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1. Cut out processed foods and highly refined carbohydrates– Processed foods are basically foods in a packet with a range of names and ingredients that we don’t recognise and can’t pronounce. Highly refined carbohydrates are foods like breakfast cereals and processed bread. These turn to sugar in the body very quickly and can have a detrimental effect on your mood.
2. Cut your sugar intake– Adding sugar to food can have a negative effect on your mood. A great deal of our sugar intake comes from drinks, both soft drinks and not so healthy options such as fruit juices. Cutting out sugar can be hard to start with but within weeks our taste buds start to change. Try sticking to plain water or infuse water with fruit or decaffeinated tea and coffee.
3. Increase healthy natural fats– Stabilise your blood sugar by eating more eggs, avocados, olives, nuts and seeds.
4. Eat more veg and pulses–by eating more green vegetables, broccoli, asparagus, and kale, for example, chia seeds, flax seeds, nuts,  lentils and other pulses. One of the best non-animal sources of Omega-3 fats is seaweed sounds scary but you don’t know until you try!
5. Eat more prebiotic fibre– There millions of bugs that live in your gut. The health and composition of these bugs play a critical role in how you feel. The best way to increase them is to eat more plant fibre. Best sources are leeks, onions, garlic, artichokes and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower.

When you are not feeling at your best these are often the opposite of what you feel like doing if you can create a routine that incorporates all 5 you stand a far better chance of maintaining good mental health.

1) Get active

Evidence shows that physical activity can have a positive impact on mental health. You don’t need to be a gym member or an athlete. Getting active can be as simple as going for a walk this can be enough to have a significant impact on your health.

And if you can take a walk through the local park, even better: research shows positive impacts of nature on physical and mental wellbeing.

2) Stay connected

We are designed to connect with others and engage with people, working with others and strengthening relationships with family, friends and the community has been shown to have a real impact on your emotional health. The Mental Health Foundation found that people with strong social support networks have greater mental and physical well-being than those that don’t. You can even combine your exercise routine with spending time with others. We feel happier and more fulfilled when we have meaningful connections in our lives, and it doesn’t take much to build them; contacting a friend to ask about their day can be enough to lift your sense of connection and wellbeing – and will mean a lot to them, too.

3) Keep learning

Research shows that lifelong learning boosts confidence and self-esteem. Access to learning couldn’t be easier with free online courses and YouTube, it’s never been easier to learn a new skill. The local library will have free books, audiobooks and information about courses as will your local college and community groups.Or why not make it a social event? Turning your hand to learning a new skill is a great way to challenge yourself and stay connected.

4) Be mindful

The practice of tuning in to the present moment is a proven tool for improving mental health and wellbeing, and it’s easy to give it a go yourself.

Try taking a few minutes a day when you wake up, on your lunch break sit quietly, and allow yourself to simply become aware of the present moment and your thoughts and feelings. If you have a hectic lifestyle and this seems daunting you can access free mindfulness apps or videos on YouTube.

5) Give to others

Evidence shows that volunteering results in increased wellbeing, the feeling of satisfaction of having helped someone out can give you a real boost.

Volunteering opportunities within your community can be found through libraries, charities and community groups

If you can’t make a regular commitment to volunteering, there are other things you can do each day that can make a real difference, for example, helping someone with their shopping, giving directions to a lost stranger or offering to help in small ways can be surprising at just how good it feels.

A little effort can make a huge difference. Step by step changes will add up to make you feel mentally stronger and lessen the likelihood of low mood. Give this a go practice these five steps and see how it feels?

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We all get stressed at times.

The causes of stress are countless and there are as many ways to deal with it. To make things a bit easier we put together 10 simple ways to manage stress.

• Friendships Talk to your friends about what’s stressing you out – it might be helpful. Going out and having a laugh might take your mind off things for a while.
• Exercise Exercise of any kind can be a good way to relieve stress. Getting rid of excess energy can leave you calmer and might even give you a better night’s sleep.
• Set  goals Whether it’s for study, work or just dealing with everyday life setting achievable goals can help you to manage stress. Working out priorities and then moving through short and long-term goals can help you to keep a sense of perspective. HeadGym goals strategy can be a great way to do this.
• Give yourself options There’s never just one way of achieving goals. Whatever you’re planning be it travel, study or work, try considering other directions. You might be surprised with what you find and achieve. Goals don’t need to be set in stone they can and will change, make them flexible.
• Mind your thoughts Your thoughts and attitude influence the way you see things. Some positive self-talk can be invaluable in helping you to sort out a stressful situation. Create a mantra or affirmation that you can use to say to yourself in times of stress.
• Avoid stimulants Smoking, caffeine and alcohol can seem like good options for short-term stress release. But over time they can make you more stressed out, so minimising or better still not at all can help keep stress at bay.
• Talk to somebody If you are finding it hard to manage your stress alone it can be useful to talk to someone else. Parents, teachers or therapists could be an option.
• Breathe This is the one we’ve all heard of to help us de-stress, but deep breathing shouldn’t be underestimated. It can help to relax the body and mind, and if you’ve something important to do it can help you to focus.

Can I get better?

Jane was 28 years old and had experienced poor mental health since the age of 13 after 2 family bereavements, one being through suicide. She explained that she was in a constant state of anxiety and had severe physical stomach problems. Jane had been back and forth to doctors and hospitals to find the cause of her physical pain. She was in a long-term relationship and had a 3-year-old son. Jane spent most days at home rarely went out and on the occasion, she did she always had her partner or close family with her. She wanted to feel better and had received counselling before I met her. The counselling had been unsuccessful she told me that she didn’t feel any better perhaps “a little worse”

Anxiety can present itself in many ways, a twisting in the gut; heart pounding; hot sweats; headaches; panic attacks; sickness and much more. Jane experienced a variety of these symptoms most of the time and had done for the previous 15 years.

I know from personal experience how debilitating anxiety can be how it can knot you up and stop you in your tracks the overwhelming feelings take over and your floored. I have learned how to take control and no longer let anxiety dominate and rule my life I have also helped hundreds of people to be able to do so.

I spent around 6 months helping Jane showing her some of the techniques my clients and I use and she managed to break out of the anxiety trap. She moved on to improve her relationship, started work her physical symptoms ceased and her social life improved in fact she is rarely in.

Jane is a true example of how we can get out of the trap and begin to live a more fulfilled and happy life after so many years of feeling there was no way out she did it and reaped the rewards.

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Depression

Mike had attempted to take his life the weekend before I met him, he was “beaten down”, felt stuck and in a constant dark cloud; nothing seemed to work out for him and everything just went wrong. He felt like he was trapped in a “hamsters wheel” with no way out and no control. The fog had crept up on him and taken over.

I know from experience how we may feel stuck, overwhelmed, worthless and helpless, trapped in a negative wheel where every day feels the same and we just can’t seem to shake it. There seems to be no end in sight, no release or let up.

Something awful may have happened, a crisis or traumatic event but sometimes there is nothing, no reason, no event or trigger we can put our finger on or blame; the fog just takes over.

It may feel like a cloud descends with no warning and no apparent reason. It can linger for what seems like an eternity or pass as quickly as it came only to return whenever it feels.

It may take us down even further, a little at a time or knock us off our feet with one swift blow.

We shut the curtains, ignore the phone, don’t go out, phone in sick and stay in bed hoping this will go away but it doesn’t, it grows and gets worse and we can’t see a way out. Maybe we get so low we reach out and ask for help, but nobody seems to understand. The never-ending wheel continues, and the fog gets darker.

It can go on for so long that we get used to it and start to accept that this is how we feel, getting out of the fog seems impossible, even frightening. We may start to think that is our only option our destiny, this is where we belong, and we deserve to stay.

We have become comfortably uncomfortable stuck in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Doing anything outside our discomfort feels frightening and not worth the risk of getting worse and at least we know where we are. Getting out of the fog seems like a million miles away; we can’t even remember what it feels like to be out.

It’s hard to believe that there may be a way out when everything seems to be against us and there is no end in sight.

With a few tools Mike was able to get out of the fog and start living, he stepped off the “hamsters wheel” and out of his discomfort. Mike is now moving forward step by step and feeling better the fog has cleared and there is light ahead. There are hurdles along the way, ups and downs “bad things still happen” but he is well equipped to deal with them and no longer descends into a dark cloud.

Mike has noticed that things are different, he is smiling and feeling happier, his family are happier and things feel like they are on the up.

There is light, it may seem far away but if we take it a step at a time we can clear the fog and move on.

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