Stridi

  Hello, and welcome. If you’re reading this, congratulations – it was Blue Monday yesterday, and we got through it. According to psychology experts, Blue Monday is the most depressing day of the year. The weather is cold, the skies are grey and it’s around the time when our new year resolutions are showing early signs of wear and tear. So we get towards the end of January and we’re all feeling a bit gloomy. How did you feel yesterday?  Part of my reason for writing this piece was because I had a gloomy day. I’m not even sure why. But this time of year can be hard anyway.  I remember an old housemate, who suffered from depression, saying he always found January and February to be the hardest time, because it was so dark, chilly and the weather was terrible.  Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels So I’m writing this piece to give some tips on overcoming those gloomy days, when you’re at work, or away from your coping methods. Even if you love your job, b...

  Hi everyone! Welcome back to Stridi Towers. It's Matt here again and, as promised, we’re back for the final part of the postgraduate series. Today’s guest is an old contact of mine from uni, who has been mentioned a couple of times before. Her name is Bronwen and she is part of the support team at Bath Spa University. She is also a trained CBT therapist. Bronwen and I had a chat about the various questions I raised with our previous guests, and she has sent me over a load of useful info to share with you all. " I have written a little on each question. Use it as you want Matt! I hope it’s useful - B"  So without further ado, I’ll hand you over to an expert: Tried and tested coping methods for our mental health “As with everything, the general approach would be a life balance so that paying attention to ‘well-being’ is crucial to maintaining good mental health and not feeling overwhelmed.” “Don’t underestimate the amount of reading and research you will ne...

Photo by Juan Pablo Arenas I thought I would to write about how I dealt with my anxiety whilst at Uni, but the truth is that I did not.  In fact, in my four years of University, I spent the first year refusing to acknowledge it as a possibility, and the second and third in denial, and the fourth bouncing back and forth between treatment, denial and frequent panic attacks.    I thought that anxiety was not a thing I was “allowed” to have, that it was seen as either something to be prayed away, or an illness for rich people with nothing else to do and time on their hands. If I went back home saying I have “anxiety”, my family would have assumed it was something I “picked up” like a person picks up a quirky affection to make themselves seem more interesting and complex. And to a certain extent, I believed this too. I thought I was too privileged to have anxiety, too fortunate to be depressed and too African for the two together. So...