Start working on your mental health whilst in lockdown

I know a lot of people say "I don't have time to use online resources" well now is a good time to start.

If you are at home, out of work, self-isolating etc then you can use this time to look after your mental health and make a big difference to your life. No excuses people - get reading.:yesyes:


Check out Robin's CBT help website here: https://cbt4panic.org/


Loads of NHS Mental Health Apps here: https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/category/mental-health/


Have a read of these:

Helping Health Anxiety
Overcoming Health Anxiety: This InfoPax is designed to provide you with some information about health anxiety, including how it develops, how it is maintained, and how to decrease your health worries and concerns. It is organised into modules that are designed to be worked through in sequence. We recommend that you complete one module before going on to the next. Each module includes information, worksheets, and suggested exercises or activities. Modules:

• Module 1: Understanding Health Anxiety
  This module provides an overview of what health anxiety is, how it can be a problem, and what kind of impact it can have on a person's life. PDF document: 272kb. Updated 15 September 2011.

• Module 2: How Health Anxiety Develops
  This module explores, and provides a model of, how health anxiety may develop. PDF document: 247kb. Updated 15 September 2011.

• Module 3: What Keeps Health Anxiety Going?
  This module explores, and provides a model, of how health anxiety might be triggered and then maintained. PDF document: 300kb. Updated 15 September 2011.

• Module 4: Reducing Your Focus on Health Symptoms and Worries
  This module explores some attention training exercises aimed at reducing the amount of time you spend focussed on health symptoms and worries. PDF document: 291kb. Updated 15 September 2011.

• Module 5: Re-evaluating Unhelpful Health Related Thinking
  This module explores how your thoughts can influence your feelings, physiological state, and behaviours. This module then discusses ways to evaluate and overcome unhelpful health related thinking. PDF document: 251kb. Updated 15 September 2011.

• Module 6: Reducing Checking and Reassurance Seeking
  This module explores the different ways people check and seek reassurance regarding their health concerns, discusses the difference between helpful and unhelpful checking and reassurance seeking, and introduces strategies to reduce or eliminate these behaviours. PDF document: 309kb. Updated 15 September 2011.

• Module 7: Challenging Avoidance and Safety Behaviours
  This module explores how avoidance and safety behaviours can keep health anxiety going, and introduces a strategy to gradually reduce and overcome these behaviours. PDF document: 259kb. Updated 15 September 2011.

• Module 8: Adjusting Health Rules and Assumptions
  In this module we will focus on challenging the unhelpful rules and assumptions that can keep you caught in the vicious cycle of health anxiety. PDF document: 195kb. Updated 15 September 2011.
  
• Module 9: Healthy Living and Self Management Planning
  This final module brings all the concepts of this information package together, presents a new model for healthy living, and includes a self-management plan to help you to stay on track in the future. PDF document: 234kb. Updated 15 September 2011.

Thank you.

Tomorrow I am going to sit and read through, one or 2 attachments. Aim for 2 a day.

Thank you, Nic for putting all these together and for making them easily available for people who choose to take your advice

Thank you very much [emoji846]

This is great, Nic. I’m unfortunately not isolating but these will be really helpful for me to read through. Thanks for posting!

Thanks for this Nic, I am sure it will be a lot of use for a lot of members

Thank you :D

Thanks Nic, like you say now is as good a time as any.

I will be checking these out.

Elen

Great thread, Nic! These needs a regular bumping. Hopefully people will listen.

Great post Nic! I'm really glad you posted this. I can't count how many times I've put that link in a reply and it's even in my signature. I personally found some of the workbooks useful when dealing with the aftermath of my cancer and some of the exercises are relevant to everyday life situations and I still use them to this day.

The situation we all find ourselves in makes this a reckoning moment of sorts. Most threads are about an illness or other subject and an irrational fear associated with it, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. What we're seeing here and in real life are real fears with a rational reason to have them. Of course, that can go overboard and we're seeing that but this is real life happening as I type this. I have to admit, I blew this off as unnecessary hype until the company I work for started sending daily alerts and information. Things have changed rapidly since then and adds undeniable affirmation of the seriousness of the situation. What really changed my mind was when Trump finally admitted this was serious and allowed the experts to explain the statistics and data they have collected thus far. Even that is changing daily as they learn more.

This is stressful and causing anxiety to everyone. Heck, I'm stressed! While I'm not a sufferer and I'm coping quite well from a mental standpoint, I'm feeling the stress in my body.... Tight muscles, sleep is off etc., so I can only imagine that 10X for some folks.

Circling around and getting to the point... ;)

Things are out of our control right now. That's the reality and nothing can change that. It's up to us to do the best we can and follow the guidelines. We have to pull ourselves up by the boot straps because frankly, every resource is going toward fighting this pandemic, rightly so, and there's not going to be access to real life help as it was for a while. Now is the time to be taking the initiative to download this course and diligently dive in head first. Make this moment the moment you decide to take on the dragon!

One of my favorite quotes says it all....

"Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we handle it" - Charles Swindoll

Positive thoughts

I’ve dusted off my cbt for dummies book and subscribed to headspace.

Afternoon everyone,

If anyone requires extra support during these times head to https://mypickle.org/coronahub/ which will give you guidance and support.

Regards,
Lyndsay

A great resource in these tumultuous times :)

Thanks Nic :hugs:

I have had to go back reading my work book as finding some negative thoughts creeping back in.
Starting work next week and hoping this will help.

Did the methods you used during self-isolation help you?