Love in the time of Corona

A common first world problem is having hundreds, if not thousands of happy life events stuck in photo form on phones or computer hard drives where they are rarely looked at. With lots of us currently having extra time on our hands,   I know I’m not alone in starting to delve back into these memories, reminding myself of forgotten celebrations, printing some out for frames or albums.   Research has suggested that people are more likely to become nostalgic in times of difficulty , and for good reason apparently. While the feelings aroused by looking back at the past can be complex and not all comfortable, indications are that the process and consequences of reminiscence may be beneficial to wellbeing in the long run.   For me, for example, looking at past memories now brings both sadness and pleasure. While I delight in remembering and re-experiencing past joys, there are twinges of disappointment that life is now different, frustration that I may not be able to re...

Mental Health Awareness Week 2020 is being hosted by the Mental Health Foundation from 18th to 24th May with a theme of kindness. But what does awareness really mean and how can we engage with it? One of the main messages of awareness initiatives is that mental health is everyone’s business, whether things are going well for us, or we’re struggling. Being able to talk about wellbeing, openly and without judgement, would mean that mental health becomes less stigmatised and that more people feel empowered to make changes or explore support options. This is even more important during times like this, when we are having to adapt to new ways of living amidst a global health crisis. The theme of kindness is particularly apt for this year too, highlighting communal aspects of wellbeing and our shared potential to build resilience, harness resources and promote recovery from trauma. Kindness, however, is not just what we give to others, but also something we can (and should) reserve for o...

Every Clinical Psychology trainee at Salomons Institute of Applied Psychology knows of Barry Mason. No, not the songwriter, but the family therapist who’s 1993 paper on the value of safe uncertainty has been passed down to many a trainee therapist since. Originally developed to offer family therapists a new way of approaching difficulties that families bring, the paper has implications for much more than just systemic therapy practice.   While doing a reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) recently on how to stay well during the pandemic, it was clear in many of the questions that it’s the uncertainty of the situation that is troubling a lot of people. And this isn’t anything new - humans have long preferred certainty, largely because perceived predictability and familiarity means opportunities to prepare and adapt. So, when the population is facing uncertainty on a scale this big, it’s bound to cause more than a few people to lose their emotional footing.   Humans are hard-wi...

Today we celebrate the anniversary of the end of World War Two while in the amidst of another, different global crisis. Seventy five years ago, in scenes that we cannot imagine under current lockdown rules, more than one million people lined the streets across the UK to celebrate the final surrender. Although people would face more uncertainty, grief and economic decline, the post-war years also brought relative peace, reconstruction and the foundation of the National Health Service - an organisation we have probably never been more grateful for than now, for all its flaws. What people were celebrating most, though, I think, was the resurgence of hope. The end of the devastation and the bombing meant that recuperation and rejuvenation could finally begin. Today, with our light at the end of the tunnel yet to shine, and with many NHS services overwhelmed, I want to offer a little bit of brightness. Launching today, helpers is a free, online mental health support tool built by ...

As we approach the seventh week of lockdown, the nation’s thoughts are starting to turn towards what’s going to happen on the other side, when all this is ‘over’. Some are excited for a return to normal, but there is a growing realisation that it will be virtually impossible to circle back to what has been. Instead, the world will emerge from this crisis as a different version of itself and it will be up to humanity to determine whether this adaptation is to be an improvement on before, or not. We will have to decide, at both an individual and societal level, whether we embrace this opportunity as a gift, or ignore it.   Take the health and social care sector, for example. Many services up and down the country, including the mental health service I work in, have had to figure out new ways of providing support and interventions. A small proportion of our service activities have had to stop entirely, but almost everything has continued in some form, with a fair few adaptations. ...