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World Mental Health Day 2015: Dignity and Mental Health

October 9, 2015

The 10th of October is World Mental Health Day and theme for this years events is dignity. Dignity is such an important topic within mental health and it is a really positive step that mental health organisations are choosing to focus on this aspect of mental health this year. Below are a few of the thoughts I have had around the subject of dignity and supporting someone with a mental health issue.

Posted by K Clark. Posted In : Self Confidence

Seven Tips to Help You Take Better Care of Your Hands and Feet

September 29, 2015

Hands and feet take a fair bit of punishment over the course of our lifetime. Our hands are often exposed to the most and can get sore and cracked during the colder weather, we use them for washing and cleaning tasks around the home, DIY tasks and they often become the victim of picking or biting during times of stress. Feet experience a similar level of stress and often spend much of their time in socks and shoes, being walked upon, they often get knocked and banged and, like the hands, ar...

Posted by K Clark. Posted In : Personal Grooming

Good Kitchen Hygiene - A Beginners Guide

September 2, 2015

Maintaining a hygienic kitchen is vital for maintaining your own health and wellbeing. Below are a few steps you can take to ensure that your food storage, preparation and eating space are up to scratch.

Food Storage
Ensure that meats and fish are stored in the fridge or freezer. Pay close attention to the food labels as this will provide you with information on shelf life and cooking instructions. Always store raw and cooked meats separately. Ideally store refrigerated meat on the lowes...

Posted by K Clark. Posted In : Homecare

How to Survive a Blip in Your Mental Health

July 13, 2015

Mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia, can fluctuate over time. Sometimes you will feel well and like you are managing your mental health really well and at other times things will seem to be going less well. Some dips in wellbeing are very normal so learning strategies to help you through these times will help to reduce the risk of these tough spells progressing into full relapses.

Everybody living with a mental health condition will have a unique experienc...

Posted by K Clark. Posted In : Managing Stress

5 More Apps to Help Manage Your Mental Health

June 21, 2015

Following on from an earlier blog post where I reviewed some apps that can help you to manage your mental health, I thought it would be helpful to share some more.

1. Buddhify

Buddhify is one of the best mindfulness apps I have come across. It has over 80 different guided mindfulness exercises which are broken down in to categories based on your need and environment. Some are more introspective while others make use of the sights and sounds from your present environment. Most of the guided e...

Posted by K Clark. Posted In : Managing Stress

Depression Awareness Week 2015: The Benefits of Using Mood Diaries

April 21, 2015

As it is Depression Awareness Week I thought it may be helpful to share some tips on how mood diaries can be used and how they can help to monitor and manage a mental health condition such as depression.

What are Mood Diaries?
Mood diaries are a form of record or log of your mood throughout the day over a period of time. They can be kept over a short period of just a week or two or as an ongoing tool for for monitoring a longer term condition. Mood diaries can be kept in a variety of format...

Posted by K Clark. Posted In : Asking for Help

Help to Minimise the Effects of Self Destructive Behaviour

March 15, 2015

This could potentially have been a blog post about self harming but I know that many of us tend to have behaviours that don't strictly fall into this category but the behaviour is potentially harmful nonetheless. With this in mind I have widened the topic to include all forms of self destructive behaviour. This is because we are all vulnerable and likely, at one time or another, to have taken actions that are self destructive or self sabotaging and slow down the process of achieving of an e...

Posted by K Clark. Posted In : Managing Stress

Tips for Getting Up Earlier

March 3, 2015

Last year I shared some tips for getting a good nights sleep. Developing a healthier routine for waking up and getting going with the day can play an important role in forming good sleeping patterns. Below are some tips for improving your morning routine and waking earlier.

1. Buy and Use an Alarm Clock
This is going to sound a little obvious, but investing in a good alarm clock and using it daily will really help you to establish a new waking routine. Decide on an end goal wake up time, idea...

Posted by K Clark. Posted In : Building Structure

More Tips to Help You Stay Within Your Budget

February 16, 2015

This post is a follow up to an earlier one where I shared tips for living within a budget. In this post I will share some suggestions on the best places to shop for different items. These suggestions are based entirely on my own personal experience and I have not received any financial incentive or sponsorship by any of the stores or websites named.

Food

Using price check websites, such as My Supermarket will help you to search out bargains and compare the prices of items across different supe...

Posted by K Clark. Posted In : Managing Money

Time to Talk Day

February 5, 2015

Today is Time to Talk Day, a campaign run by the Time to Change mental health charity. It's aim is to break down some of the stigma that surrounds mental illness and get people talking about their own mental health and asking friends how their mental health is. There is an odd taboo that surrounds mental illness where people feel an anxiety that if they talk about their own mental health this will make them vulnerable and those around them will judge them harshly and won't understand.

The ...

Posted by K Clark. Posted In : Asking for Help

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About Me

Katherine Clark

St Albans

I am experienced mental health worker with 15 years experience working with young people and adults with enduring mental health needs. I have set up this blog to share some of the tips and skills I have learnt along the way. If you have any suggestions or particular questions you would like me to answer feel free to email me at [email protected]