I am excited to be writing for the Tameside Correspondent, exploring mental health, wellbeing, and mindfulness.
I will provide practical tips, advice, and guidance to make the here and now more manageable, addressing anxiety, stress and depression that can make life feel overwhelming and exhausting, supporting general well-being and bringing moments of mindfulness into everyday life.

I’m a local girl, born and raised in Delph and now living in Tameside.
As a qualified psychotherapist and registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, I am passionate about helping people, of all ages, to overcome issues and difficulties, building confidence, self-esteem and supporting you to feel ok.
I have over 19 years’ experience brokering, fostering, and maintaining good relationships with children and young people, adults, and organisations.
At Chrysalis, we work with children, young people, and individuals, in education, employment and community settings. We aim to identify, support, and help people overcome challenging mental health problems, building resilience, perspective, normalising setbacks, and empowering people to cope in the face of adversity, trauma, or stress
Mental health is a term that is now more commonly used than at any other time in recent history.
Yet people find it very difficult to talk to someone when their thoughts and feelings start to affect their daily life and stop them doing things they enjoy or their ability to feel ok.
This is not surprising to me as mental health is ranked as the top stigmatised illness, with four out of five of us thinking it is harder to admit that you have a mental health problem, such as depression, than any other illness. And one in two of us are scared of people with mental health problems.
The first recorded lunatic asylum in Europe was the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London in 1247. For more than 700 years people with mental health problems have been stigmatised – crazy, nuts, mad, insane, stupid, idiot.
Mental health is challenging to see. It can be hidden for the person who is struggling and also the people around them. Sometimes we forget we are only human and that we must be kinder to ourselves and build a strong, supportive relationship with ourselves to truly be ok.
Understanding that mental health isn’t a weakness or a character flaw helps people get help. It is not the fault of the person.
Here are my top ten tips for good mental health:
• Go outside
• Relearn relaxation
• Eat well
• Limit alcohol or stop completely. Don’t smoke or take other drugs
• Move your body
• Stay connected
• Set boundaries
• Balance work and play
• Create a list of helpful coping mechanisms
• Acknowledge how you’re feeling.
Can you challenge yourself to implement three of these tips for good mental health into your everyday life?
Next time, the spotlight will be on anxiety.