When Depression Meets Poverty: The Silent Collapse No One Sees
What depression really feels like when money runs out: the hidden impact of sanctions, unemployment, and trauma, plus practical steps to help people slowly rebuild hope.
How To Suppress Bad Memories
While completely erasing bad memories isn’t possible, learning how to suppress or manage them effectively can play a significant role in healing and improving mental well-being.
Self Caring After Trauma
Self-care is a vital aspect of maintaining mental and physical well-being. It involves activities and practices that we engage in regularly to reduce stress, enhance our health, and restore our balance.
Overprescribing Anti-Depressants: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Antidepressant use has soared over the past two decades, with the UK alone seeing a doubling in prescriptions since 2008. While medication can be life-changing for some, concerns are growing around its overprescription, especially for patients who may not need long-term pharmacological treatment. From the reluctance of GPs to offer fast-acting relief to the alarming trend of children being medicated, it’s time to ask, are we medicating emotion at the expense of wellbeing?
Why We’re Drawn to Fragrances from the Past: The Power of Scent and Memory
Of all the senses, smell is the most closely linked to memory and emotion. The olfactory system is directly connected to the limbic system, particularly the amygdala and hippocampus, which govern our emotional processing and long-term memories. This is why just one spray of a familiar scent can instantly transport you back to your teenage bedroom, a first date, or a warm summer holiday.
Welfare Vote Sparks Outrage Amid Criticism of ‘Two-Tier’ PIP Plans
While reforming PIP to make it more compassionate and efficient is a valid goal, the current welfare vote signals a dangerous turn toward conditionality and restriction. The proposed “two-tier” approach risks further marginalising vulnerable people and failing to address the diverse spectrum of disability and illness in the UK. Without meaningful consultation, real investment, and a focus on dignity and independence, the government may not be reforming welfare, but dismantling it.
Living With Trauma: The Hidden Battle Behind Mental Health Struggles
Though trauma may never fully disappear, it can transform into strength. By understanding its roots, recognising how it impacts the mind and body, and gently working toward recovery, survivors can reclaim their lives. The editor is a testament to this. Through her pain, she has cultivated purpose, using her lived experience to educate, support, and inspire others who feel lost in the shadows of trauma and mental illness. Her message is clear: you are not alone.
Can You Forget Trauma?
Trauma is the emotional and psychological response to an event—or series of events—that overwhelms a person’s ability to cope. It’s not just about what happened, but how it made you feel: unsafe, powerless, or deeply shaken. Trauma can stem from a one-time incident like an accident or loss, or from long-term experiences like abuse, neglect, or living in constant fear.
Living with Uncertainty: Why PIP Assessments Fail to Reflect the Reality of Fluctuating Disabilities
When a system structurally excludes, misjudges, or punishes people with fluctuating disabilities, it is not just morally unjust — it may also be legally non-compliant. Disabled individuals and advocacy groups have a strong basis to argue that the PIP framework, as currently implemented, fails to meet legal standards of fairness, equality, and dignity.
Understanding How Trauma Can Qualify for PIP Support
No one should have to “prove” their trauma, but the benefits system often requires detailed explanations. If trauma makes daily living harder, you deserve support. And always remember—your condition is valid even if it’s not visible. If someone hasn’t walked in your shoes, they shouldn’t judge how far you’ve come.