We often hear the terms self-esteem, confidence, or self-worth. For most people, these terms are viewed as positive qualities that are possessed by individuals who have their lives put together and are living a healthy, balanced lifestyle. They generally aren't qualities that we are taught to develop in school. For a lot of people, the mentality of ‘harden up’, or ‘get over it’ were more likely to be the way of thinking that we were taught.

The effects of sleep deprivation are well known. We have all heard the saying ‘you woke up on the wrong side of the bed’. Sleep deprivation has been named the second biggest killer on the roads after alcohol due to the profound effects it can have on our functioning. But, just how much does sleep affect our mental health and is this worse for someone experiencing a mental illness?

The year is well and truly underway. For most people, any resolutions or big ambitions have already been put aside. When asking people about their goals, I often get a grumble or the very general response of ‘I want to improve my health’. Presented with the following question of ‘what does that mean to you?’, I get some vague comments about exercising more and eating well. With this in mind I wanted the first blog post of 2022 to surround the topic of 'Health' and its role in your mental wellbeing.