First Psychology blog

With the darker nights coming earlier accompanied by colder temperatures, treating yourself to a glass of alcohol in the evening to heat yourself up and unwind might be the obvious choice. However, daily tipples combined with those wild Christmas nights on the town could cause more problems than a bad hangover... Despite it being a popular way to de-stress around family, relax around awkward moments with colleagues, and experiment with that new dance move, alcohol can become a more serious issue when we fail to recognise that we're drinking much more than we should. This can result in bad decisions being made, jobs being threatened, relationships tested, or even a dependence on alcohol developing that will be hard to kick come the new year. Write it down The best way to work out if you're exceeding your limit this year, is to take pen to paper and jot down some facts. What have you had to drink this week and how much of it? Is there a pattern in who you're drinking ...

Whether you’ve been chosen by your boss to plan a Christmas event or volunteered to host a New Year's party after a few too many mulled wines, we’ve got you covered. This time of year, it’s important not to get weighed down by your responsibilities and impossible expectations. Try to remember that these events are meant to be enjoyable for everyone, even you! One of the main stressors around the Christmas period comes from our tendency to set unrealistic goals for ourselves. When we don’t achieve these goals, it can leave us feeling disheartened or as if we have failed at something. So how do we set realistic goals? Well, it can be helpful to split larger goals, down into more manageable sections. For example, instead of ‘Organise party’ which is very difficult to monitor and delegate, try something like this, Look into event venues suitable for a party  Decide on venue and book date (Have a Plan B, just in case!)  Put together a guest list in consultation with interested p...

A house full of trimmings, more social engagements than you’ve managed to pack in all year and an abundance of changes to your usual routines and patterns all serve to make Christmas a busy, chaotic time. Yes, it’s only once a year, and yes it’s only for four weeks or so but for some people dealing with these disruptions to normality – on top of our jobs and home life - can be extremely stressful which takes the shine off the festivities. According to this article  "there is something about Christmas that sends even balanced people, the types who do meditation or mindfulness classes, slightly out of whack.” It suggests dealing with Christmas in a more modest way to ease some of the stress and often unrealistic expectations that we place upon ourselves and our families to be ‘perfect’. So what can we do to make sure that Christmas is a cheery season, rather than a time when our stress levels soar? Have a calendar of events Even if you're not a write it down kind of perso...

Christmas Day is often described as the perfect opportunity to spend time with others. Be it family, friends or a partner, there is often the assumption that the best way to enjoy the festive period is with other people. But what if this isn't your idea of a perfect Christmas? Or maybe it is but it's not possible for your to be with other people this year. Or, what if you hate this time of year and can't think of anything worse than being around people? Whichever it is, it's OK. If you want to spend the day in bed alone with a hot water bottle and a box of chocolates then why not? However, if you're looking for ideas on how to make the most of your Christmas Day by yourself this year, we have some suggestions you might want to try. Get outdoors The local pub and the shops might be closed, but nature is wide open. A cold, crisp walk on Christmas Day can be just as enjoyable by yourself, if not more enjoyable! Choose somewhere quiet where you can enjoy the peace...

Learning to deal with anger is a challenge for everyone at times. Stress can be a huge influence on our anger levels and for many, Christmas is the most stressful time of the year. The British Association of Anger Management found that the average family has their first argument at 9.58am on Christmas morning! The aim of Anger Awareness week is to identify and bring awareness to anger as a social issue that needs to be addressed. Have a read through our top tips for innovative ways to keep your cool this week and throughout the festive period. Breathe… The Christmas period can be a busy one. Many of us will be spending more time with close and extended family than we would usually choose to! This can result in louder arguments and messy meals which can cause stress anger levels to rise. If this happens to you, take a step outside the room and find a quieter place to just breathe. Never underestimate the benefits of allowing yourself this time to yourself, to gather your thoughts and ...

Imagine the scene... The kids come home from school, dump their school bags and make a run for the TV / iPads. Meanwhile, you spend the next hour persuading them to complete the homework / tasks / chores that are expected of them – as well completing your own! Moreover, once assigned a task it takes only moments before the kids become distracted and eager to return to their preferred activities. However tempting it is just to roll with it, as parents one of the most important jobs we have is to teach our kids about responsibility and a big part of that is completing the tasks they have been set, when they are asked. A recent study  found an innovative way of helping children get the job done – and it involves roleplay! They found that when children are primed to take on tasks as someone else – Batman, say, or their favourite TV star, for example – and given a prop appropriate to that role (think cape or wand, etc) they were more likely to stay engaged for longer and see the act...

There’s a reason why men often hang up their football or rugby boots when they approach middle age – the toll of competitive sports on the body can be significant and often men feel the need to step aside in favour of their younger, more agile counterparts. However, men the length and breadth of the UK – and further afield – are realising they needn’t be so hasty in giving up team sports altogether – it’s more a case of taking down the intensity a notch or two! Peter Reddy, a researcher and reader in psychology at Aston University has been studying the benefits of walking football on players aged 50 and over. It seems that the latest sports craze – walking football –  is having a beneficial impact not just on men’s physical health, but their mental well-being too. Men who have played football all their lives reported higher levels of flow (a feeling of satisfaction) and lower levels of stress when playing. There are a number of reasons why retrieving your footy...

Losing your job or taking time out of a career to return to studies / undertake parental duties has massive financial implications for us all. However for men – who are still often perceived as the main breadwinner and provider – the stress can be considerable and really take its toll on an individual’s mental health. A study in 2016 found that men are twice as likely to feel responsible for the finances in their family or relationship as women. Nearly a third of all men, feel the financial burden in a relationship and believe they are responsible for financial matters, compared to just 14% of women. This could be for a number of reasons, not least the gender stereotypes we are all exposed to from childhood, or the fact that many of the highest earning jobs are traditionally regarded as being male roles. Either way, when a man is no longer able to bring money into his household for whatever reason, it can impact on his mental wellbeing to a greater extent than for his female counterpa...

Not all of us can change the world, however, as human beings most of us want to achieve our full potential. This doesn’t always happen though and the reason for this often lies at our own door. As creatures of habit, it’s very easy to get locked in a pattern of behaviour that will stop us from doing what we are truly capable of. The good news is that - with a bit off effort – we can change our destructive habits and replace them with a set of behaviours that set us up for success. Remove distractions To switch on your mind and creativity, you first need to switch off the many distractions that eat away at your time. Being connected to the world 24/7 has its advantages, but it also takes you away from focusing on what you need to develop yourself. Nothing ever got done well in front of the telly; nobody ever achieved anything of note watching their tablet. Appreciate the need to have some ‘switch off time’ every day and let your mind rest. Get active With many of us holding more sed...

We’re in October now – have you joined thousands of others to declare this as the month you'll give up smoking? Stoptober is an NHS initiative designed to support people wanting to kick their smoking habit. Their figures claim that if you can give up smoking for 28 days you’re five times more likely to stop for good. In many ways, the growth in popularity of e-cigarettes is proof that you’re not alone in your desire to give up – they also provide an excellent tool to help you cut your nicotine intake. However, giving up the smoking habit for good is about more than swapping your cigarettes for another addiction. It’s about retraining your brain and body so that you no longer desire cigarettes in any form – or at least can refrain from smoking one, however much you crave it! Dealing with any addictive behaviour is not easy – it’s a daily battle – so we’ve developed a few simple psychological tips to help you get through Stoptober – and beyond… Identify your motivation We a...

With the autumn now upon us, so too comes the temptation to switch from salads to carbs, and from fruits to fatty comfort foods. But did you know that what you put in your mouth not only impacts on your body, but on your mind too? We can literally eat ourselves happier! We need food to fuel our bodies, but more often than not food is much more than that. It acts as a reflection of our mood. Feeling stressed or down? We might crave carbohydrates. Feeling happy or in need of celebration? There’s cake and chocolate for that! But have you noticed that the food items we choose when rewarding ourselves, are not actually what we need to boost our bodies? Much like any other stimulant, the food items we choose when emotional, only provide a fleeting feeling of wellbeing. Chocolate or carbs – though fine for the body in moderation – are actually just a short term rush. They may make us feel good at the time, but this is often followed by a slump – and sometimes accompanying feelings of guilt or...

Finding it hard to fit reading into your day? Well as difficult as it may seem to find the time to read during the course of a busy day, a recent large-scale study shows that reading really is good for us – increasing self-esteem and reducing stress. So, apart from the obvious educational benefits, what is it about reading that makes it so beneficial and how can we carve time out of our busy schedules to pick up a book or two? An aid to anxiety No matter how stressed out you feel, the act of reading will help you relax, regulate your breathing and reduce any tension in your muscles. And they’re just the physical benefits. Mentally, reading helps to focus our thinking, reduce the 'noise' and promote mindfulness. You have to be ‘present’ to read and often the very fact that you’ve removed yourself away from the source of your stress or anxiety through doing something else is enough to calm you down. A way to expand your empathy for others Reading fiction is a grea...

Meeting up is important for keeping friends The school holidays have come to an end and many kids will have gone back to a class of new faces. Making friends is not always easy and in adulthood it can be trickier still.  A recent study in the Metro found that adults have fewer friends today than in the 1980s. Social media could be a major player in this, as even those people who claim they have lots of friends say they do not feel they’re close enough with any of them to discuss important things in their lives. We’ve developed some top tips for helping you build adult friendships that will last. Forget your Facebook friends – we’re talking about people who’ll be there for you when you need them and offer support and companionship beyond your digital devices. Find people who like the same things you do Most friendships are borne out of a common interest, belief or pastime. It helps to spark conversations and from there you can decide if you like each other enough for a ...

Have you ever heard the saying that smiling is infectious? It’s true. When we see someone smile, it takes a lot of effort not to replicate the behaviour and when we do smile, it makes us feel so good that we want to do it more! This article suggests that when we smile, our brain actually creates a log of when we smile and what makes us smile. This activity log helps overrides the brain’s natural tendency to think negatively and if you smile often enough, it can actually rewire your brain into more positive thought patterns. So what is it about smiling that makes us feel so good? Each time we smile it releases tiny ‘feel good’ molecules – endorphins and serotonin - that help fight off stress. Endorphins relax the body, lower our heart rate and blood pressure. They also act as a natural pain reliever. Serotonin acts as a natural anti-depressant and mood lifter. And when we feel good, our productivity increases and our confidence grows. The three studies below looked at the way smili...

It’s 2017, we have more than we've ever had before and technology continues to make our lives easier in ways we could never have imagined when we were younger. However, research suggests that adults over the age of 30 are no happier. In the 1970s, adults were considerably happier than today. Why is that? What has changed? This feature looks at what being happy means and suggests that happiness lies mostly within our control. According to this article, even the smallest of actions, such as a warm bath or a long-anticipated cup of tea, can contribute to our overall happiness. So, what can we do to inject some more happiness into our lives? There is no secret formula to happiness. Indeed it means different things to different people. If you’re on a mission to become happier, there's a lot of advice to be gleaned from the habits and routines of happy people. It may sound too simplistic to say that they just choose to be happy, but attitude to life is a large part of it. This arti...

The thought of keeping the kids occupied during the summer holidays can be quite daunting and can be a great source of anxiety for many parents, especially if you’re on a budget. When school’s out and the sun is shining, children are more likely to be happy entertaining themselves – or at the very least you can grab a bat and a ball and visit the nearest park. However, the chances of a few weeks of great weather are slim, so we’ve pulled together some ideas that will help the summer holidays go swimmingly – without breaking the bank! Plan ahead The first thing to do is to plan ahead. If you know what time you have to fill and how you plan to fill it, you are less likely to succumb to impulsive activities that will cost more money. Develop a planner to cover you just for the summer break and work with your children to plot out how you will spend your time. You don’t need to feel bound by the plan. If the weather is great one day and you fancy a trip to the river, feel free to swa...

The summer is finally here – what are your plans? Lazing on the beach, relaxing by the poolside, chilling out reading the latest thriller? Well, that may be what we hope will happen but in reality, the summer break can be a much more hectic affair, as we struggle to juggle the work/life balance - often with kids in tow, while covering for work colleagues as they grab their fortnight in the sun… As this article highlights, when it comes to relaxation our minds and bodies are linked. This means that relaxation is often beyond our reach while we are stressed and busy trying to survive the holidays. Learning relaxation techniques can help you to restore calm when you’re feeling stressed, and make you more resilient to the stresses you’ll undoubtedly face over the summer break. Practising relaxation techniques can have many physical, as well as mental benefits, including slowing the heart rate and lowering blood pressure. It also improves the quality of your sleep and improves your ...

The long-awaited British summertime is now upon us. It’s a time of light evenings, longer days and sun-drenched weekends eating ice cream and relaxing in our open spaces. However, for some people the summertime brings with it unwelcome associations and phobias which can put a dampener on not only their enjoyment, but also that of their friends and family. Summer phobias are more common than we think. A phobia is more intense than a dislike of something, or an unwillingness to do something. It will bring significant anxiety to the person when they see – or even think about – the source of their phobia. Usually phobias arise as a result of a frightening or traumatic experience earlier in our lives – usually in childhood, but sometimes as an adult. A bee sting, a fall into the sea, or a bad case of sunburn are all enough to trigger a phobia. This article gives a full list of the ‘recognised’ summer phobias - there are more than we may think! To many, your phobias may seem irrational – th...

The role of the father figure has shifted significantly over time. Hundreds of years ago, the role of the father would be as both breadwinner and authoritative conveyer of rules and moral codes. More recently, the changing and expanding roles of women have allowed for men to shift more comfortably into the position of care-giver, providing more for their children than just financial stability. Despite this,  statistics  show that in recent years, UK shoppers spend an average of 75% more on Mother's Day than they do on their dads. Research  has shown that the involvement of fathers is critical to a child’s growth, health and well-being with reports showing that they are more likely to form stronger relationships, have confidence in new surroundings and be more emotionally secure. Not only can a positive male role-model encourage young boys to develop positive gender-based characteristics, daughters are also more likely to form a positive opinion of other men in their l...

As it's the start of Men's Health Awareness Week, we thought we'd take a look at how how gender affects our desire to seek psychological help and to recognise the need for change. Do you need to change? Are you like Jim? Jim comes home from work on Tuesday night - exhausted! He goes to the living room to find his wife already watching something on TV and feels annoyed. His wife asks: "What's wrong with you Jim? Why can't you cheer up?" This angers him so he snaps back at her trying to get her to understand why he's annoyed. She doesn't understand. how can she not understand? They argue for ten minutes before Jim storms out, slamming the door behind him. He goes to the fridge, pulls our a beer and some crisps but isn't in the mood to waste time cooking especially when he has an early meeting in the morning. Jim feels all his muscles ache so he decides he should lie down, the gym can wait. Jim's wife comes to bed and before he knows i...

It’s often the subject of jokes when people reach their 40s, but evidence suggests that midlife crises are a real concern for many. Studies show that a modern day midlife crisis can hit men around the age of 43, while for women it’s usually a year or so later.  While women can often talk through their concerns with their peers, for the majority of men this type of conversation can be difficult and as a result, they can often feel the effects of a midlife crisis more acutely. According to this article, the male midlife crisis can be triggered by a number of events, such as unrealistic or unrealised ambitions, stresses and pressures of being a provider or an avoidance or reluctance to grow up. For some, there is a sense that time is running out and, although not a medical condition in its own right, these thoughts can often present themselves through physical and mental symptoms. As well as anxiety and depression, when they reach their mid 40s to early 50s, some men experi...

It’s estimated that we spend around a third of our lives (around 25 years) sleeping -  that’s a long time - but entirely necessary, if we are to live a long and healthy life. So, what’s so special about sleep anyway? Why is it important to us and our wellbeing? While we sleep Getting enough sleep – and specifically, deep sleep – is vital not only to our physical wellbeing, but to our mental wellness also. When we sleep, our body continues to work, hard. It resets and balances our brain function and fights off anything that threatens our physical health. In children and teens, sleep also helps support growth and development. Sleep is the mind and body’s opportunity to refresh and restore itself. During periods of deep sleep, growth hormones are released and our immune system rebuilds itself. This doesn’t happen when we’re awake. There are four reported stages of sleep: Light Sleep: this is the transition from being awake to being asleep. Your breathing slows, and you dri...

There is no shortage of blogs detailing the trials and tribulations of being a parent. There is much joy to be had, however, there is no denying that the changes in our society have impacted the lives of our children. They spend more time indoors than previous generations and much less time ‘playing out’ than we may have done when we were young. This puts pressure on adults to spend more time directing the activities of their children and playing with them. In the main, parents really enjoy playing with children. However,   there is confusion around how adults can best to do this constructively and in a way that fits everyone’s abilities and interests. Play is a natural learning process for all children. It helps them build confidence and develop physical skills, it teaches them empathy and about caring for others and the environment. For younger children, it also plays a vital role in developing language and communication skills. When children play with their parents, this he...

With the light and unusually balmy evenings we're having, people generally share a desire to spend more time outside than during the autumn and winter. The same is true of our children too – it’s much more appealing to play outside with their friends than to stay home with us. It’s a dilemma for parents though. Light and warm evenings provide the perfect distraction to get our children away from all the social media and technology gadgets that claim so much of their time indoors; however, it’s a big, bad world out there. How exactly do we assess whether our children possess the skills they’ll need to survive outside the safety of their home? This interesting  article about 'helicopter parenting'  looks at the challenges that parenting in today’s modern society brings. What we need to remember is the fact that we’re trying to build a balance as they move from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. We need them to develop the skills they’ll need to be independent, while...

The saying goes that laughter is the best medicine and there’s no denying the fact that our spirits lift when we smile or laugh. But why exactly is it so therapeutic and what can we do to make sure humour remains a constant component of our everyday lives? National Humour Month  kicked off on 1st April, April Fool’s Day, a day when it’s culturally OK to laugh, joke and prank our friends and family. The sentiment behind National Humour Month is more serious – it’s about raising awareness of the therapeutic value of humour; what happens to our bodies, our mental wellbeing and our quality of life when we laugh and joke. As good for you as exercise – and much more fun! The fact that laughter is good for you is grounded in scientific research too. In this video link we see how the blood sugar levels of diabetic patients rise less after eating a meal at a comedy show, because laughing improves digestion and speeds up respiration and blood circulation. It also claims that laughing...

There is something about the summer weather that make us yearn to be outdoors. The great news is that this can be as good for your mind, as it can for your body. The link between exercise and our physical wellbeing is well documented, however it is now becoming evident that exercise has benefits beyond our body. It can be good for our mental wellbeing too – and when we feel good on the inside, it shows on the outside. We’re not talking hours in the gym either, the NHS website outlines lots of ways that you can start to incorporate healthy activity into your busy daily schedule. Now that Spring has sprung, we have no excuse not to be outside more. A study back in 2012 by the University of Glasgow found people who exercise outdoors experience half the mental health risks of those who exercise inside, and that a jog through the forest was much better for you than an hour of high impact activity in the gym! Just twenty minutes moderate exercise outside is enough to put a smile on you...

Today is international day of happiness, a day started by the United Nations in 2012. The first year that the day was celebrated, orange 'happiness walls' sprang up in many cities - places for people to share their ideas for achieving happiness. So we thought we'd do our own happiness wall with some tips for achieving happiness in life. What would you write on your own happiness wall? Visit Twitter and tell us what you'd put on your wall using #HappinessWall and we'll add our favourite tips to our own wall.

The saying goes that we are what we eat and what better time to look at whether there’s any truth in the saying than during Nutrition and Hydration week ? Drink When it comes to drinking, people often choose alcohol to help change their mood. They may have a tipple to feel more relaxed, to help them engage more freely with others, or to give them that ‘happy’ vibe. However, evidence suggests that while alcohol does indeed change our mood, it’s not in the way we think. As a depressant, booze is likely to worsen symptoms of anxiety. So as we drink to alleviate feelings of stress, sadness or anxiety, in reality alcohol is exacerbating them. The same can be said of caffeine. When taken in a drink, Caffeine quickly blocks the action of a brain chemical called adenosine. It’s a naturally occurring sedative so without it we feel more alert and sharp. That’s why coffee is a popular morning beverage However, for people pre-disposed to feelings of anxiety, it can actually leave you feel...