First Psychology blog

As exam season gets underway in Scotland, there will be many young people feeling under immense pressure and fearing that they are not good enough or that they may mess things up.  Most of us have experienced the chilling feeling of going into an exam and our mind going blank. This is what we call a 'freeze' response which is part of our body's system to protect us when we feel threatened. "We may feel anxious, pumped up, unable to relax and struggle to focus and the freeze response kicks in," says Professor Ewan Gillon, counselling psychologist and clinical director of First Psychology. Here are some of Ewan's tips for coping with mind blanks and exam/test anxiety.  Leading up to the exam Prepare by doing practice questions and plans. This will make the exam situation feel more familiar and less anxiety provoking. Learn how to recognise what the question is asking for and how to formulate a plan to tackle the question. It's amazing how many people fail ex...

If you’re not familiar with the term ‘stress bucket’, it’s a metaphorical bucket that fills up with different types of stresses that you carry around with you and was developed by Dr Douglas Turkington and Professor Alison Brabban in 2002. By identifying what our stressors are, we can create coping strategies and ways to empty the bucket. There are many things in life that can create stress such as work, financial pressures, health concerns or relationship issues. Each person will have their own individual types of stress and there are different symptoms that can arise, including: Anxiety Feeling of overwhelm Poor sleep Change in diet Headaches Lack of concentration Heart palpitations Stomach problems Poor memory Anger Ways we can empty our stress bucket As more stress enters our lives, the bucket keeps on filling up, so we need to put strategies into place to reduce our stress levels. Firstly, we need to identify our sources of stress. Make a list of everything that is causing you wo...

It goes without saying that we need food to survive but what we eat also plays a significant role in both our physical and mental health. Our bodies need a wide variety of vitamins and minerals found in nutritious foods to ensure our brain and body function properly. Not only does the food that we eat impact our mood, which can also be a trigger for stress and other mental health issues, but when we’re suffering from stress it can also affect our food choices. It’s important that we make the correct food choices to relieve any symptoms of stress. These are some of the reasons why we might not always opt for the best types of food: Busy lifestyles mean we have less time to prepare and cook nutritious meals and the temptation to snack on unhealthy foods or buy takeaways and convenience foods becomes much greater. A lack of understanding about nutritious food and its benefits means we might not always make the right meal choices. Mental or physical illness can prevent us from prioritising...