We have all felt it.

The invisible virus’s effect on us.

It might not be physically.

But mentally….. bloody hell we can feel it!

As I was having my morning coffee and scrolling through the news this morning, I saw a news article talking about lockdown’s detrimental effect on mental health.

New research has shown that across the board, mental health has worsened by 8.1%.

Groups have not been equally impacted and mental health has decreased especially in women and young people.

Google trends have shown people popularly researching isolation, loneliness, anxiety and sadness.

We all feel it.

Whether it’s the social isolation, the loss of coping mechanisms, the lack of access to mental health services, job loss or financial insecurity… the list goes on.

One of those elements will effect us.

People who have never been effected by mental illness are suddenly developing anxiety and don’t know what to do.

As someone who has suffered with mental health for 17 years and come out the otherside mentally healthy and not to brag, but physically strong (lol), I wanted to talk about this research and what we can do to help ourselves.

After spending the morning reading various research papers and trudging through data, I’ve condensed it down.

On today’s podcast, I discuss the research and then talk about some straight forward and creative things you can do to help yourself.

My hope for the coming weeks is to make this into a mini series with interviews with people from various walks of life and from various parts of the globe for their perspectives on lockdown, how it’s effected them and what they have found most useful.

Have a listen.

Share where needed.

And send questions or tips my way if you have any.

In the meantime, make yourself a cup of tea, download the podcast (link is below) and look after yourself.

Much love,

Joyfull Joy x