Being close to someone who is suffering from a mental health problem can be very difficult, not knowing how to help, feeling confused about what is going on, feeling frustrated with the person, the situation, or yourself, maybe feeling isolated and hopeless about what to do next. In this blog I am going to share 6 tips to help you to help the person that you care about. 1. Inform Yourself An important first step is to find out as much as you can about the problem that your friend […]...
Post Natal OCD is similar to ‘regular’ OCD. The only differences are that it occurs following the birth of a baby and that the obsessional or intrusive thoughts centre around responsibility for harm to the baby and the compulsive behaviours centre around trying to prevent that harm. Post natal OCD can be experienced by both mothers and fathers but seems to be more common amongst mothers with it occurring in 2-4% of new mothers. Common intrusive thoughts include thoughts of stabbing, suffocating or drowning the baby, throwing or dropping the […]...
Therapy, and by this we mean ‘talking therapy’ is currently the most effective way of treating a range of psychological, emotional, relationship and mental health problems including anxiety, depression, eating disorders (e.g. anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder), obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD), post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic attacks, stress, sleep problems, relationship problems, anger problems and more. It’s effectiveness over medication seems to be rooted in the fact that a talking therapy aims to resolve the origin of the problem rather than just trying to alleviate the presenting […]...
Compulsive behaviours are a response to anxiety, they are intended by the sufferer to either directly reduce anxiety or prevent an anxiety provoking event (e.g. harm to one’s self or another). Compulsive behaviours usually take the form or ritualistic counting, washing, touching or speaking (e.g. repetition of particular words or phrases). Compulsive behaviours are a common symptom of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Eating Disorders (in particular Anorexia Nervosa). Therapy for compulsive behaviours involves a combination of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Exposure and Response Prevention Theory which are designed to […]...
