Of course, the Witches in Macbeth actually said ….
“Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble”.
But it made me think about how our bubble runs the risk of turning into a bubbling cauldron after five weeks of Alert Level 3 and 4. We can begin to feel a bit like one of Shakespeare’s witches. Even their recipe (including eye of newt, toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog) begins to sound quite tempting after you’ve run out of cooking inspiration.
But on a more serious note, one of the positive aspects of COVID-19 has been the increased discussions about mental health. It seems like it has finally become mainstream to acknowledge that all of us experience mental distress at one time or another.
Over many years, the MHF has been supporting Kiwis and they have amassed amazing resources which are always practical, science-based and compassionate. Today, they have published a free downloadable poster which focuses on the 7 essentials of keeping mentally well in Level 4 and 3 Lockdown. Drum roll please……the 7 essentials are……
Give
Get moving
Take notice
Connect
Stick to a routine
Relax
Stay curious
Click the link below before you start noticing a wart growing on your nose or you’re spotted in the garden scavenging for a newt.
Well, we are now two weeks into Aotearoa’s Level 4 response to the pandemic……Early signs are good that staying in our bubbles is paying off Kiwis.
Kia kaha, he waka eke noa.
Stay strong, we’re all in this together.
The team at Psychology Associates which includes 10 clinical psychologists (Fiona, Tara, Nicola, Sallie, Sasha, Tracey, Amanda, Shannon, Ellen and Tammy) and two amazing administrators (Sue and Michelle) are all continuing to provide psychological support to clients but from the safety of our own bubbles. We are using an online platform which provides a confidential, secure, free online space for us to continue working with clients.
Our team ‘met’ online on Monday for our usual monthly group supervision with two goals in mind. Firstly, to support each other. There were some new challenges for us all working from home (juggling multiple roles, finding peace and calm while dealing with the unknown, learning fast about providing tele-psychology) and we shared common feelings such as isolation, stress, grief/loss, worries, optimism and hope. Our second goal was to share online resources that we thought would support our clients and the wider community. We hope the list below is helpful and look forward to continuing to provide high quality psychological support from our bubbles to yours.
There are over quarter of a million people in Aotearoa diagnosed with diabetes (mostly type 2 diabetes) and perhaps another 100,000 with diabetes who don’t know it yet (Ministry of Health, NZ). Diabetes is about 3 x more prevalent in Maaori and Pasifika people and is also strong in South Asian populations.
You can still live a great life with diabetes if you take control of the things you can control.read more »
Thinking about suicide is a common thing to do. It can be very hard to talk about emotional feelings but it’s really important to talk about this with someone. Whatever is going on for you that has led to how you’re feeling right now is unique to you – but having suicidal thoughts is not. You are not alone, lots of people have thought about killing themselves and have found a way through.
Here is a list of free talk lines in New Zealand read more »
Intersex is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit the typical definitions of female or male. The older term for this is hermaphroditism. It includes around 30 conditions, some of which may be identified at birth, some during puberty, some when people try to conceive, and some are never identified.
Gender, as a binary system (either male or female) is a cultural or social construct. Some cultures have different interpretations on gender and don’t just see things as male or female. For example, in Samoa, fa’afafine, in Thailand, kathoeys, and in Native American – the two spirit people.
In Western culture, in the recent past, parents of intersex new-borns were put in a very difficult situation and read more »
