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Some background....
From my 35 years working in medicine, I have learned a lot from patients, as well as my own experiences of ill health, and so I hope these will give some slightly different views to traditional medical approaches and science. I have grouped them into sections. Enjoy browsing!
A series of videos looking at different aspects of mental health.
Anxiety, stress, fear. A mental health pandemic, worse after lockdown and restrictions. So why do we get so anxious, what help is available and how can we help ourselves?
From my own experience and working with many patients over the years, I look at how depression affects us and what we can do to be well and whole.
A creative way of surviving severe trauma and abuse is to form alternative identities or parts. This used to be called multiple personality disorder or split personality but now is more appropriately called DID or dissociative identity disorder. If we can understand how this happens and works in a person, we can better help ourselves and others who have DID
A look at serious mental illnesses, what symptoms do people have, what causes mental health problems and what can be helpful for recovery and prevention?
We all hear voices-internally and externally. Whose voice are they? And what is their significance?
A selection of videos considering how physical, emotional, thinking, social and spiritual things all contribute to health or ill-health.
Who am I? A body. A body with a mind and emotions. Or a spirit living in a body? And why does it matter?
Often the physical thing we go to a doctor with is only the surface problem. What may be underneath that eczema flare, or the headaches or the IBS?? We want a quick fix but to become really well and whole we need to dig deeper
As a Dr I have learnt the importance of taking a good history from my patients-the story of the problem. Stories are really important and can tell us a lot about why we struggle with things now, why our families struggle and what patterns there are. If we can understand our story then we can understand how to change things now that change our future
Last week we looked at the stories of our lives and how patterns of thinking become ingrained from childhood. These patterns can be negative and cause us to feel and behave in upsetting and stressful ways. This week we consider how we can reprogramme our thinking. Our brains can actually form new physical pathways to transmit thoughts and this results in us being able to behave and feel differently.
Increasingly it is recognised that choosing to forgive those who have hurt is brings benefit for us. Physical , emotional and mental health all benefit from forgiveness. We look at what forgiveness is, what benefits we can expect and how to actually do it.
We can so easily live on a roller coaster of emotions, up and down feeling out of control. Things get spoilt and we end up being restricted and frustrated and even physically ill. So what can we do? How can we control our emotions without completely suppressing them. What does it mean to be emotionally healthy? We consider really practical ways to handle our emotions well.
A selection of videos considering aspects of physical health, disability as well as dying well.
A discussion around recent diagnosis of gluten ataxia. What are the benefits of the gluten free diet as well as the difficulties. How I view things can affect outcomes. I may have more choice than I realise
Food, chocolate, diet, weight loss, slimming world. Why do I eat what I eat?
Can I still be well when my physical body doesn't work properly?
Its easy to pretend that we wont die. But its one thing that happens to everyone. How can we learn to talk about death in a healthy way and be at peace with our own mortality
A selection of short "thought for the day" videos covering a range of topics.
We all have different health cultures depending on where we grew up, what our families were like and experiences we have had. But not everyone will see health and medicine the same way we do. How can we think differently and so open ourselves to new options that may impact our wellbeing for good?
Many people feel stressed at the moment. So what actually is stress and what are they effects it has on us physically and emotionally? Some top tips on recognising stress and understanding what is happening in our bodies
Last week we considered what stress is. This week I talk from my own experience of stress and consider what it is possible to change in our lives, and how we can live more well when there are things we can't change.
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This story is about a lady who found that changing how she thought and spoke about herself changed how she felt and behaved. Our words have power for good and bad. We get used to how we are and how we speak. Starting to notice our words is important. It gives us clues about what what we are thinking and believing-which may not be true!
This is a lady whose story is similar to many I hear, of abuse and trauma. She had courage to face it and leave the situation but then began a process of acknowledging and facing the pain. Complex mental health care can be really valuable but simple things like love, listening ,friendship and being in nature make more difference than we may think. And being kind to ourselves and loving ourselves matters too.
If you would like more detailed resources on health and wellbeing please check out the "helpful links" section of the website and watch for my regular blogs on the website or on my Facebook page.
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