Teenage Mental Health
Britain Get Talking
We’re excited to endorse ITV’s new mental health campaign, Britain Get Talking, launched by Ant and Dec during Saturday night’s Britain’s Got Talent final. The duo paused the show to encourage the audience at home to talk to each other for…
Poems for life and love
Today is National Poetry Day. Here are two poems by the wonderful Wendy Cope who writes with poignant humour – and brevity – about life and love. The Orange At lunchtime I bought a huge orangeThe size of it made…
Dealing with high emotion
Emotions are running high in public life this week. MPs have been shouting at each other over the floor of the House of Commons, using words like ‘cowardly’, ‘disgrace’ and ‘horror’. And world leaders at the United Nations were excoriated…
What is ‘depression’?
There are many ways to define and describe depression. Fighting an invisible enemy, living with a ‘black-dog’, walking through thick fog, wearing a lead suit, trapped with a critical gremlin. What would your word or image be? I relate to…
Un-shaming ourselves about climate change
I’ve been thinking about Greta Thunberg over the summer. The Swedish teenager and climate campaigner has been travelling by boat across the Atlantic to the US to attend a climate conference. I thought about this particularly hard as I sat…
Summer self-help
As we take our summer break we thought we’d highlight some great sources of online help and inspiration for your mental health. WEBSITE: welldoing.org has a directory of therapists and also lots of accessible articles about all aspects of therapy. Recent…
Loose language around mental health
Donald Trump has decided to brand recent mass shootings in America as a ‘mental health’ problem. Whatever your views on US politics it’s concerning for mental health professionals to hear mental illness casually associated with violence. Negative stereotyping fuels misunderstanding…
Facing up to Fortnite
British 15 year-old, Jaden Ashman, this week won nearly a million pounds playing ‘Fortnite’, a fast and furious online game where 100 players battle to be the last one standing. “I’ve thrown out an Xbox and snapped a headset because…
Self-help for the heat wave
As temperatures hit 35 degrees this week here are our top tips for staying sane in the sunshine: Hydrate. What’s good for the body is good for the mind and water is essential for well-being. Keeping well-hydrated guards against tiredness…
School is out!
School is out, exams are over and the summer holidays begin. At Bramham Therapy we see lots of young clients for whom school is a struggle. The stress of exam season is huge. Combined with constant pressure from social media…
Dealing with a ‘domestic’
Domestic disputes are in the news this week thanks to intense scrutiny around the personal lives of current Tory leadership candidates. Raised voices are one thing, but full-blown domestic abuse is a very serious issue. It can affect both women…
Daddy issues
Fathers’ Day. My dad always said it was an excuse for the gift industry to make money. He refused point blank to celebrate or be celebrated. For a gregarious, friendly man this always seemed out of character to me. And…