2017 · 21. April 2017

In last week's 'Your Mental Health' column in The Southern Star, I examined what the research says about the alleged mental health benefits of mindfulness. The piece is reproduced below. Mindfulness was once regarded as a niche Buddhist practice. Now mindfulness books are bestsellers, companies like Google and Apple run mindfulness programmes, and it’s being billed as a treatment for all kinds of mental health problems. Is mindfulness the real deal, or just another fad? According to one...

2017 · 15. April 2017

Some people portray mindfulness as a panacea for life's difficulties; others see it as a passing fad. In this week's Southern Star, I explore what the research has to say about the apparent mental health benefits of mindfulness.

2017 · 06. April 2017

In last week's Southern Star, I explored how teaching children CBT skills helps them to deal with their anxieties. The column is reproduced below. Here’s a simple proposal to improve the nation’s collective mental health – teach cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) skills to children in primary schools. Lessons in CBT would significantly reduce anxiety levels among 9-10 year olds, according to a 2014 Oxford study published in The Lancet Psychiatry. The study involved nine one-hour CBT...