Scribblings of a Psychotherapist

If you are feeling anxious, depressed or stressed, feel free to get in touch with us - we are here to listen and support you. www.glasgowanxietydepression.co.uk support@glasgowanxietydepression.co.uk  

Feelings and emotions can be really tricky, can't they? Feelings and emotions can be really tricky. Sometimes we feel one 'big' emotion, and at other times it can seem like we feel lots of different, often conflicting emotions all at the one time. Similarly, some feelings and emotions can be a bit easier to cope with than others. Sometimes we try to avoid 'feeling' feelings and do other things to help us cope with emotions. Often the things we do to help us cope with emotions we find difficult, distressful or hard to cope with ar e unhelpful or unhealthy (e.g. eating, smoking, drinking, self-harm, aggression etc.) and can end up causing us more problems over the long-term. The picture below illustrates that there are loads of different emotions too, some of which you may or may not be aware of. Emotions are tricky aren't they?  If you are finding coping with emotions difficult or you would like to talk over how you are feeling with a the...

EXCESSIVE, OBSESSIVE OR COMPULSIVE EXERCISE Excessive or compulsive exercising is an often overlooked component of eating disorders/disordered eating. That said, I have met people who experience obsessive or compulsive exercising but who don't experience an eating disorder/disordered eating. Whatever the case might be, while we are frequently told how good exercise is for our health and wellbeing, like many other things, 'too much' exercise or exercising in an obsessive or compulsive way can be unhealthy and even cause physical and mental health problems in the long term. Whether  you wish to call it overexercising, obsessive exercise or compulsive exercise, many people do struggle with symptoms associated with this. If you are concerned about your or a loved one's relationship with exercise, please speak with a professional. One of our therapists has a special interest in overexercise/compulsive/obsessive exercise and has worked with m...

Your mission for today should you choose to accept it: SMILE! Start off today with a smile. Not only will in help you feel instantly better, but lets you get off to a good start in the day. Even when you don't feel like smiling, smile anyway because there are many benefits associated with smiling, including: 1. Smiling lowers stress and anxiety. 2. Smiling strengthens your immune system. 3. It g ives you a glow and warmth, meaning people will smile back at you. 4. Smiling is contagious (even seen a wee baby smile or laugh and found yourself smiling and laughing too?) 5. Smiling releases endorphins. 6. Smiling will make you more comfortable. 7. It can boost your mood. 8. Smiling can lower your heart rate. 9. It can encourage trust and empathy. 10. Smiling can reduce pain. 11. Smiling can increase productivity. These are just a few benefits of smiling, but there are many more. So, you accept today's mission? Alexandra:-) www.glasgowanxietydepression.co.uk...

FINDING CHANGE, PROGRESS, TRANSITIONS AND/OR RECOVERY TRICKY? Well, that's because it is. Do you want change to happen, but maybe, at the same time, you don't want anything to change? Maybe change seems daunting or scary. Perhaps you feel ambivalent about change? Change is not that simple, as I'm sure you already know. Here's a little exercise to get you started As many of you will know, change can be frightening, daunting and something we might want and not want at the same time. This is natural and understandable; after all, you the problem or concern you are struggling with (e.g. eating disorder, anxiety, worry, stress, low mood, etc.) has 'helped' you in some way, albeit in an unhealthy and unhelpful way. It's probably become your safety net, safe haven, comfort blanket; so to change can be anxiety-provoking and scary. Change is necessary though, in small steps, at YOUR pace (not someone else's) an...

See poster below. Please feel free to get in touch to book an appointment or for more information. Thanks :-)  

Big thanks to Zurich Insurance in Glasgow today for welcoming us here at Talking EDs and showing interest in eating disorders. We delivered a myth-busting workshop, 'Dispelling Myths and Stereotypes: What are Eating Disorders?' and happy to help some more people understand what eating disorders are and are not. Let's hope they pass on their myth-busting too! Thanks again Zurich. Lovely offices too! Alexandra :-)

As you will know, It's Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme is Body Image. Dr Christian Buckland talks about how negative body image can form and how psychotherapy can help in the article below. Hope you find reading the article useful. Feel free to get in touch (see poster below) with us if you are looking for some psychotherapy, counselling or integrative CBT for body image concerns. Best wishes , Alexandra :-) #BeBodyKind #BodyImage #MHAW2019 Article here: https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/blog/mhaw-body-image-mental-health-and-the-importance-of-attending-to-the-underlying-emotional-distress/?fbclid=IwAR3a3g8AH0QG72hrAYB7y6hSdmZwcdQx_leluwzFYnuaTUYFIFtSh_mQ1N8    

BODY IMAGE AND BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER As we said yesterday, this week in Mental Health Awareness Week 2019. This is a national awareness week and the theme this year is Body Image. See Monday's post to see what we are doing this week. We will also be posting everyday this week on Facebook, Twitter and the blog about Body Image and BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder). Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), or body dysmorphia, is a mental health condition related to Body Image where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance. These flaws are often unnoticeable to others. People of any age can have BDD and it affects anyone of any gender or sex. Having BDD does not mean you are vain or self-obsessed. It can be very upsetting and have a big impact on your life. Low mood, anxiety, emotional dysregulation, stress, trauma, self-harm and eating disorders are some of the other conditions that can co-occur with BDD. Some o...

Today is the first day of Mental Health Awareness Week 2019. This is a national awareness week and the theme this year is Body Image. We are doing a few things this week to mark Mental Health Awareness Week 2019, including: * Providing our usual psychotherapy, CBT and counselling sessions to our clients; * Providing some free drop-in therapy/counselling sessions throughout the week; * Launching our new partner website later this week (anxiety and depression specific); * we have two new therapists start working with is from this week so that we can provide more help, support, therapy and counselling to more people in Glasgow and surrounding areas too (many of our clients come from quite far to access our services); * Body image support group session; * Our Director is presenting a workshop on eating disorder myths and stereotypes at the Zurich Insurance offices in Glasgow on Friday; * We will be posting various body image posts in our va...

Stop the Weight Game in Diagnosing Eating Disorders So many of my psychotherapy clients, people who have attended the ED support group and social clubs, those who have attended consultations, those who I have chatted to in focus groups and those I have met in many other situations regarding eating disorders have told me how they have been denied access to help and support because of weight, not looking a certain way or not looking ill enough. I have been in the field of eating disorders since 2001 when I was initially a resear cher in psychology and, sadly, little has changed since then. Certain services still base access to help and support on the individual's weight.  This can be dangerous: a ‘controllable’ range of behaviours can very easily turn into a serious illness with devastating consequences. While Talking EDs is a private practice, I am proud to say we never ever discriminate access to services based on someone's weight or how ill they might ...

About.... Anxiety Evidence suggests that the sooner you get help and support, the more likely it is you will get better and reduce or improve anxiety  So, when you begin reducing and managing anxiety, you also begin taking care of your physical health, feelings, mental health, relationships, social life and many other aspects of your life. So, the sooner you seek help and support, the sooner you improve your quality of life.  ANXIETY: there are many forms of anxiety including:  * Everyday Stress * Everyday Anxiety * Generalised Anxiety * Social Anxiety/Social Phobia * Panic Disorder/Panic Attacks * Specific Phobias/Phobias * PTSD * Existential Anxiety/Angst * Obsessive Compulsive Disorder * Pure O * Body Dysmorphic Disorder * Trichotillomania/Dermatillomania Some people will experience a few of the above anxiety conditions above at the same time or will experience experience a range of signs and symptoms from various anxiety c...

Focus on.... Anorexia Nervosa The term ‘anorexia nervosa’ is itself misleading and generally considered a misnomer. ‘Anorexia’ implies the individual has lost all interest in food, never hungry and has no appetite. Yet, this is rarely the case. The opposite is more accurate of anorexia.  The person experiencing anorexia is not only very interested in food and frequently very hungry, but as weight continues to decrease and the person reaches low-weight stages AN, his/her preoccupation and obsession with food becomes overwhelming.  Nevertheless, the person will do everything in their power to deny and ignore these feelings & sensations & not permit him/herself to eat. This is a particularly important characteristic of AN, along with the individual’s attempt to strictly control food and eating, with great time & effort. The question of ‘what is Anorexia Nervosa?’ is a difficult one to answer given particularly complex & multidimensi...