First Psychology blog

With the constant pressures to meet deadlines, juggle responsibilities and navigate through life’s challenges, stress and anxiety have become a common part of our daily lives, leaving us feeling overwhelmed and drained. It is during these times that we often overlook one of the simplest and most effective tools for boosting our wellbeing - laughter therapy. What is Laughter Therapy? Laughter therapy, also known as humour therapy, uses laughter to promote our overall health and wellness. It is based on the idea that laughter has the power to heal not just emotionally, but also physically and mentally. This natural, powerful tool has been used for centuries in various cultures around the world and recent scientific research has only served to confirm what our ancestors instinctively knew - that laughter is indeed the best medicine. A study undertaken by the National Library of Medicine found that “Decreasing stress-making hormones found in the blood, laughter can mitigate the effects of...

What is remorse? Remorse is a complex and powerful emotion often experienced when we regret or feel guilt over past actions or decisions. The impact of remorse on mental wellbeing can be significant, affecting various aspects of our life including our emotional state, relationships, and overall quality of life. A research journal published by the American Psychological Association suggests that “action-related regrets, although painful, spur people to learn from their mistakes and move on. But regret related to the inaction path – the things undone, the opportunities lost – is harder to fix. This kind of regret is more likely to lead to depression, anxiety, a sense of ‘stuckness’ and a feeling of longing over not knowing what could have been .” The effects of remorse Negative thoughts and emotions One of the primary ways in which remorse impacts our mental wellbeing is through its effects on emotional health. Feelings of guilt and regret can lead to increased levels of stress, anxiety...

Creative journaling is a powerful tool that can have a positive impact on our overall wellbeing. By combining the benefits of journaling with creative expression, we can explore and understand our emotions, thoughts and experiences in a more profound and meaningful way. This creative practice not only enhances our self-awareness but also helps us to tap into our emotions and express them in healthier and constructive ways. Benefits of creative journaling 1. One of the key benefits of creative journaling is that it allows us to engage in self-reflection and introspection. By writing about our thoughts, feelings and experiences, we can gain insights into our subconscious world, understand our emotions better and identify patterns and triggers that may be influencing our mental and emotional wellbeing. This process of self-reflection can lead to greater self-awareness, self-acceptance and personal growth. 2. Creative journaling also provides a safe space where we can express and pro...

It’s inevitable that throughout life we will experience both good and bad moments that will create happy memories as well as emotional pain. If you could travel back in time, are there things that you would do differently? How could the more difficult times be made better? Looking back, what advice would you give to yourself with all the life experience you have now? Why write a letter to your younger self? There are many reasons why writing a letter to your younger self could benefit you. Perhaps there are old wounds that have never healed properly or past relationships that have affected your mental wellbeing.  Heal pain Forgiveness Gain a better understanding of yourself To become a better version of yourself As humans, it’s natural for us to feel a wealth of emotions such as anger, sadness, happiness and resentment, but if we don’t deal with our feelings at the time of the event, they can progress into more serious problems. Intense negative emotions can, over time, create anx...

Life is filled with ups and downs. Sometimes we have wonderful experiences that bring us joy and other times we will go through bad situations that cause us heartache, but it’s how we use the latter experiences to learn and move on that’s important. If you’ve gone through something traumatic, such as a failed relationship, the death of someone close to you or losing your job, these kinds of experiences can have a negative impact and seriously harm your wellbeing. If we allow our past to take a grip, it can affect our future decisions so it’s vital that we learn from the past rather than live there. Remember that every situation we face in life will have a different outcome so try not to let one bad experience define your future or who you are. If we don’t learn to put the past behind us, we will continue to endure sleepless nights, anger, resentment, anxiety, stress and depression. Rather than pushing our thoughts to the back of our mind, we should try and confront negative issues, dea...

Sometimes emotions can be extremely overwhelming, and we can become fearful of them if we don’t accept and learn from them. There are many different reasons why we might experience intense emotions that cause us to feel out of control and make irrational decisions. This can lead to anxiety which, in turn, triggers even more emotions. This process can be painful and sometimes quite frightening when we feel like our emotions are spiralling out of control. The good news is, there are certain steps we can take to help us accept and deal with our emotions. Firstly, we need to understand that emotions are a natural part of being human; we all experience them from time to time. Types of emotions Whether you’ve had an argument with someone, lost a loved one or lost your job, there are many situations that can bring about negative emotions such as sadness, fear, shame or anger. Society often bullies us into believing that if we experience these negative kinds of emotions, we are a bad per...

Why is it that we all strive to be seen as strong? We hear it all the time: ‘He’s a strong man’; ‘She’s a strong woman’ – but just what is it about the human psyche that makes us regard our vulnerabilities as weaknesses? More generally, vulnerability is usually associated with uncertainty, which other people see as risky, and this leaves us feeling emotionally exposed. That’s why very often we mask our true feelings, or soldier on without seeking the support or guidance that we need to develop to our full potential. But perhaps now is the time to break the façade and show others our more vulnerable side? The more we talk about the issues we face, the more it becomes socially acceptable to show our authentic, vulnerable self. This will make it much easier for us to get the support we need. This has certainly been the case in the world of sport. A number of top sports people have spoken out recently about the struggles they have faced in the sporting world. While just as vulnerab...

The British are said to have a stiff upper lip. We are conditioned from a young age – boys especially – that maintaining an emotional balance is the key to a happy, healthy life and that even the most trying of situations can be addressed with a cup of tea! While culturally, this may be the way to do things, keeping our emotions bottled up can actually cause more issues than it solves. And sometimes the best way to deal with a negative or upsetting situation is to ‘let it all out’ and have a good cry. According to this article in Psychology Today , crying helps us communicate how we’re feeling at times when language fails us – it’s a way of soliciting help and comfort from others to help us process and make sense of things that are happening to us. There are a few reasons why we cry – it’s a natural reflex that keeps our eyes healthy by flushing out irritants, for example, or a natural response to physical pain – but what we’re looking at in this blog though are emotional tears, caus...