A Clinical Perspective on Busyness, Emotional Avoidance, and Psychological OverloadMany people notice a consistent pattern in their daily lives: they remain focused, productive, and “fine” throughout the day—but as soon as things slow down, anxiety begins to rise.This may present as: A sudden sense of unease when sitting still Difficulty relaxing without distraction A need…
If December is the ‘season to be jolly’, January is the season to be depressed. Hot on the heels of the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ is the most emotionally and psychologically challenging. At The Harley Psychology & Therapy Group requests for therapy triple in January with people feeling more depressed and anxious than…
Dry January is a Bad Idea! At a glance it seems that giving up alcohol for a whole month, especially after the excesses of Christmas, is a good idea. However, on closer inspection is it possible that this recently popular way of dealing with January is just another version of the feast or famine approach…
Dear Dr Gray, I am worried that there is something wrong with me. I really didn’t enjoy Christmas, if I’m honest, I never do. I am surrounded by my family, have time off work and pretty much spend the whole time counting the days until I can return to normality. This makes me feel really…
Don’t Be Put Off by First Impressions The new series of Love Island started last week and with it some quite strong opinions based on first impressions of the Islanders. People can be quick to judge and judge harshly those that put themselves out there. These young people with their bravado and bikinis, who are…
Is Sober October a Bad Idea? Sober October might roll off the tongue better than Dry January but the principle is just as shaky. When I sat down to blog about it I realised that I didn’t need to reinvent the wheel. Instead I could re-post my Dry January blog, suggest that readers replace the…
When we are faced with something new or unfamiliar our threat or fight/flight response kicks in. We have evolved to respond in this way, it’s a survival strategy, if we aren’t sure what awaits us, nature believes it is best to expect and prepare for the worst: In the days when we might have found…
It seems that heatwaves are becoming more and more common, and with them, the warnings about their potential danger to health. You might think this just refers to physiological issues such as heatstroke and dehydration, but for some people, especially those with pre-existing psychiatric conditions, the mental impact can also be profound. How hot weather…
In this blog I am going to describe 5 tips for dealing with exam stress and a 6th tip if you are a parent reading this trying to help your child. The first thing to remember is that a certain amount of anxiety and stress in the lead up to exams is normal and necessary….
I was invited to join a book club recently, and the first book on our reading list was Spare, Prince Harry’s memoire. Before anyone had picked up the book there was outrage among some of the members, who refused to read it, to come to the first meeting even. The person who had chosen the…
Choose the option that best matches what you need.
