (still in the process of mastering this one), coaching, goals, and lots more. I have struggled at points to write what I thought were meaningful posts and then other times I would write three with no issues. I guess this is a part of writing and the reason I feel this happens is that what I write about are things that mean something to me and are based around supporting you to gain from them and make your life, well, ‘well’.
Continue reading “Mental Well-being Challenge”
I started many posts, wanting to think of the perfect thing to write about and start the year off with. This was my first fail; that is way too much pressure that I was putting on myself. I wrote a really good one that I was like yes, this is it, to find I had already written something similar before. I wrecked my brain, spoke to a friend who said what about crying? And here we are, my now new post that is completely different from where I was going with but what I think is something that is needed right now also. The holidays can be a mixture of a lot of things, feelings, and emotions no matter where you are in your life. And for no apparent reason, it can really suck and be hard on people, but we do not tell people this or let anyone aware that our holidays were anything more than magical. This brings me to then, why crying is okay and SO important. For both men and women, it can still be seen as a sign of weakness amongst other negative ideas but this is not how we should be perceiving crying.
Over the years there has been lots of research into the psychological development of boys and girls. Boys being told that they should not cry, or that crying is for girls, or be a man! Now we know that this is so much more damaging and that crying is good for all. So much so that, there is a podcast called ‘Boys don’t cry’ to talk about mental health and other issues for men by men. They also have a female on each panel to give their opinion also.
Research has found that it is not only beneficial to cry to express your feelings, but it can also help reduce stress and anxiety. By not doing so, it can cause negative effects to your body including cardiovascular disease and other stress-related illnesses, the reason for this is that negative emotions when not expressed over time can manifest themselves physically causing such illnesses. Yes, for women, hormones can affect our crying but we have also been told that it is okay. But high reports of both genders express feeling better after crying. Every now and again, I feel a need to cry. It may be for a reason or for nothing really at all. A few days ago, I started to cry for nothing really. I lay down beside my foster dog and he started to rub my face gently with his paw. I not only felt relieved after crying, I felt loved and comforted by an animal. I thought if this is the case, that an animal can read my emotions through my tears, then it is something we should do more.
Benefits of crying:
It can also help bring people closer in a way, it allows you to be vulnerable to yourself and others in a positive way. For men, it has the same benefits, but it also allows you to share emotions and show your vulnerability in a way like no other. It makes you more of a man rather than less of one. It can help us process what we are thinking and feeling which in turn can help us process thoughts and make better decisions. There are so many more benefits and I have just merely touched the surface of it. But it is something that is really beneficial, both for our mental and physical health, which we need to appreciate and utilise.
If you have ever watched the TV show Friends, one of the episodes is based around Chandler’s inability to cry. He watches different movies, Monica makes up stories about their future together, he tries to read books and cannot understand why he cannot. Looking at Chandler’s life, when he was growing up, he did not have emotionally available parents, which may have caused him to be this way. My point of this is that when he did get upset about the on again off again relationship of his friends Ross and Rachel, he was not able to stop crying. His emotions had become too overwhelming, which is another reason why crying is so important; to process our thoughts and feelings so they do not overwhelm us.
That being said, crying excessively may be the route of other issues and if it is paired with other things like lack of appetite and trouble sleeping then it may be worthwhile talking to a trained mental health professional. For some people who feel that they want to cry at times but are just not able to do so physically, therapy/talking through things can release it from within and help you support yourself through difficult or challenging times.
The main thing I hope you do take away from this post is that crying is good and cleansing for you. It is natural and your way of expressing your emotions and feelings. So if it is at a song, movie, TV show, a book or you just feel like crying, do it. You will feel better for sure after.
No matter where we are, who we are, or what culture or family we come from, we all have traditions. This post is going to address two things, traditions and what they mean for us and also about how times like Christmas can be difficult for some people.
Continue reading “Traditions and holiday blues”
Over the past few years, we have become a generation that is used to everything at their fingertips. Especially living in the UAE, this is very much the case. You can get your shopping, water, dinner, petrol and even a car wash brought straight to your door. But when it comes to services that require a face to face interaction, is it possible to get these online, and is the quality good enough?
Continue reading “Online Support!”
Anyone that really knows me, knows how much I love pets. I do not intend on owning a cat as I do not like them being on my countertops, but I have nothing against them other than that. Growing up on a farm, I have always had animals around me. The last five years in the Middle East have been strange not having a pet but then I am always busy. I have thought about fostering a dog many times but always talked myself out of it. Even 6 weeks ago, until I saw a post for a rescue dog that had an injured leg and who was so scared of people around him. I knew I wanted to foster this dog and that I had, at the moment, the time that he needed.
Continue reading “I fostered a dog, and it has made my year and it has been great for my mental health and well-being”
I have had many conversations over the past couple of weeks both professionally and personally about the return to work/school, in relation to the person themselves or their children. I have spoken with people in Europe, at home in Ireland, Australia, and here in the UAE. Each country has different measures on how they are supporting everyone and what precautions need to be put in place.
Continue reading “Returning to work/school and anxiety”
The two words do not really sound like they should go together. Positive is seen as a good thing, the definition describes it as someone who tends to have an optimistic outlook. Someone who tends to, which does not mean that they always do have an optimistic outlook. I would say I am a positive person. Some may even say too positive, but I do not see the world in rainbows and unicorns. But what if I am too positive for some people and what does it mean for them?
Continue reading “Toxic positivity”
I have done a lot of thinking about this one for some time and knew it was something I wanted to delve into more, especially in the current climate. It took me some thinking and time to set my mind on what part of contact with others to even look at.
We have five senses; Sight (visual), Sound (audio), Touch, Smell and Taste (last 3 comprising of you kinesthetic senses). The first of our senses to develop even before we are born is the one of touch. It has come down the line from our primate relatives and it was a distinct part for their development and their grooming process. As a baby, we need and crave the emotional stimulations from physical touch, especially that of our mothers. We learn from a young age how touch can relieve stress and offer comfort and safety. Studies have shown how the impact of these interactions, or lack of, when a baby is young can affect a person’s physical and mental well-being when they are older. Something to think about, right?
Continue reading “Is physical contact still important even in a pandemic?”