Are These the Credit Crunch Blues?
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Dear Soul Sister - I'm 28, female, and work in Canary Wharf. I try to help myself stay away from the blues - eat well, get enough sleep, drink moderately. But I still don't feel great. Life just isn't that much fun these days. Is this normal? Or am I slowly getting depressed as I get older?
Dear Zzz
I wonder how much of what you are feeling depends on what is happening in your life as it is right now. Sure for some as students, life seems like a never-ending round of excitement - all kinds of new experiences, friends, achievements. That seems to have been your life then, and now you are a hard-working City woman in what is probably the toughest time your field has experienced ever.
And you are surprised you are feeling a bit low, though you would be very silly if you weren't. Not just jobs but entire futures are disappearing overnight, so you are right to be feeling very sober indeed. And if you are managing to do all of these healthy things, I take my hat off to you - so many of my clients need reminding about that right now. They are caught in this hurricane and finding it hard to resist drowning their fears in drugs or alcohol.
Try talking to some friends in the same situation. Then go and do something relaxing - get a good massage (I recommend Sujith), or take a walk while the weather permits. These little things really do help, as they remind your mind that you are in charge!
Then reflect upon some very sound advice from people who make it their lives work to study these feelings:
Cultivate Happiness - learn it like a new language by practising it.
- William Bloom
Learn that Happiness is actually a by-product of doing things for others, having meaningful relationships, and taking care to appreciate what we have.
- Stefan Klein
Do not try Prozac as a first line of dealing with sadness.
- Prof Irvin Kirsch
Learn mindfulness meditation. This will allow you to keep your balance in hard times.
- Matthieu Ricard
Do you bit to make this a more equal society, and we will all benefit.
- Lynne Friedli
I wonder how much of what you are feeling depends on what is happening in your life as it is right now. Sure for some as students, life seems like a never-ending round of excitement - all kinds of new experiences, friends, achievements. That seems to have been your life then, and now you are a hard-working City woman in what is probably the toughest time your field has experienced ever.
And you are surprised you are feeling a bit low, though you would be very silly if you weren't. Not just jobs but entire futures are disappearing overnight, so you are right to be feeling very sober indeed. And if you are managing to do all of these healthy things, I take my hat off to you - so many of my clients need reminding about that right now. They are caught in this hurricane and finding it hard to resist drowning their fears in drugs or alcohol.
Try talking to some friends in the same situation. Then go and do something relaxing - get a good massage (I recommend Sujith), or take a walk while the weather permits. These little things really do help, as they remind your mind that you are in charge!
Then reflect upon some very sound advice from people who make it their lives work to study these feelings:
Cultivate Happiness - learn it like a new language by practising it.
- William Bloom
Learn that Happiness is actually a by-product of doing things for others, having meaningful relationships, and taking care to appreciate what we have.
- Stefan Klein
Do not try Prozac as a first line of dealing with sadness.
- Prof Irvin Kirsch
Learn mindfulness meditation. This will allow you to keep your balance in hard times.
- Matthieu Ricard
Do you bit to make this a more equal society, and we will all benefit.
- Lynne Friedli
Here Is The Writer : Annegret O'Dwyer
Annegret O'Dwyer is a psychotherapist who has had a practise in Harley Street for 10 years, and recently opened one in Southbank. She is accredited and licensed by the UKCP (United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapy) and the EAP (European Association of Psychotherapists). Her favourite book is How to be Happy by the Dalai Lama, and The Right to Speak by Patsy Rodenburg, and she likes spending her evenings at the cinema or theatre.
www.annegretodwyer.co.uk
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