mental health

Mum opens up about little-known breastfeeding condition D-MER, but what is it?

D-MER is often misdiagnosed as post-natal depression

13 physical symptoms you didn't realise were caused by anxiety

For Mental Health Awareness Week, we are reminded that anxiety and panic attacks are just as much physical states as they are mental ones...

Building self-confidence to get naked: It all started with an open letter to myself

I’ve had enough of not loving myself, of dreading bikini season and feeling ashamed in front of a mirror as well as my other half. I put a plan into action to lift my self-confidence by writing an open letter to myself and enlisted professionals: one who helps me understand HOW to be happy and the other helps get me naked.

Prince William gives candid interview on mental health and Diana's death

"I would love her to have met Catherine and to have seen the children grow up."

Magic mushrooms chemical could help people with depression, says leading psychiatrist

A chemical in magic mushrooms could be used to treat people with depression who don’t respond to prescription drugs, according to a top psychiatrist. Psilocybin, the compound which causes people to hallucinate when they ingest magic mushrooms, is believed to easy mental illness because it triggers a sub-type of serotonin receptor in the brain. In recent years, researchers have been investigating the effects of illegal drugs with psychoactive effects, including LSD, MDMA and magic mushrooms - in what has been hailed the psychedelic renaissance.

Yes dads can get postnatal depression too!

It's more commonly associated with mothers, but PND actually affects 1 in ten dads.

7 surprising foods that help protect against dementia

Get these brain-boosting foods in your shopping basket to help protect against dementia and Alzheimer's disease

5 common mental-health myths you need to stop believing

The best way to stop the stigma surrounding mental illness? Learning the facts

12 powerful celebrity quotes on mental health

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, we look at how the stars have dealt with their mind issues

Having OCD is not a joke and it's time we stopped treating it as such

Having OCD is no laughing matter.

Let's smash the stigma around loneliness; it's more common than you think

Loneliness is far more common than you might think, so let's smash the stigma once and for all.

Using the word 'stress' actually makes us more stressed, apparently

It's better to use positive language instead.

Lady Gaga FaceTimed Prince William for candid mental health chat

The unlikely pair opened up about their personal issues.

Prince Harry opens up about his mental health issues following his mother's death

The royal revealed he sought counselling years after his mother's death.

Why too much positivity is bad for your health

Positive thinking can be beneficial to our mental health, but, believing you can be happy all the time or beating yourself up because you’re not, is ultimately a waste of time. The insidious positive thinking industry pelts us daily with self-help advice, motivational memes and vapid wall plaques.

Kate, William and Harry release series of films for Heads Together mental health campaign

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry have released a series of hard-hitting films as part of their mental health campaign, Heads Together. Hoping to open up the conversation surrounding mental health, the ten videos feature both famous and non-famous people talking to the person they first opened up to. Issues including depression, anorexia and post-traumatic stress disorder are all mentioned.

Is it time we lifted the lid on the 'silent trimester' of pregnancy?

Is it time to lift the lid on the silent trimester of pregnancy? You’re pregnant! But while catching sight of those double blue lines for the first time should, in theory, kickstart one of the most exciting times in a woman’s life, for some mums-to-be, those first 12 weeks of pregnancy can in fact be fraught with fear, fatigue and feeling sick as a dog. Throw a significant threat of miscarriage into the mix and far from being a celebration, the first three months of pregnancy can in fact be a period of mass trepidation.

'I felt so drained': Fearne Cotton opens up about her battle with depression

Anyone who has ever suffered from depression will know that how you seem on the outside isn’t always representative of how you’re feeling inside. In her new book, Happy, the 35-year-old mum-of-two has opened up about her struggle with depression in a bid to tackle the stigma that so many mental health sufferers face. Pin-pointing the early days of her depression when she was working as a morning presenter at Radio 1, Fearne explained that she wished she’d picked up on the signs sooner.

Duchess of Cambridge suits up in Oscar de la Renta for mental health conference

Balancing smart and colourful as always, the Duchess of Cambridge sported a magenta skirt suit during an outing on Monday evening. The 35-year-old royal wore the Oscar de la Renta piece to a conference of health writers yesterday, and though it was indeed a bright colour choice – and above the knee – it was also appropriately chic. The peplum jacket along with the box-pleated skirt wasn’t too different from the Duchess’ previous outfit that day, which comprised a bright-red two piece featuring a pencil skirt.

Would you allow your children to have a duvet day?

When you’re a grown-up you’re totally within your rights to take some time off work, even if that might mean spinning the odd little white lie to your boss, but what about children? What do children do when they’re feeling a little meh. Taking to the Scary Mommy website, the parenting blogger admitted that if one of her children is showing reluctance about going to school, she will allow them to stay off and have a relaxed day at home.

Could sitting up straight ease depression?

Could it be as simple as sitting up? Serious depression is no easy thing to recover from. The study, which is due to be published next month in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, gathered 61 participants who described themselves as having mild to moderate depression.

5 things you didn’t realise air pollution could impact

Yesterday in London, the Government’s air-quality index hit 10, the highest level – the third time it has done so in the past 12 months. Researchers at King’s College London say that the cold and windless weather is preventing traffic emissions and other forms of pollution from dispersing. The result is a sort of smoggy blanket laying over the city, that while looks pretty good on Instagram, is actually playing havoc with the environment, and our health.

The danger of the Blue Monday 'myth'

There is actually some sort of scientific formula behind the labelling of Blue Monday. The Blue Monday concept first appeared on a press release for Sky Travel’s PR company back in 2005, with the hope that it might help encourage people with the January blues to book more holidays. Because according to one mental health charity the whole concept is dangerously misleading and could in fact contribute to trivialising depression and other mental health conditions.

How to learn to love your body in 10 steps

Using high number of social media channels may increase risk of depression, study finds

It’s recently been revealed that a big thing damaging our self esteem isn’t glossy magazines, as we’ve learned to assume, but Instagram. According to The Daily Dot, a study by the University of Pittsburgh Centre for Research on Media, Technology and Health found that millennials who report using seven to 11 social media platforms had more than three times the risk of depression or anxiety than those who use zero to two. The 1,700 participants were asked about the most popular social media platforms in 2014 (which was when the study was conducted), many of which are still firm favourites today such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest.