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The charity Young Minds has some invaluable advice, tips and support for young people on its website, to help them stay in control of their social media feeds and mental health. Whilst it discusses the positive impacts of social media, it also acknowledges that many young people can feel anxious and overwhelmed. The Young Minds specialist guide covers the many pressures, worries and real problems that arise including cyber bullying and sexting. To read more click here.

Giselle Monbiot is a Transformative Therapist and Breathwork Teacher and has some exciting new courses starting in Kingston in the New Year designed to support you in cultivating balance, inner peace, and vitality. If you would like to learn more about these group courses, or would prefer 1:1 tuition where sessions are tailored to your unique needs, visit her website here. Find out more about her monthly Breathwork Circle - last Friday of every month.

Research shows that procrastination isn’t just a time-sapper but is actually linked to real problems such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, perfectionism, stress, poor sleep quality, poor heart health and other health and wellbeing issues.  Scientific studies actually suggest that procrastination is due to poor mood management.  This is a fascinating article - read more here.  For help with managing procrastination using CBT click here.

Many people are confused about how to distinguish between “normal” grieving and depression that needs to be treated. After all, mourning a loss, especially of a child, spouse, parent, close friend or even a beloved pet, is bound to elicit deep feelings of sadness and regret. It is natural that everyday routines are disrupted and things that may have previously been important suddenly seem less so. The loss of a loved one is not something that is ever forgotten.  So how do you differentiate between “normal” bereavement and depression that needs to be treated?  This article from Psychology Today reveals that it is often only when depression is treated that you can address underlying feelings of mourning and sadness.  Read more...

Body image concerns are not mental health problems in and of themselves, however, they can be a risk factor for mental health problems. The relationship we have with our body image can affect our mental health and wellbeing. Often, the challenge as caregivers is knowing what you can do to help your child or young person develop and maintain a good body image. It is important you feel empowered to not only understand and recognise the signs of body image difficulties, but also where to signpost and seek support from. 

The Mental Health Foundation have produced an excellent booklet providing tips and resources on how to support yourself as a caregiver, as well as your child or young person with developing a good body image. Download here. 

As the number of young people needing mental support shoots up, many are forced to find their own way of coping. Specialist services are overstretched and young people are often refused treatment or made to join a long waiting list. In some cases, GPs pick up the slack. But many young people would rather not talk to their GP about mental health. There's still a stigma and it is beyond what a GP is trained to do. The extent of the situation and range of age groups affected is clearly outlined in statistics published by the Children's Society. View here. 

Anxiety is a normal emotion in us all, but sometimes it can get out of control and become a mental health problem. All of the therapists at Asana have in depth experience of helping clients struggling with anxiety. Find out more ... and watch the videos.

"Facebook's own research describes what many parents already intuit: that social media isn't simply a product children use or consume, but a digital environment they inhabit, which they struggle to distinguish from the real world". "Luring children onto social media — and keeping them there — is a top priority for online platforms". So states a must read article in National Affairs, the quarterly journal of essays about US domestic policy, political economy, society, culture, and political thought. It aims to help Americans think a little more clearly about public life, and rise a little more ably to the challenge of self-government. Read the essay here.

This rush by the various platforms to maximize profit leaves in its wake a range of emotional and mental-health harms to the children whose attention these platforms so badly covet. Apart from 'tweens' being considered a valuable and under-tapped audience commercially, they are often also the victims of some online communities focusing on unhealthy to positively dangerous practises. A major vector along which this harm travels is social pressure — a natural teenage phenomenon that young people are now facing on an unprecedented scale. "The addictive, reality-distorting quality of social media leads to harms beyond digitally amplified social pressure: The platforms also make children more vulnerable to traditional dangers, including sexual exploitation. Not only have they opened new avenues for child traffickers and adult predators, they also facilitate the rising trend of children sharing explicit images of themselves, often after being coerced into doing so".

Because social media provides avenues for undeniably harmful content to reach children directly, tailored to capture their interest and designed to encourage obsession, we need to be more aware of what may lie behind even the seemingly benign craze of some children wanting to identify as 'Furries'.  "We need to consider where the burden of proof lies in matters of child welfare. Policymaking always happens under conditions of uncertainty; the job of policymakers is to make the best judgments they can based on the evidence they have. This responsibility is all the more urgent where the safety of children is concerned. The practical standard for taking action to protect children cannot possibly be scientific proof, or some statistical regression with a suitable p-value; it must be whether the benefits of acting are likely to outweigh the costs". 

'Safer Schools', the organisation committed to "Educating, Empowering and Protecting School Communities" explores the issues, common themes and risks associated with 'Furries' in their indepth safeguarding advice here. Share this with your friends, family and colleagues. 

There are different types of personality disorder and each one can affect how you cope with life, manage relationships, how you behave, and how you feel. There is no single cause and it can be a combination of reasons, including genetic and environmental causes. You can have a personality disorder alongside other mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression. To find out more visit Rethink Mental Illness here for their excellent, indepth article on this disorder that is thought to affect 1 in 20 people. Talking therapies are recommended as the best treatment option for personality disorders.

We can't ignore the potentially devastating effect the cost-of-living crisis has on mental health and The MentalHealth Foundation are asking whether we have another pandemic in the making. Find out more about what you can do to protect your mental, emotional and physical health during the cost-of-living crisis and how you can help support others. Read more...