One of the biggest changes I made after my breakdown was to rethink what it meant to be successful. Before I snapped my emotional elastic band, around the end of 2014, I defined success in career... Read more
One of the biggest barriers to people seeking help with their mental health is a worry – often ironically – that they are not sick enough. That they need to pull themselves together. They... Read more
With the support of therapists, a kind GP, a couple of sessions with a psychiatrist and a lot of soul-searching, self reflection and painful introspection, I know that I have been living with... Read more
As well as COVID reaching deep into our daily lives and communities, there is another virus infecting parts of UK life. It is proving prevalent in many big organisations, sweeping through corporate... Read more
Whatever your views on lockdowns (I’ve seen two new pieces of graffiti today saying “lockdowns kill”) and the government’s performance during this crisis, there is one thing I... Read more
I love a good mystery. I grew up on Inspector Morse, Taggart, Cracker and Prime Suspect. Many of my favourite films or recent streaming or TV series involve the weighing of clues and the elimination... Read more
Despite the daily, drip, drip, drip of dire news on the COVID front and the seemingly inevitable impending doom of tier four restrictions reaching us here in Merseyside (perhaps as part of a full... Read more
2020 will go down in history as the worse year in living memory. It’s not hard to see why. A global, deadly, cruel pandemic, decimating families and communities and leading to unprecedented... Read more
As I know from my own experiences in the corporate world, academia, media, politics, working with the medical profession and working with senior leaderships teams across all sectors of the UK economy... Read more
As someone who lives with depression, I am used to the feeling of dark clouds looming towards me from the horizon. That feeling – sometimes arriving as suddenly as a thunderbolt or as gradually... Read more
To mark World Mental Health Day 2020, I was delighted to be interviewed by colleagues at The British Medical Association (BMA) as they launched their new Mental Health Network. We had a great... Read more
IIt remains the most difficult conversation that I regularly have. It almost guarantees tons of tumbleweed and awkwardness. It prompts social embarrassment. It leads to looks of confusion. Dismay.... Read more
When I lecture or blog on mental health and the workplace, I regularly say that managing your own mental health is about making the right choices for you. No matter how good your employer, your boss,... Read more
Workplaces around the world are currently rightly focused on making sure they are COVID-safe, ensuing that every precaution is taken to rid their environments of dangerous bacteria, droplets of... Read more
I am a proud member of the 100% club. That band of women and men who are determined to be the best versions of themselves, every day, in every interaction, in each moment. People who want to leave it... Read more
Like so many of us during the last few months, I have grown closer and closer to my Netflix and Prime Video accounts. It is filling a huge hole left by the absence of live sport and, alongside great... Read more
IMy daughter went back to school today and I am at a loss. Sad. Anxious. Lonely. Missing her. Miss J has gone back to school and taken a little piece of my heart with her. I have been reading... Read more
It is one of those questions you get asked from time to time. Alongside the fantasy lottery win and how you would spend it (happily!); the imaginary famous person dinner party (dead or alive); and... Read more
I was reminded today of a moment that deserved to win the internet. A moment, so funny, so priceless, that it warrants its own category of viral. At least one clip of it has closed up 22 million... Read more
I couldn’t see the wood for the trees, what was staring me in the face or indeed what was at the end of my nose. Not at all. Not even a little bit. Not even a few leaves from the forest. I was... Read more
I have been writing a blog since the summer of 2008. I use it to share my experiences and views on mental health – I had a breakdown in 2014/15 and live with depression and anxiety – and work life balance.
I am passionate about working on my wellbeing and helping others to achieve and maintain the right work life balance and wellbeing approaches for them. My blog – along with my Twitter feed – comes with one health warning – if you read it you may have to hear about some of my other passions – my family, golf, Liverpool FC, communications, the Boston Red Sox, politics, the West Wing, and horse racing!
This blog was previously hosted on Blogspot and now sits here. All the views expressed here are mine.