mental health

It can be so hard to practice any type of self-care when you’re not feeling yourself. Yet this is exactly when you need it the most.

On days …
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What is OCD?

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a mental illness that creates negative thoughts. These thoughts lead you to believe that if you do not carry out a certain …
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Working in a stressful, high-pressured or demanding job can negatively impact on your mental health. This, coupled with issues at home, arranging child care throughout the summer holidays …
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Researchers found that most mums experience a significant dip in self-esteem after having a baby that can last up to three years.

This is regardless of the mother’s relationship …
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We all know how important self-care is for our mind and body. However it is very difficult to practice self-care if we are stressed and do not recognise that we …
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We all have anxious thoughts from time to time but sometimes these thoughts can be all we think about. They are intrusive, frightening, repetitive and hard to stop.

It …
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Today is World Maternal Mental Health Day, May is Maternal Mental Health Month.

This is a serious health matter, that needs more awareness and acceptance. We need to be …
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By personalising other people’s negative thoughts or opinions we are allowing them to control how we feel.

Q. So how can we stop this?

A. By changing the way we …
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We grow up with labels that are used to define us. These labels can be attached by other people and even by ourself at times. Society, family, social media, work …
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Rejection is hard for most people. Since childhood, we have looked for acceptance from our friends in school to our parents at home. Sometimes doing whatever we can and …
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“You will never speak to anyone more than you speak to yourself in your head, be kind to yourself”

When we are living with low self-esteem, it …
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These six Inishowen mothers have launched Tea & Toast, a new slice of the local mammy wellness movement inspired by Counsellor Sarah Barr. The group began in Buncrana last month …
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Let’s do a thought experiment:

• Close your eyes.
• Imagine a pink elephant
• What shade of pink is it?
• Is it happy/sad/indifferent?
• Think about the pink elephant for 60 …
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Weekend Depression: It can start to sneak up on you without you knowing it. During the week you’re busy with work, children, schedules and activities. Yet when Friday or Saturday …
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So yesterday was ‘Blue Monday’ supposedly the most depressing day of the year.

We look forward to winter, the cosy nights and the lead up to Christmas. The parties, the …
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• What are worries?

Worries are just thoughts and thoughts are not fact. They have no reality. Worries begin when we ask, “What if…” then the mental …
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As we all know from experience, making a New Year’s resolution is easy. Sticking with it and actually achieving your goal is not so easy.

New Year’s resolutions is …
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With Christmas getting closer, many of us will feel a mixture of excitement and worry. However, for those of you who live with social anxiety, Christmas can be a very …
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How many times a day do you allow yourself to stop, take stock and breathe?

Or do you carry on, listening to all those ‘mustabations’ (I should be doing this, …
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“There once was a girl whose happiness was tied to the sun. As it rose, so did she, and her smile was like beams of light. As it set, so …
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“Fear is nothing more than an obstacle that stands in the way of progress. In overcoming our fears we can move forward, stronger and wiser within ourselves.”

…
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“What is the one good thing you say about yourself in the morning?” Yoga instructor Joanne Cullen asked a Deele College 5th Year class today (Wednesday).

“I am amazing,” a …
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“Mindfulness, being present in each moment, without judgement”

So mindfulness is quite the buzz word at the minute, but what exactly is mindfulness?

It is defined as being …
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The World Mental Health Day edition of The Hub with Dave Duke will be broadcast live from Galway tonight from 9pm.

Amy bravely talked about her own depression on …
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Today is World Mental Health Day. The 10th of October each year is dedicated to raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and bringing together efforts which support …
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Shannon McLaughlin, aged 21, moved from her home in Convoy to Arkansas, USA in 2015. She was a fit and healthy student with an exciting new life and bright future, …
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Majella O’Donnell is preparing to welcome attendees to a special evening around mental health this Tuesday, October 10th.

Majella is the founder of Donegal Mind Wellness and is a prominent advocate …
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“October is about trees revealing colours they’ve hidden all year. People have an October as well” – Jm Storm.

Autumn is the season of letting go. I absolutely …
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Over 100 people have benefited from Pieta House NW since it opened, and that support is about to grow further. The centre in Letterkenny is introducing longer opening hours and …
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Positive thinking focuses on the positive side of life.

To use positive thinking in your life, it is more than being aware of it, it is about adopting it …
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We live in a social media frenzied world.

So creating and maintaining an online presence is now a priority for many of us, whether it is for social or …
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In last week’s article I focused on students moving to university and dealing with homesickness.

This week my focus is on the parents/guardians who are left behind. As a mother …
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Connecting for Life Donegal launched this poster as one of three new suicide prevention resources yesterday as part of World Suicide Prevention Week.

These resources are the latest developments from …
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Moving away for university is a big transition, whether you’ve come from the other side of the world or down the road.

If you’re suffering from homesickness, just remember you’re not the …
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Aware is urging the people of Co. Donegal who are struggling to deal with life’s challenges to sign up to the “Aware Life Skills Group Programme.”

The Life Skills Programme, nine hours, …
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Amy Callaghan from Glenswilly took to the Rose of Tralee stage last week to open up about her very personal past which was marked with depression. She earned much praise …
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 “Dreams are the royal road to the unconscious.”- Sigmund Freud.

Through analysing our dreams, we can get a “glimpse” into the inner workings of our subconscious.

Dreams can …
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Today mums feel enormous pressure to be the ‘perfect mum’. It can feel at times like a competitive sport. This coupled with social media and the pressure intensifies, as social …
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“I am not boring or shy. I am an introvert. an artist. a lover. a dreamer. a fighter. a seeker”.

Introverted people tend to be more focused …
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Mental health describes how we think and feel about ourselves. Which impacts on how we cope with stress, face challenges, build relationships and move on from difficult experiences.Our mental well-being …
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At some point or another, most of us will have had or have experiences of feeling lonely.

Being alone can be difficult as it may trigger feelings of sadness.

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“Take pride in how far you have come & have faith in how far you can go”.

Sometimes it can be difficult to judge how well we’re doing …
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“Comparison is the thief of joy” – Theodore Roosevelt

Whether it is keeping up with the Kardashians, Joneses or Facebook ‘friends’ we are always looking at that …
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Minding Mammy will be a 5 week programme aimed at helping Donegal mums cope with the mental health pressures that arise in the transition to motherhood.

It all began when Maria …
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“Depression is the most unpleasant thing I have ever experienced…it’s that absence of being able to envisage that you will ever be cheerful again. The absence of hope. …
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Last Sunday, Donegal Woman Columnist and local blogger Maria Rushe, The S-Mum, posted a blog entitled “My Little Bitch, Anxiety.”

The reaction to the post was phenomenal, with over 100 other …
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 “When you are a caregiver, you know that everyday you will touch a life or a life will touch yours”

Carers in Ireland play an invaluable role …
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“My nights are for overthinking, my mornings are for oversleeping”

It’s 3am.

You’re wide awake, just laying there in the stillness of night.

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“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama

In today’s article I will look at what strategies we can use to …
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May is Green Ribbon Month and the mental health charity, GROW, is urging Donegal people to seek support if they are struggling with any aspect of their mental health and …
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