Quote of the day... (Explained)

This has now been my 3rd recent post in about almost a month of absence... Yes, I did have a reason('s) why. Rather than waste this post rambling on about them, as could end up boring people. I am just going to cut to the chase by saying that I have been taking the lengthy time out to focus on myself. This is because I have, and will probably still have some very important decisions to make in my life going forward. I know for sure that it won't be an easy journey, but me being the determined & dedicated human being that I am, I'll find a way to keep pushing through without giving up.

Back onto the post. The chosen quote I have picked out for you all is called: "Mental Health... is not a destination, but a process. It's about how you drive, not where you're going." - Noam Shpancer, PHD.

Why this quote? Like I said before, I now have some important life choices to make which will require me, as well as my mindset to just focus on driving towards that route of my life journey. This comes with all the best intentions of me wanting to psychically & mentally drive myself down that road, so it helps me to keep within that pace of keeping myself in check that I am actually going down the right road towards my destination.

It's important to keep in mind that's it's not all about just simply getting to my destination in life, because it matters more of how I intend to control my own car (if you like) that will only teach me I must embrace the upcoming challenges stood in my chosen path, so they can be used as learning curbs which will all be part of me gradually becoming more successful in which way I tackle them.

To raise awareness for #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

Hello all, I hope every single one of you has had a good week, whatever you've all been up to.😉 As for me, I've been keeping myself busy as usual, in terms of doing coursework, as I've now got more work pilling up which does require my full focus within the upcoming weeks. Most of which has had its ups & downs mood for me in the duration thus this week gone.

While I'm on the very subject of 'work' and yes, I do just mean that subject alone, and it can mean many different things to people when they hear that one word.

In a bid to get involved with raising awareness for MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, I personally want to highlight what goes on in my head whenever I try to work as hard as I can to try and get things done. Especially if it has to be done within a time frame.

As I get given a task to do (more specifically coursework) I like to think to myself: "Okay, this looks easy enough to do". However, I tend to scan the task instructions over and over, (probably about 5+ times) so I can figure out the best way to tackle that given task in my head.

However, a majority of the time, this tactic can heavily backfire on me. My mind will then experience a period of blankness, like it has been totally cleared out with nothing left in it at all. This will lead to me putting my task off for a while, due to the emptiness of my mind not having any room for thoughts to come in and therefore, not do any work.

A while later, I would've summoned some thoughts to be able to help me get a kick-start on my task. To me, everything I do would be a walk in the park at this stage, as I would currently have enough urge to keep working on my task. That is, until I decide that I've done well enough during that time, so I decide to reward myself by stop working on my task for the moment.

But, before I know it, there comes a day where my task will be due in within a short amount of time. 

I get this sudden urge in my mind saying: "Come on, you need to be doing better, otherwise you are not going to succeed". Moreover on that, it's like there is a drill alike coach who is trapped inside my head that will continuously tell me to keep pushing myself, regardless of my mood and motivation.

Also at that time, my mind would've now inhaled all off that inner drill voice, that it leaves me, as a human being, feeling frustrated for not handling my task the way I had intended to handle it. Sometimes, my lack of urge to try and get any task done, would cruise past the 'due in' time. Yes, I know I will always get frustrated with myself for having to do keep on doing this, but in reality, this is just who I am when it comes to prioritizing work.

All of this even includes me trying to get my blogposts done as quick as I try to get them done. (Including this very post as I speak)

My one outcome is that I hope everyone who just read my long personal insight, will vision this as a beneficial talking point, so it helps them to feel unashamed of admitting of what psychological effects go through their mind when trying to work.

Thank you to everyone who has taken their time to read through this important post, and as always, please feel welcome to let me know your feedback.

A message from yours truly on Christmas Day

Hi all and Merry Christmas!🎄❄

I hope each and every one of you are well, whilst spending this special day the way you want it to be.

I'm going to make this fairly short and sweet, as I'm intending to relax throughout the festive break.

"Christmas time is all about filling the day with love and happiness. It is also important to cherish your important people in life - Freinds and family.

However, Christmas can may well be a sad time for some people out there.

So do yourself a big kind favour: Be that good samaritain this Christmas, by spreading the festive heartwarming joy to everyone you know. 

You'll easily end up being their appreciated gift this year."❤💚

Why is #Anxiety linked with #MentalHealth?

Disclaimer: This will be a follow-up post, in relations to my previous special post. See here: Just a little something for #WorldMentalHealthDay 

Hello and Happy Friyay! Yes, I've been in a great mood this week and I've hope you all been the same way too throughout this week. 

As of such, I've been wanting to talk about for awhile (until it was actually the most convenient time to talk about it. I'll explain in a bit) why Anxiety is linked to Mental Health.

From where I stand, I see this topic of discussion somewhat personal to me, as I suffer from Anxiety time-to-time, hence my reasons for a lengthily break. However, as I'm sure you all know by now, talking to an audience by writing/typing really helps me to feel better about myself, as well as taking a huge weight off my chest. 

Whenever it DOES happen, I start to think about the worst case scenario('s) in regards to what's going to happen? Or will it even get better? In shorter terms, all of the mentioned can be referred to as 'Overthinking'

Reason and being the most foremost as to why it links with Mental Health, is because you will be thinking of too many things at one time, (basic definition of overthinking) causing your mind to overload and therefore not being able to cope with anything for a short period of time, as your potentially putting yourself off your own focus.

Well, I say a short period of time, as it never lasts forever, but in reality, it all really depends on how long YOU go through it all.

The best advice for trying to avoid your Anxiety by overthinking too much, is to take everyday as it comes. Do everything one step at a time, so your mind will be able to adapt to the one priority you intend to prioritize first, in order for you to succeed at trying to accomplish something. My biggest example of this would be coursework. With that said, I'm sure many of you can relate to that too.

Furthermore, keeping with the "Do everything one step at a time" strategy will make life a hell of a lot easier for you when you try to get any work done, as well as making you feel good about yourself when you acknowledge that's the strategy to success.

I hope I've taught you all something, by gaining a more in dept understanding of why that link is strongly paired between the two factors. 

Bottom note: Research definitely helps to gain more knowledge.

Thank you for reading, please do feel free to notify me and I hope to publish again soon!  

The psychological benefits of working out regularly

First thing's first, it's been a long while... due to me keeping up to date with my coursework. But with that just said, I thought I'll share a personal insight with you with what I've been keeping myself occupied with these past 6 weeks. Which is planning and physically doing a fitness circuit. 

Why should I talk about my fitness circuit experience?

1. There is psychology involved.
2. You might seem curious about my progress.
3. It may inspire some of you to do the same.

How long have I been doing my circuit for?

I have started from the 18/1/21 and finished on the 5/3/21. Which lasted for 6 weeks. (As this was a 6 week training programme)

What did I have to do?

I had to plan out my own range of exercises from arm, leg, core and cardio on my exel diary. (Also including warm up and cool down) There was additional notes which had to be made to my diary, consisting of sets, reps, recovery and how did I do with the exercises?

In relations to physically doing the circuit, I had to film myself doing these exercises, by using a flat surface to set my phone up on, put a '10 second timer' on my camera so that I get a head-start when doing the workouts. (Yes, I had to take pictures for evidence)

Finally, I had to stopwatch myself doing the WHOLE circuit, which provided time evidence.

What were the psychological factors I encountered throughout my programme?

Even though it seemed like a walk in the park during my first session, I started to feel 'exhaustion' around half way through. This was because I haven't done a 9-exercise circuit in a long while, which explains why my body wasn't adjusting to this 'intensity' feeling just yet... I still had a long way to go... (I had to do 3 sessions a week)

During the 2nd & 3rd sessions, I realized that I had to mentally prepare my mind and body for the upcoming struggles of my 6 weeks worth of fitness, as this whole programme lasts for a long time.

Throughout the 2nd week, I just took every planned exercise in stride, as I knew I was still 'starting small'  to working my way higher and higher. Which all seemed fine. However, come the 3rd week, I was experiencing some 'mental doubts' which kept convincing me that I was never going to fully complete my current exercise, let alone the entire session. This is when my positivness kicked in and said: "You have to keep pushing yourself, just keep focused and work through the difficult process" This is the kind of inner message which really helps me to focus on achieving something.

By the 4th week, I was still learning to adapt to the going getting tough, as the process began to get harder. Plus, now that I was easily managing to do a certain number of reps - without breaking sweat, I wanted to increase them up by 5 more reps, to set a higher challenge for my current physical and mental strength.

The 5th & 6th week, was progressed with ensuring my mind to keep focused on the tougher workouts ahead, now that my newly improved muscular endurance had finally accomplished with the small steps. I kept on saying to myself: "Just keep going, pain is all part of the working out process" Fun fact for you guys: The more pain you feel when working yourself out, the stronger you will become. This is both physically and mentally.

At the end of every session, I always get this relived feeling that I've managed to complete the whole thing, as well as every single exercise. All thanks to my inner mentality for helping me to thrive in these workouts, by telling me to keep focused and the beneficial hard working abs I shall be eventually rewarded with, whilst working hard!

Were there any changes to my body throughout?

Not much, but I was apparently told by my mum that I lost weight. (I don't know exactly how much

though)                                                     

*These pictures were taken on my first day - 18/1/21 to my last day - 5/1/21. This is to show evidence of the difference 6 weeks has. Like I said, not much other than the slight weight loss, but I noticed my thighs got narrower*

 

Small conclusion: Working out is good for you, as it helps you to feel more powerful.

Thank you very much for taking your time to read through. It seems like my long disappearance wasn't a waste of time after all!😂 

Please do feel free to let me know about a similar working out process which you've experienced.

I'll try to post sooner, if I can.

My favourite life quotes

I thought about doing something relatively different for this kind of post; Since I personally think that everyone needs a fairly decent amount of hope from time to time. Which is why the above title explains my chosen topic.

*This is something which I very much struggle with already, and talking about it really does help*

 

*I also strongly advise everyone else to do the same, as one of my goals for this blog, is to encourage people to discuss their inner feelings more openly to a wider audience, so that they don't feel 'alone' by thinking they're the only ones who suffer from their demon thoughts*

 

(Courtesy of: https://www.facebook.com/officialknowledgeispower/)

"Feeding your motivation"

In this post, I want to give you all a lectured insight, as to how you can "Feed your motivation". It actually turns out to be really simple! Just simply keep on doing what makes you happy. 

For instance, running makes you happy, and you have a keen interest of becoming a long distance runner.

But... to be able to reach that long-term goal, you need to have the dedication to work hard, as well as push hard to be able to get to where you want to be.

However... you also need to be aware that there are physical and mental obstacles, in which, you HAVE to face, as well as finding a suitable navigation (both physical and mentally) to boost your confidence towards the next level in terms of reaching your goal.

One way of doing so, is looking for inspiration around you. Watch some videos about that certain interest which makes you happy, to see if you can copy their tricks and tactics, in which, helps THEM to succeed in relations to finding their motivation. Or you can ask your friends and family to help give you encouragement, by telling you that they will ALWAYS be proud of you, for who you are, what you are and how far you've come and still progressing to for fill your motivation.

From time to time, you may experience these random depressing feelings, where you suddenly feel like you're not trying hard enough, therefore, you don't feel like you're ever going to reach your goal, let alone chasing it down. This is EXACTLY the type of feeling which can throw your motivation right off guard. To keep refuelling it, you need to convince yourself that these are all lies, in which, this depressed feeling is telling you. The best way to overcome it, is to keep on reminding yourself of all the progress you've made over the years. Alongside that, think of all the encouraging words your friends and family say about you, in purpose to give you that motivation, which will really help you to think more about where you want to be.

To put all of this long advice in basic terms - It's all about the focus! Only think about success!

(The above picture shows me finding my motivation; by working out)

Thanks for taking your time to read. Comment down below if want any advice on motivation and I shall be back soon with another post. Bye for now!   

10 steps to a positive body image

This is an interesting topic of conversation, in which, I came across recently. (Courtesy of my College)

I personally feel like we need to be spreading these messages out more to the world, as there still could be THOUSANDS of people putting themselves down due to their dissatisfaction of their body image. It is deeply important to justify that we are human and we can only function with positive energy. 

Take a look for yourself and have a good long reflect.

  

Just remember - You are ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT regardless of who you are, what you do and whatever you're background is.✊

I rest my case.

"Old habits die hard"

The phrase "Old habits die hard" means you're trying so hard to quit doing something that you keep doing, but at the same time however, you can't stop doing it... This can be seen as a good or a bad thing.

Let's talk about the psychological effects of how a habit can be triggered and how it can keep occurring. In addition, how we can overcome it! 

 
*Note to self* 

Everyone has to experience this at least once in their lifetime, as it is all part of how you function as a human being; by knowing that you've made a mistake, as well as being able to learn from it to help remind you.

I've been round that block time and time again.

Example 1

You always seem to like the idea of having maple syrup with every meal you have, but everyone says you can't keep having it all the time, as it's unhealthy for you and can increase your risk of getting diabetes.

Baring in mind, YOU also know this fact and desperately want to end this habit, but you can't, as you now have this feeling that no meal would ever taste the same, let alone great without maple syrup added to it... *The same feeling as learning how to cope with loss - Grief*

One way of overcoming it, is you could perhaps try using different sauces with every other meal you have. I.e. Ketchup, BBQ, Mint sauce or Mustard. These options can be considered as much healthier compared to a sugary filled sauce which could turn you into an unhealthy person. 

Contrastingly, you maybe consider that you want to eat healthier altogether, therefore meaning you want to eat less fats and more carbs, fruit/veg and protein. (Think about the 6-pack and ripped body you'll end up getting!)

Example 2

You are an alcoholic, you like the taste of alcohol, you crave on alcohol and you rely on alcohol ALONE to help make you feel better about yourself. 

Some might say this type of behaviour is called: "Drinking yourself away" because you feel so worthless by everything that has gone wrong in your life, therefore, you felt like ending it there and then, but it's actually known as "Self pity" as you are currently experiencing the moment of failure, as well as comfort in a not so nice way. There is a difference between the two feelings.

A very good and highlighting example of this would be to use your friends/family to help you feel better by talking to them via text or phone call. If you were to inform them about your recent depressed feeling, they will then take immediate action by giving you comfort, as well as reminding you of all of your past accomplishments to help bring your confidence back.

Again by thinking contrastingly, you could research about all the devastating consequences of how consuming too much alcohol can seriously damage your physical and mental health. This is just one of the many things that absolutely NO-ONE wishes to try and attempt doing with themselves.

Example 3

(An OCD related example)

You slowly start to begin to have this feeling of getting germs on you, therefore you feel like having to constantly wash your hands every 10 minutes would be the solution. However, doing so could cause damage to your hands by making them red sore and flaky. This will even have an impact on your mental health, as with thinking too much about catching germs can lead to showing signs of anxiety, as well as slowly developing a new fear of touching any surface. Thinking about germs and illnesses is a prone factor for the constant hand washing.

Find an activity or hobby to occupy yourself with to help distract these thoughts about catching germs or when to next wash your hands. More to the point, it helps to clear the anxiety and make you into a happier person again, which I'm sure your friends/family will be relieved to witness!

But when you come to the conclusion of this habit getting out of hand to cope with, talk to a friend, family member, teacher or counsellor about how this habit has gotten out of control and how you can overcome it. This way, they'll provide you comfort and support to encourage you to move forwards, but at the same time, to be your backbone when you feel like you're going in the opposite direction again.

That brings me to an end with this topic. Please do feel free to talk to me ANYTIME you wish to have a catch up or need cheering up. See ya soon!

Example 1 inspiration credit: An episode from a documentary called: Freaky eaters

Example 2 inspiration credit: Peter Barlow from Coronation Street       

Example 3 inspiration credit: Something similar which a friend of mine dealt with in the past  

The psychology involved with politics

First, let me begin this topic of discussion by saying that I have NO interest in politics, but at the same time however, I find it really fascinating why a large population of the world feel like they NEED to know how the law works in every country. Or even how different political parties work to make a difference in their local area.

Question overall:

How do politics influence us on how we see the world?  

First scenario:

Say if you were someone who was not happy about the current laws in your country, so therefore, you wanted to be the one who made those changes.

Right from this moment on, you start to gain an interest in politics, their parties and what they do. This way, you're inhaling in all of the understanding of how a party works curtsy of your curiosity, as well as what they do to make it work, which will make changes to your local area.

Eventually, all of your knowledge will pay of by joining a local party in your borough council. This will help you gain more knowledge by volunteering for businesses, campaigning for your chosen party and rising through the ranks to become a local MP in your area.

By doing so, this will give you more confidence to push yourself to become an MP for the UK! Which will help you to gain more power on these learned skills can shape the country.

Second scenario:

You have a very keen understanding with how local businesses can bring your whole local community together, and so you start researching some ideas on how to improve them...

You then proceed to share your ideas with your local party, in which, they've agreed to and begin working closely with them to work on their improvements for the community.

All of these improvements can consist of by asking these questions: Should we hire more people? Should we start more conversations with our customers; To help bring a more positive and encouraging attribute to our businesses? How about we include more cafes? Which would encourage more local people to come and spend their time at our businesses.

If all these ideas do come into play, you see a shining light inside you that says: "Well done! You should be proud of yourself by cleverly inventing these ideas to your community!" This kind of positive reflection will boost your confidence to get bigger with your ideas!

Third scenario:

You are very passionate about how different people are treated in this country, (Human Rights act.) but at the same time, you are not happy about how some people choose to diss obey that.

You then feel the need to start up a social media page which is aimed at 'Individual Liberty' and consists of this very question, but with different reasons: Why do people get treated differently because of their age, race, height, weight, gender, sexuality or even face?

By doing so, you'll be sending the message out there to the world, which will also be encouraging them to do the EXACT same thing, so that way, this law shall come down harder on anyone who chooses to go against it. This type of action is what's known as: Activism.

If your motivational account proves to be successful by having a million followers, as well as supporters, your fame and determination will be recognized by the creator of your social media account, and will therefore make it verified, as it will then start earning you money to help you build your activism career to a bigger level! Again, making you more confident to learn more about this topic.

Which now brings me to an end with this discussion. Thank you so much for reading and feel free to let me know how politics help YOU see the world. See you soon.

My deep psychological review on the latest episode of Casualty

Wow... I've just seen the latest episode of Casualty, and it was filled with a mixed bag of emotions. Allow me to elaborate on those mixed emotions... 

 

Yesterday's episode (2/1/21) was highlighting the very reality of which ALL hospitals have been facing during the full-on lockdown back in March - May 2020 - COVID-19. To make this review easier on myself, I'll break it down by using questions for each point I make. Here we go...

Who were the main characters involved and what did they do?

The main characters were: Connie, Charlie, Ethan, Will, Rash, Jacob, Noel, Dylan, David, Jade, Marty, Robyn, Fanisha, Lev, Jan & Faith. They all played their roles in the hospital trying to comfort and save lives of patients with COVID-19. Connie (Amanda Mealing) was acting as the senior consultant by making sure that all her colleagues were doing their jobs, as well as telling them that she had faith in every single one of them. This is an encouraging message which she puts inside their heads to ensure them that they've got this, as we already know that COVID-19 is prone to making people severely unwell, which makes it very difficult to treat. Ethan, (George Rainsford) Rash, (Neet Mohan) Will, (Jack Nolan) Dylan, (William Beck) David, (Jason Durr) Jacob, (Charles Venn) Jade, (Gabriella Leon) Marty, (Shaheen Jafargholi) & Robyn (Amanda Henderson) were acting as doctors/nurses by treating, as well saving lives of the patients affected with COVID-19. Just like in reality, they provided comfort to their patients by starting conversations with them. Doing this helps them to keep focused on the bright side of life, rather than worrying about dying, as we all find dying scary, right?

How did the COVID-19 patients make us all react? 

There were at least 2 patients who were both doing really well at first, but then after a while, their breathing worsened by the effects of the virus getting into their lungs. This brings us round to say: "How did something like this manage to kill someone within a short space of time? This is how really serious catching COVID-19 is..." 

*A combination of sad, scary & shocked emotions used in this reaction*

One female patient was massively struggling to breathe at first by doing a face-time with her worried family. This immediately makes us react: "Oh no! Will she make it?" But right at the end of the episode, she comes out running to her family looking right as rain again. 

*Deep relief emotions are used here*

One other female patient who is pregnant, has been confirmed positive, but was not showing any breathing difficulties. As soon as she gives birth to her baby boy, Ethan thinks about what to do with the baby, as he becomes worried of skin-to-skin contact with a positive COVID-19 patient. He then makes the choice to give the baby to its mother. Towards the end of the episode, she is seen walking out of the ED with her baby son. This must be a real life insight as to what pregnant woman have to do to give birth during the pandemic, it must be difficult, as well as stressful.

Noel, (Tony Marshall) who is the receptionist of the ED, seemed all active at first, later however, he started showing COVID-19 symptoms and therefore, had be admitted. He was having a heart-to-heart conversation with Connie (to give hope for the audience) to help him focus on getting better, but eventually, his breathing worsened, which led to his unfortunate death... As it was so unexpected for everyone else, the aftermath brought a huge shockwave of sadness. Which also has an effect on the audience watching too.

What is the conclusion of this episode?

COVID-19 is real... Eventhough the NHS staff may seem like superheroes, but in reality, they're just ordinary human beings who do extraordinary things to make people better. Please follow the government guidelines and social distance wherever possible.

Thanks for reading and I shall be back soon with another post!