Anxiety - The Ginger Quiff

Be the Best Version of You

November 9, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m about done with 2022. In my head there is more about 2022 to say good riddance to (how polite Neil, say what you really mean) than there is to say bon voyage to – no 2022, I never want to fucking see you again. Yes, of course a lot of it is personal and a lot is to do with the way my bastard of a brain computes things, but nonetheless, 2022 can fucking do one. Let 2023 bring forth all it has, unleash the beast, loose the arrows, I am fucking ready for you (or at least I will be after another couple of CBT sessions…)

Of course not all of 2022 has been a car crash of a year, there have obviously been many highs, but my mental health has probably been on the descent more than it has on the ascent, resulting in me focussing on the negatives above all else.… Read the rest

A Walking Contradiction – an exercise in self sabotage

July 5, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

I currently feel like a walking contradiction. That old physics thing about every action having an equal and opposite reaction, well physics and chemistry seem to have got caught up in a mix somewhere with me and I’m not sure the opposite reaction is supposed to happen automatically after every initial action as a matter of course.

With restrictions (if not COVID itself) a thing of the past, I feel like I should be back in a world of near normality, whatever shape or form that may take, but I still feel far from that. The COVID hangover remains, feeling like a different form of the long COVID everyone talks about, but from a mental health perspective rather than physical.… Read the rest

Prioritise Pleasure (with a nod to Self Esteem)

March 15, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

Prioritise Pleasure

Contrary to what the title of this blog may suggest, this isn’t a review of the superbly inspirational album from last year, courtesy of the upfront sass of the talented Rebecca Lucy Taylor laying her soul bare for all, with a heavy dose of honesty. (Having said that I did review the album last year and it appeared in my top 5 albums of the year).

The blog does however pickup on some of the themes visited by the album, none more so than that of its title track, Prioritise Pleasure. A mantra that we should all unabashedly live by without feeling guilty, after all if we want to help others, we can’t share from an empty vessel.… Read the rest

Positivity – have you had your plus sign today? The daily battle with your demons

November 3, 2021 By neilho27@sky.com

Positivity

The late musical genius who was Prince Rogers Nelson once sang about Positivity on his Lovesexy album.

“Positivity (Yes!)
Have you had your plus sign today?
Positivity (Yes!)
Do we mark you present, or do we mark you late?”

Being Present

Those lyrics mention “do we mark you present”, to most people this may seem like the norm, they may be generally optimistic people, who have a positive outlook on life, they live for the moment, always in the present, not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. For others it might not always be as simple as that.… Read the rest

Mindful March

March 4, 2021 By neilho27@sky.com

Let’s not sugar coat it. January was shite. If anything, February was worse…

I’m willing to bet I’m not the only person that in any “normal” year hates the early months of a new year. The promise of a buoyant New Year seen through the haze of a Hogmanay dram, usually fades to a miserable grey thought as the realisation hits. It’s January.

I mean, January and February are normally a barren wasteland of dark mornings and dark evenings. Days and nights of nothing much happening after the hustle and bustle of December. 2021 has added a whole new dimension of shite to the mix.… Read the rest

Lockdown ramblings…

May 12, 2020 By neilho27@sky.com

I’ve being doing a lot of internal reflection on the back of the latest seemingly ill thought out random series soundbites and subsequent bumbling backtracking and mixed messages coming from Downing Street, apparently without any real plan or substance to back them up. While I feel that many of us with some common sense have been able to live by the guidelines up until now, these new messages have just caused confusion amongst many. This isn’t really a political post though. The statement and subsequent fallout were merely a trigger.

Home Truths

It brought home a few realisations and home truths.… Read the rest

Mental Health Awareness Day 2019

October 10, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

Once again, Mental Health Awareness Day/Week has crept up us. It is still a shame that we have a focus like this on Mental Health, that it isn’t yet something that is fully accepted into society and people can speak openly in social or work situations without others judging, outwardly or inwardly, or experiencing feelings of guilt or embarrassment. Having said that, I know there are inroads being made and the more people that do feel they can speak up, the better. More and more organisations are seeing the benefit of having policies around Mental Health and making workplaces safe spaces where people get the support they require rather than being judged or labelled as lazy, or an absence statistic that needs dealt with.… Read the rest

World Mental Health Day 2018

October 10, 2018 By neilho27@sky.com

10th October is World Mental Health Day

I couldn’t let today pass without at least a short blog, a day designed to raise awareness of and education for mental health issues and to provide advocacy for those who are impacted.

Several years have passed since I first experienced crippling anxiety leading to an extended period of depression. The experience had a lasting effect on me and, despite a lapse back into my depression and anxiety controlling me in more recent years, it has changed my whole outlook on life and the way I deal with my own mental health. I am in control and though you can never say never, I intend to keep it that way.… Read the rest

Developing Resilience

August 11, 2018 By neilho27@sky.com

I haven’t written directly about mental health unrelated to music for a while. It isn’t that this is something that is no longer important to me, or something that I’ve forgotten about. On the contrary, forgetting is not an option. In fact this blog is about just how much mental health has been to the fore in my mind and the way I deal with it has been put in the spotlight in recent weeks.

Dealing daily with your Mental Health

When you are someone who lives with anxiety and depression, every day brings its challenges. Every day. There is no end as such, there is no miracle cure.… Read the rest

Time to Talk Day 2018 – Mental Health Awareness

January 28, 2018 By neilho27@sky.com

Time to Talk Day 2018

This coming week heralds a new month. Where has January gone? And on February 1^st it is “Time to Talk Day 2018”. The aim of this day is to get people talking about mental health issues and reduce the taboo. To make it easy for people to ask for help when they need it without feeling as if they will be judged.

No matter who you are, where you are, what you do, what age you are, we all have mental health. Like our physical health we all have the potential to suffer from poor health from time to time.… Read the rest