Over the past year, I embarked on a venture that was both exhilarating and anxiety-inducing: designing a mental health journal. This was a new territory for me, a follow-up to my initial product, ‘Coping Cards’. As I delved into this project, I often found myself ironically overwhelmed by the very anxiety the journal was meant [...]
Humans are very messy creatures. Unlike most animals we share the planet with, we’re self-aware and we have conscious thought. This is great when it comes to solving problems and getting to the top of the food chain, but not so great when it comes to dealing with our day-to-day lives. Most of us [...]
It took us a long time to recognise the gut-mind connection, but now that we have, we’re finding all kinds of ways they influence each other. The gut microbiome has been linked to everything from autism to Parkinson’s disease and even Alzheimer’s. But while we are still learning about those major connections, there are [...]
We often say that it’s okay not to be okay. But what does that really mean? Some people might think that that’s a defeatist statement or that we mean it’s okay to give up. It could be open to interpretation, but in our case, we want people to know that it’s okay to admit [...]
Most people who suffer from anxiety know that the worst thing you can possibly do is try to force yourself to sleep. The more you worry about being tired in the morning, the more your brain rebels and invents new ways to keep you awake. The power of the mind is a double-edged sword. [...]
Twenty (or even ten) years ago, mental health was a taboo subject. While it was fine to talk about your deviated septum or a root canal, mental health was something to be endured quietly, behind closed doors. A mixture of shame, stigma and stoicism kept everyone suffering from mental health problems from sharing their [...]
Are all eyes really on you? Many people have a recurring nightmare that they are in a public place, and everyone is staring. When they look down, they see they’re in their underwear. Or worse... It’s very unlikely that most of us will ever have that happen in real life, but when you struggle [...]
There’s a common misconception that mental toughness means the same as “cowboys don’t cry.” That people who are mentally tough don’t have emotions, or at least that they don’t show them. However, while it’s true that sometimes mental toughness and a “stiff upper lip” go together, that’s not always the case and is misunderstood. [...]
Listening sounds like something that’s really simple. After all, we do it every day, don’t we? However, when it comes to helping a loved one who is struggling with anxiety or depression, there’s a lot more to being a good listener than you might think. Since there’s a lot of evidence that being listened [...]
The founder of Return of the Panda, Fatimah Abbouchi, started her journey in mental health back in 2007 when she experienced her first anxiety attack. It was one of the biggest shocks of her life, as there were no signs pointing to an imminent anxiety disorder. Since then, Fatimah has greatly recovered and now [...]