If you thought the relationship between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard was dysfunctional, the chances are you’ve been involved in a long-term relationship that puts that couple’s weapons grade levels of toxicity into the shade by comparison.

Our compulsive obsession with the constant stream of bad news being delivered to our social media and news accounts – or doom-scrolling as it’s often called – has been shown to have a seriously detrimental impact on our emotional wellbeing.

Yet we persist. That notification ding! is like catnip for the modern human. The screen illuminates and, like Pavlov’s dogs, we’re reaching with thumbs cocked to pull the latest piece of national or international misery into our lives.

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Over the last few weeks, it’s become more and more apparent to me that the real price of the cost-of-living crisis is our collective mental health.

I’m not here to pile on the misery – we all know it’s hell out there right now – but we all also need to understand that good mental health (or recovering from poor mental health) means acknowledging the problem and then dealing with it. 

The situation we’re all facing is bad and getting worse, so where exactly are we right now? 

I’ve often said that, as health crises go, the mental health crisis we face not just in the UK but globally dwarfs the Covid-19 pandemic by many multiples. Itâ...

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If you’re a film buff, chances are you’ll have seen The Batman – on the surface yet another rehash of a cinematic franchise, but in reality, one of the darkest and most disturbing films you’ll see on the big screen this year.

In the 1960s world of Adam West’s Batman, Bruce Wayne’s caped crusader alter ego was, inevitably, the matinee idol stereotype of the good guy (albeit with a somewhat camp style and corny gag portfolio) roaring to the rescue in the Batmobile from a cave almost certainly borrowed from the Thunderbirds set.

Yet, right from the outset the original DC Comics back story to Wayne’s metamorphosis into so-called superhero was unremittingly dark: after witnessing his par...

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So, Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars, eh?

Right now, you can’t hear yourself think over the sound of the internet breaking as people watch and then re-watch – probably several times and always open-mouthed – the moment when Hollywood A-lister Smith lopes over to the stage and hits Rock over an ill-considered gag about the actor’s wife.

Plenty – and I do mean plenty – has been said over the last week about the rights and wrongs of this unsavoury contretemps, and I’m not about to add my own fuel to that particular fire other than to say that to differing degrees both men were right and both men were wrong, and you need to judge for yourself the morality of eachâ€...

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Now, more than ever before, it seems as though we’re being buried under a relentless torrent of news that paints a pretty miserable picture of a world in which there appears to be precious little cheer.

The litany of bad news is extensive.

The surge in Covid cases that is overwhelming Western Europe and plunging society back into lockdown; the deaths of 27 migrants whose boat sank in the English Channel; an imploding energy market putting utility companies out of business; rocketing fuel prices; the ongoing climate crisis; allegations of Tory sleaze; children murdered on the streets of London and parents murdered in their homes …

The list goes on,...

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There were two Facebook-related stories that found their way into the news over the last couple of weeks. You likely saw one and missed the other – but together they represent a grim warning about the role social media will play in our future mental health.

The biggest story of all revolved around Facebook’s announcement that it was now funnelling the majority of its time, money and effort into what we currently know as the metaverse. I’ll get to that in a minute.

The second story – the one you may have missed – is immediately more sinister on its own, but when viewed through the prism of a voraciously expanding social media monster that’s high on ambition and low on morality takes on...

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It’s strange how fast perceptions change.

A couple of years ago I was writing about all sorts of mental health issues that I thought the world’s governments needed to address. I think all those things still need to be addressed. It’s just that back then I didn’t think they could possibly get any worse.

Turned out I was spectacularly wrong about that. F***ed up beyond all recognition, or FUBAR, to give it its wonderful military acronym, barely covers the abyss-like depths into which the pandemic plunged our collective mental health in 2020.

Of all the things that were worrying me at the back end of 2019, rising diagnoses of post-traumatic stress d...

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Any unusual changes in behaviour. These may include drinking more than usual or other substance abuse, increased anger or anxiety, withdrawal and isolation, any marked decrease in time spent with fri...

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‘What matters most in life is how well you walk through the fire.’ – Charles Bukowski 

Charles Bukowski was an acclaimed author of fiction, poetry and non-fiction, and a rampant alcoholic. Consciously or otherwise, he knew a thing or two about self-trust. 

Widely regarded as one of the leading influencers of 1950s and 1960s American pop culture, his work represented a life-long exercise in self-exploration characterised by life choices and decisions that the majority of apparently ‘right-minded’ people would likely consider ill-advised even in today’s socially-entrepreneurial society.

In good mental health, self-trust...

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Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP)

Definition: A mental health problem in which a caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury in a person under his or her care, such as a child, an elderly adult, or a person who has a disability. Because vulnerable people are the victims, MSBP is a form of child abuse or elder abuse.

Stockholm syndrome

Definition: A psychological response. It occurs when hostages or abuse victims bond with their captors or abusers. This psychological connection develops over the course of the days, weeks, months, or even years of captivity or abuse.

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