April 26, 2011 · 1:54 pm

The Royal Wedding and Relational Happiness

Royal Wedding - Wills and Kate

We have a Royal wedding coming up. The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Katherine Middleton. There might be a few out there who know nothing about it and have no access to the press or media but it is estimated a billion people will watch it.

Alexa at the Photoshoot

Last weekend, I was at a photo shoot of someone wearing a wedding dress. It was eerie seeing someone dressed in a wedding dress with deer in the background, sun streaming and no groom in sight. I expected people to be stand-offish but instead found people really friendly with the ‘bride’. There does seem to be happiness around weddings and what they promise. A wedding dress seems to have brought a smile to some of the people there.


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March 30, 2011 · 7:46 am

Addictions and Lies – an addict cannot even trust themselves

Addictions are pernicious and do take over the lives of addicts. If someone you know or love is an addict. Beware. Tread carefully. It is easy to forget in the laughter. The sweet nature of who they really are is down there somewhere but the addiction hangs around like an overstaying guest. If the addict is you, really do see to it. The first step is always to become aware of it and and how it is affecting yours and others lives; then taking the steps to make it more and more conscious. If it is someone you love, a friend, relative, your partner, your child. It takes a lot out of you. From all the many people I have met, that tends to be harder then if the addict is yourself. We can sometimes get used and addicted to the addict remaining an addict. An addict is always dependent.  Never free. The addiction takes a lot of time out of their lives, finding the cash, the search for the object, the secrecy and hiding, the relationship with others who maintain it; all adds to a way of behaviour which keeps it oscillating. Continue reading →

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January 4, 2011 · 12:28 pm

How thinking can be in our genes – 5-HTT gene, depression and anxiety

Whether people become depressed after stressful or traumatic experiences can be influenced by their genes. Genetics plays its part in our lives from day one. The 5-HTT gene helps to control levels of serotonin, a brain chemical which passes messages between brain cells and affects mood . The 5-HTT gene comes in the short and the long form and everyone has the two versions. Those who have the two copies of short version and who have also mistreated as children, bullied, and in people who have certain medical conditions are more likely to suffer from depression. Continue reading →

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December 14, 2010 · 10:11 pm

Money, Bernie Madoff, his son, suicide and depression.

It was with sadness I read of the suicide of Bernie Madoff’s son, Mark Madoff over the week-end. I have no idea as to how much he may or may not have been involved in the ponzi scheme which his father ran and which fraudalently stole a reputed 50 billion dollars; from large institutions to small investors.  There were many celebrities, reputedly even Kevin Bacon and his wife who lost all the millions they invested bar the house they were living in.  A few others who were the victims of his fraud have also reputedly also commited suicide. Money, loss and its after-effects does seem to bring repercussions. Continue reading →

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November 30, 2010 · 3:31 pm

Facebook Anxiety

Facebook Anxiety

Recently Doctors in Italy reported on a depressed 18-year-old who was dumped by his girlfriend and then upon seeing her picture on Facebook suffered an asthma attack.  He suffered an asthma attack everytime he accessed his ex’s profile. It was only when he stopped logging onto the site the attacks stopped.

Dr Gennaro D’Amato, from Naples, and two colleagues writing in The Lancet medical journal pointed out that psychological stress was a recognised cause of asthma attacks. Facebook can certainly bring up alot of stress whether one has asthma or not.

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October 6, 2010 · 12:22 pm

‘Do the Moi’ and our relationship with ourselves

I just love relationships. They are so complicated yet so simple. It is never boring and will never get monotonous. Why do we so often make things more complicated than they really need to be? One of the most important things we can do is to be direct and open with our partner. Yet, how many people can say that they are direct with their partner let alone themselves? Can anyone be direct with another if they do not know the self?  Ourself, yourself,oneself; So many selves – wise people have said ‘know thyself’ but never have directed us as to how to be direct with ourselves. Continue reading →

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September 6, 2010 · 8:28 am

Ebay and why negative feedback may be important

I recently made a purchase of a table on Ebay and the advertisement for the item stated ‘picture does not do it justice’. After winning the bid and having had someone pick it up, I discovered it has a hole drilled at the top of the table and is damaged and broken behind. This certainly brought new meaning to the word ‘picture does not do it justice’.
In Ebay there is a 60 day time limit on sorting things out before giving bad feedback. After contacting the seller and after much reflection I gave it negative feedback. In Ebay there are three different forms of feedback we can give; Positive, Neutral and Negative. It is interesting as to how easy it is to give positive feedback but negative feedback is sometimes very difficult to give. At times I have avoided giving a negative feedback even though it may be well deserved. It seems a common thing to avoid giving negative feedback.

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August 17, 2010 · 10:58 am

Depression: The facts and the steps to take

Depression is such a biggie. Often when people have it for the first time they have no idea they are going through a depression. It often takes a visit to a doctor to wake someone up to the fact they are going through a depression. First and foremost, clinical or major depression is growing at an incredible rate.

People of all ages, backgrounds, lifestyles, and nationalities suffer from major depression, with a few exceptions.

Up to 20% of people experience symptoms of depression.

10 times more people suffer from major depression now than in 1945.

The average age of first onset of major depression is 25-29

Major depression is the No.1 psychological disorder in the western world. It is growing in all age groups, in virtually every community, and the growth is seen most in the young, especially teens. At the rate of increase, it will be the 2nd most disabling condition in the world by 2020, behind heart disease. Continue reading →

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August 5, 2010 · 7:17 am

Moving more Prosperity into your Life

Prosperity is often assumed to mean money  wealth. Prosperity today can also mean other things; it can mean joy, satisfaction, feelings of completeness, sense of belonging. It means so much more but is in itself a wealth to our lives. For some people prosperity means just that, they have a great deal of money and what money can buy. For others it is their family, children, partner, jobs, siblings and/or friends, it is where money best grows and time best develops.

We often recognise our prosperity more when we are able to see where we are in poverty with. Poverty can be the lack of money but it can also be poverty in family, children and all that is stated above. Poverty is putting money and time in areas where there is no growth and development. We know the poverty when it brings us no joy and does not help us grow. It is odd but at times we very often seem to work in the poverty zone rather then move to prosperity. Continue reading →

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July 23, 2010 · 11:00 pm

Eastenders; soap and its cleansing qualities for therapy and the soul.

Eastenders is a ‘soap’ drama and is weekly viewing for many millions of viewers in the UK. It has been going on for over 20 years and is based on characters in the East-end of London. I even know people in the USA who also watch it on their own networks too. In America, it is around two years behind the series in the UK and by the time it arrives in the US,  a character in the UK may have been wounded, raped, murdered, fathered a child he never knew about 20 years ago or become the mayor of London.

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