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Sometimes blogging seems to be about not hitting the publish button. I frequently have ideas for posts related to mental health, make notes and write drafts, only to decide when it comes to it, not to publish. So I’ve made myself reflect on why. Confidence is one issue; it goes without saying that you make yourself vulnerable blogging about this stuff. Couple that with the way anxiety saps your confidence anyway and, well, you’re already up against it before you’ve even started! Read more

I’ve learnt that the underlying principles of CBT come from Stoicism. I can’t recall where I read that now, but I’ve spent the last few days down the Stoic rabbit hole. I’ve binge-listened to a number of podcasts on the topic. I’ve made a list of books both contemporary and classical to read. To start me off I’ve bought Donald J Robertson’s Stoicism and the Art of Happiness. It’s at the self-help end of the spectrum but because the author is a psychotherapist it goes into how CBT and Stoicism relate to each other. Read more

Found myself in circumstances earlier this week that set off major anxiety. I should have known it would happen as the anticipation had been rumbling around my head for days. It was the full on racing-thoughts-angry-sweating-tight-chested-backed-into-a-corner-fight-or-flight variety. Carried on for much of the day so I was exhausted by the end. What did help though was discussing it with my wife. She could see it going on so very sensibly suggested we take a moment to talk it over. Read more

I’m glad it’s the weekend and I can have a lie in. This last week was supposed to be straightforward but haha, not so. Thursday afternoon, I had an unexpected change to my day which threw the good old anxiety into overdrive. The first time in a while that I have had such a big reaction and it left me exhausted. It all ran over into Friday where every small thing seemed imbued with far greater stress and significance than was really the case. Read more