Writing is good for the soul. It really is. If you have ever been in a situation that requires some soul searching, one of the first things you may do is to pick up a pen and write a ‘for and against’ list. The immediacy of that act, of adding clarity and perspective to the thoughts whirling around in your head is soothing. More than that, it is therapeutic.

Writing allows for self-expression in a positive way. No permission is needed to vent anger and rage, misery or loss. There is room for negative emotions on a blank page, and what comes from this negativity can be uplifting and, ultimately, positive.

The damage we do to ourselves by not allowing to forgive is devastating. Instead of hurting those who have caused hurt, we end up hurting only ourselves.

 

A friend of mine, after e...

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“The world was upside down. I felt as if I’d lost control.” Paula*, a long-time anxiety sufferer, believes that a string of tragic events in her 30s was the trigger for her condition. “You don’t want to give other people the responsibility of having to listen to you,” she says. “It’s silly and it’s irrational, but your mind doesn’t work as it normally does.”

Know You’re Not Alone

In a recent survey by Anxietyuk.org, it was revealed that approximately 1 in 6 adults in the UK had suffered from a “neurotic health problem” in the previous week. Similarly, a study by the World Health Organisation showed that over 3 million people in the UK have experienced a life-affecting anxiety issue...

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Jessie* is a bright, happy young woman. She poses for pictures with her friends, goes out for drinks and meals. She loves running and enjoys her job working in the health care sector and there is rarely a day she isn’t busy or in touch with her friends. Eating disorders can happen to anyone, regardless of age, race or background. The illness can consume many aspects of life, and for Jessie she started controlling what she ate in order to cope with her emotional problems in her teens. It’s a part of her life that consumed so much, but at the age of 17 she sought help.Read On...

I usually open my introduction to psychology class by asking a fun question. This week’s fun question was if you knew all of your imperfections in advance, would you try to change all of them? I am the only person that said “No,” out of a class of nine. My reasoning is that you will never know if someone really loves you for the content of your character. It is easy to be friends with someone when they are nearly perfect. I seek unconditional love instead of superficial love.Read On...

The internet is a great resource for many things–access to information on any subject, connecting with others from around the world, advertising, promotion, speed and accuracy, to name a few. But there are many drawbacks to the web as well–one of them being cyber bullying.Read On...

Fear is one of those things that we don't fully understand, and we certainly don't give enough credit to. If given a chance, fear can cripple us. It can suffocate us. It can make it feel like Hagrid is sat on our chest, refusing to let us live our lives. In its extreme, its symptoms can be more painful than that of a heart attack - yes, really. It's not often spoken about, and it's most definitely underestimated, but panic attacks (sometimes known as anxiety attacks) can take over your life if you let them.Read On...

“Fine. ” It’s a word we use everyday. A common, polite way of avoiding a long conversation for different reasons, and though some reasons are perfectly innocent, like you’re tired, or you’re too busy, but sometimes, some reason are not ones you should ignore. I never noticed this until I realised that the problem was closer to home than I would have liked. What I am talking about is stress. I’m not talking about a rough day at the office or someone in the street bumped into you and didn’t say sorry. I’m talking about not being able to meet deadlines, not being able to spend time with friends or family because you’re too busy, your love-life has gone to hell or just general grief from a tragic event in your life...

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I had my graduation recently. It was a brilliant day despite a few hiccups and some family problems. But something became very clear on the day. My aunt, Carol, asked me three times after the ceremony had I finished university. Now that sounds a strange thing to ask, when she’s been in the graduation ceremony hours earlier.  Carol, with whom I have always been close, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s eighteen months ago.

It finally explained when she was being so ditsy and having fainting spells. The point of frustration is the fact she’s been having these problems for years, and the GP just wrote it off as low blood pressure or not enough salt in her diet. We can’t turn back the clock, but I do wonder if her symptoms would be better now if she’d been diagnosed earlier.

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It’s that time of year when people are worrying about their credit card bills, about how much booze they had over the festive period. New Year’s resolutions are written neatly in front of new diaries; several rules that must not be broken at any cost. "Will eat less, exercise more, drink less, smoke less," are the most common. Bridget Jones’s famous scene in which she details everything wrong with her life is what most of us imagine doing, just without the big pants.Read On...

As a female writer, I have always been fascinated and inspired by the Brontë sisters. Raised in almost isolation, surrounded by the Yorkshire moors and with only their imaginations to occupy them, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë refused to play along with the rules of nineteenth century society. They allowed their thoughts, fears and emotions to run wild on a black page, resulting in a collection of the finest prose in English Literature.Read On...