Denise Spinney, MBACP: food for thought

The Oxford dictionary defines a holiday as "an extended period of leisure and recreation".  For some holidays really are a time to relax and re-charge the batteries, spend time with friends and family. Plans start weeks maybe months ahead - who will be there? What shall we do? What shall we eat?! The anticipation is half the enjoyment. For others, holidays are a real trial, something to get through without too much damage.  Family gatherings can be fraught with expectation, haunted by memories of an unhappy upbringing. Party talk reminds us of how lonely or lost we feel while everyone around us seems so happy. Suddenly our lives seem dull, work unrewarding, the future uncertain.  Feelings we can find a place for while we have the distraction of work, school or day to day living threaten to break through messily when free time looms. Relationships come under strain as we struggle to contain our mixed up feelings.  Some of us plan to be busy and acti...

  “Major depressive disorder is one of the most common, burdensome, and costly psychiatric disorders worldwide in adults.” If you read the news recently following the publication of the report on Anti Depressants ( Comparative efficacy and acceptability of 21 antidepressant drugs for the acute treatment of adults with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and network meta-analysis ), you would be forgiven for thinking this was the final word on the issue. The message was clear: the drugs work and millions more should be taking them. But delve into this thoughtful, measured report and the picture is far less clear. The writers recommend caution in drawing conclusions due to the “paucity of information reported in the original studies” and “a [possible] bias in conduct, analysis, or reporting of head-to-head trials, driven by commercial interests”. They note that whilst “depressive symptoms tend to spontaneously improve over time” for more persistent depression antide...

Jordan Stephens, one half of the hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks, speaks eloquently about how our young men are trying to live up to an idea of masculinity that is damaging their lives and the lives of those around them: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/23/toxic-masculinity-men-privilege-emotions-rizzle-kicks Hear him speak on YouTube: Jordan Stephens' thoughtful take on what it is to be a man in today's society

Some surprising  figures   I was surprised and saddened by the results of a recent Radio 4 Woman’s Hour poll on how symptoms of the menopause were impacting on women in the workplace.  Beneath that was a picture of women  suffering  in silence with symptoms that  affected  all aspects of  their  life - relationships, work, physically and emotionally.  What the figures showed Of the 1009 women aged 50 - 60 questioned on how the menopause affected them: 44% said it significantly affected their mood and mental health.  41% said it affected their job.  23% said it lessened their enjoyment of life  20% said their GP had been unhelpful in dealing with symptoms. 70% said they had not made their employer aware of their situation  One third had not visited their GP for help.  Nearly a quarter said it made them want to stay at home. In some cases sufferers had not spoken until they face discipli...