First Psychology blog

This week (21- 28 February) is eating disorders awareness week. To raise awareness of eating issues this week, Beat, a UK charity that helps people with eating disorders and their families, is campaigning and organising events throughout the UK. To find out more about Beat's work and this week's events visit http://www.b-eat.co.uk/Events/EDAW2011 For more about eating issues including Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa visit  http://www.edinburghtherapy.co.uk/eating_and_body_image.htm

It cannot have escaped your attention that Valentine's Day (14 February) is looming ever closer! Valentine's day is when we traditionally exchange cards, gifts and romantic gestures with our intimate companions to tell them how we feel about them. For this reason, at this time of year, the shops are awash with hearts, flowers and chocolates. For more about Valentine's Day and the history and traditions surrounding it visit http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine's_Day Some people, of course, will not have an intimate companion, or may choose not to take part in Valentine's Day this year for their own reasons. Others, however, may lack the confidence,  dread meeting people, or feel socially anxious. It is not unusual to feel anxious when meeting new people, but when the levels of anxiety make meeting an intimate companion difficult, extreme shyness or social anxiety may be the cause. If this sounds like you, you will be pleased to hear there are things you c...

Tomorrow, 3 February,  is Chinese New Year the most important event in the Chinese calendar. The incoming year is the year of the rabbit. Each year Chinese families will prepare for the coming of the new year. People will spend their money buying presents, decorations, food and new clothes. Traditionally, families will also clean their houses to clear away bad fortune and make way for good luck - happiness, wealth and a long life. Chinese New Year is considered to be a spring event and the concept of brushing away the cobwebs of the old has much in common with the UK tradition of spring cleaning. While this tradition of spring cleaning focuses on our homes, there is much we can do to spring clean our lives in more general ways. To read our article with tips for spring cleaning your life, visit http://www.edinburghtherapy.co.uk/spring_clean_your_life_article.htm

Dr Ewan Gillon gave a talk on men's mental health and wellbeing at a Men's Health Forum conference earlier this week. For more about the Men's Health Forum see  http://www.mhfs.org.uk . Men are often taught to keep things to themselves - to be 'big and strong' and not to admit any weaknesses. When it comes to health, it can take a lot for a man to seek help. Therapy can appear very daunting to men - over the years it has been associated with women, but men need help just as much as women. Many men just don't ask for help when they need it - they try and cope with things themselves. So it is vital when men do take that leap of faith and come for help, that they are treated in a way that doesn't put them off. Everyone is different, of course, and we can't speak for everyone, but we have found many of the men who seek help at our centres feel re-assured by the availability of male therapists. We have also found that goal-oriented therapy, such as ...

It's common knowledge that relationship problems can reach an all time high in January. This is often attributed to the intensity of the holiday period making people feel they've had enough, but also because January is the traditional time for taking action to make things better for the rest of the year! So here are five tips to a more healthy relationship. Make time each day to talk - communication is the key to a healthy relationship.  Be realistic about what you expect of each other - try to put yourself in your partners shoes. Be yourself, but that doesn't mean being stubborn and only doing things your own way. Try to be flexible and compromise with your partner too. Share your feelings with your partner on a regular basis and talk about the things you love about him/her. Keep a balanced life - make room for yourself and your interests as well as room for each other. Everyone needs time and space to grow! If you think you need help to save your relationship,  ...

Yesterday an article was published by The Herald newspaper about ways to boost mental well-being. See http://www.heraldscotland.com/life-style/real-lives/in-the-mood-for-good-health-1.1078803 for the full article. One of the key suggestions was to set realistic goals for yourself so you don't get downhearted when you feel you have failed to achieve your targets. Although goal setting is something people focus on at New Year, it is equally relevant to everything we do at all times of the year. Because of this, the skill of setting realistic goals is of great benefit to us in our home and working lives and can help us achieve greater work/life balance too. So how do we set realistic goals? Often when setting goals it helps to split a larger goal into individual tasks - that way there is a strong sense of progress and it avoids seeing the exact same thing on your list for weeks (or longer) on end, which can be demoralising. A simplified example of the goals involved in orga...

With the amount of snow that has fallen it is unsurprising that many people are encountering the stresses and strains of delayed journeys or of unfulfilled plans.  This results in a whole range of reactions. A common one is that of anger, cue pictures of passengers shouting at the train conductor or airport manager bringing news of further delays. Another reaction might be that of passive acceptance, a slump-shouldered withdrawal that is giving up on any active engagement with what is happening. These two reactions can, from a psychological perspective, be seen as examples of how different personality states operate. The first, the angry one,  may reflect what can be termed a 'parental' state,  in which an individual's authority is asserted in a direct way, perhaps with limited relevance to the actual outcomes such an approach might provide. The second, the withdrawal, may be more of a 'child' state, whereby the individual reacts in a way that diminishes his or her ...