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The power of gratitude
In the Western world, we live with an unprecedented level of material abundance. You just need to take a look down the high street at the preponderance of coffee shops and nail bars (alongside the ever-increasing army of estate agents) to gauge the generalised decadence of our way of life. Most of us want for…
FAB memories
Fading Affect Bias (FAB) is a term which applies to the way we remember autobiographical events, with positive affect being shown to persist for longer than negative. You can understand why this might be the case – by holding onto the rose-tinted view we may, arguably, be protecting our mental health and allowing ourselves to…
Therapists spreading greater appiness
Have you noticed how many adults seem to be playing games on their mobiles? I’m constantly amazed at the numbers I see wildly flicking their thumbs across phone screens, apparently trying to beat whichever imaginary opponent they’re up against. I have no idea what the popular games are right now, but I’m sure there are…
The spirit of our times
How many people do you know who claim to be ‘spiritual but not religious’? Anecdotally at least, it would seem this category accounts for an increasing proportion among our number, with membership derived from those who formerly belonged to (or at least whose families formerly belonged to) religious denominations. I recently came across a fascinating…
Don’t be fooled by the DSM-V
We can pretty much take it as read – indeed many of us may know first hand – that as we get older our brains start to slow down a little. Losing a name here and there, being a little slower to pick up on a complicated idea – this is known as par for…
Mental health, global style
It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that we are now living in a global world, driven by international directives, legislation and so-called ‘thought leadership’. It does make me wonder, where exactly HQ is and, more importantly, who’s the boss. Mental health has now come under global scrutiny, with a new report published jointly by Mind…
The truth about workplace stress in Britain
Do you ever feel like your email inbox is your worst enemy? These days, it’s almost the norm for organisations and individuals to engage the services of productivity consultants and enrol on courses that go by names like ‘Getting your inbox back into shape’. How interesting that the technology that was supposed to simplify and…
Why do we self-harm?
Self-harm, like so many physical manifestations of the growing psychological distress in our world, is on the increase, according to a new survey among young people conducted by four self-harm support groups, and referred to yesterday on Radio 4’s The World at One. Figures from the NHS in England show that 11% more young people…
