Getting Through the Festive Season with Social Anxiety I wrote about Social Anxiety in the October 2017 edition of Forrest Rambles and thought that now was a good time to re-visit the topic with a focus on how to get through the festive season. Social Anxiety is an excessive fear of embarrassing yourself and being … Read more
After a couple of months of leisurely reading in nice coffee shops, I’m pleased to publish my first book review. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did preparing it! I was attracted to Sarah Wilson’s First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A new story about anxiety by it’s cover – the … Read more
As we have seen from previous editions of Forrest Rambles, anxiety can take many forms, from social anxiety to panic disorder, specific phobias, and obsessive compulsive disorder. Today we turn our attention to health anxiety, which is defined as an excessive fear of having or developing a serious illness. You may have heard health anxiety … Read more
Sport has been all around us recently, with the World Cup, Wimbledon and the Tour de France. Inspired by this, I’ve decided to use the August Ramble to explore the benefits of physical activity for our mental health. At school I was never the sporty type, but when I was at University and struggling with … Read more
This month I’m exploring a problem I see a lot of in my clinical work – obsessive compulsive disorder (or OCD for short). Despite the many Channel 4 documentaries on all things OCD, and the great work that various charities do to dispel the stigma around it, this still, in my opinion, remains one of … Read more
Welcome to the April edition of Forrest Rambles. Today I’m going to be looking at Mindfulness as this is a really popular topic at the moment, and it’s recommended by NICE Guidelines as an effective treatment for recurrent depression. I’ve been interested in meditation for about twenty years now, and practice mindfulness on a daily … Read more
It started to happen about four weeks ago: walking through the local shopping centre I saw my first Christmas decorations. Soon the Christmas songs started creeping into the shops, then the big stores released their Christmas TV ads, and – before you know it – we’ve had Black Friday, and there is no escape from … Read more
Asking for help can be very difficult, so I thought it would be helpful for this month’s Ramble to look at what happens once you’ve put your fears aside and made that first step forwards by booking your assessment appointment. Firstly, don’t be put off by the word ‘assessment’. Really, it is just a chance … Read more
After a little voting poll on Twitter it was decided that this months Forrest Ramble would look at Social Anxiety Disorder – so here it is, I hope you enjoy it and find it informative. Can you remember a time when you felt really anxious and embarrassed in a social situation? Can you remember how … Read more
