Five mental health trends to focus on in 2023

You made it through the forced social willingness of Christmas and new year – and January has arrived; for a moment, I bet you convinced yourself that things would feel different? A few days into January and you realise that you feel the same as you did before the holidays, leading to further apathy, annoyance, and frustration. This need not be the case.

How many times have you heard the phrase ‘new year, new you’? Television and social media adverts are filled with get fit, slim down and book a holiday commercials; none of which are particularly helpful if A) you feel embarrassed about your weight, B) you struggle to look at yourself in the mirror and C) you’re skint. These kinds of pressures can stretch an already fragile state of mind.

Anxiety is a word we hear a great deal and when asked, clients are rarely concrete about what – exactly – is causing their worry. Hardly surprising, as it’s neither an easy answer, or something people want to admit to. This is why working with a counsellor is a time led, sensitive relationship. Your therapist will encourage trust, compassion, and unconditional positive regard before exploring difficult or sensitive issues. Let’s be honest. There will be a reason why troubled thoughts are hidden in the first place. If not approached with benevolence, retrieval of such thoughts could be unnecessarily (and unethically) painful, which is why you are always in control of the pace and focus of each session.

Events of the last few years have been more than generations’ worth of experience. Society appears to be significantly overwhelmed, adding further pressure to the circumstances and challenges we face in modern life. We know how this feels as an adult; imagine how this might feel as a young person who is struggling to make sense of the world as they develop?

This year, we encourage you to consider the following five mental health attributes. These points are traits we have seen develop since the pandemic. They have become prevalent areas of discussion within counselling sessions over the last twelve months.

Trauma

Put simply, trauma is a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. The severity will be subjective from person to person based on their own tolerance and experience. Trauma can be split into three subgroups:

• Acute trauma resulting from an isolated incident or experience.

• Chronic trauma such as persistent or sustained experiences such as domestic violence or abuse.

• Complex trauma caused by invasive and interpersonal actions

It is highly likely that by the time we reach adult years, a traumatic experience will have presented itself. Depending on their character, some people may have the capacity and resilience to move on or find a level of acceptance. While others may not have such capacity, whether that be due to regular stressors, guilt, or fear. The confusing part of trauma, is that the effects may not present immediately, or even soon after the experience. The emotional footprint may linger, unbeknown, for many years, unlocked by something seemingly insignificant. This can make identifying – and dealing with traumatic circumstances quite a challenge, as it may not be obvious.

Finances

The Bank of England raised interest rates nine times in 2022, from 0.5 percentage points to 3.5, the highest level in 14 years, predicting further increases in the first quarter of 2023. This is great news for anyone who is planning on saving money, but for most consumers, who have seen an unprecedented rise in the cost of food, household goods and energy, it is frighteningly bad.

Finances – and how to manage budgets have become staple conversation points in therapeutic relationships over the past year. These circumstances are contributing to stress, anxiety, and depression. The paradox being, young people have little or no idea of how much necessary items costs, while holding unrealistic expectations of earning capacities. For the latest generation of young people who may have enjoyed dispensable income within the family home for much of their life, are now faced with limiting discussions which will appear unfair and likely unwanted, causing distress and divide. This will be hard to manage, for both parent and young person.

Satisfaction

It feels like people are less satisfied right now, compared to past years. This stands to reason: lack of contentment, enjoyment, and gratification. The question is, who is setting the rules, or enforcing the pressure to confirm to satisfaction stereotypes? Maybe if, as a society, we change our perspective of what satisfaction means to us – as individuals – we can readdress our needs and wants and reframe the precursors dictating what satisfaction is.

Satisfaction could simply be getting through the day.

Satisfaction could be a reduction of anxiety levels.

Satisfaction could be knowing those around us are as okay as they can be.

Satisfaction could be having the capacity to be there for others.

If you continue to put unrealistic pressure on yourself, you are never going to meet your own standard, and therefore remain unsatisfied.

Identity

This is a hot topic which is dividing the crowd. Men who want to be women, women who want to be men, men who don’t want men to be women, women who want to participate in competitive sports as a woman, despite being born a man… it goes on. Let’s talk about sexuality: does it really matter who another person falls in love with, providing it is consenting and legal?

It must be hard to discuss thoughts of identity, particularly when it includes gender and sexuality. Which is why as counsellors we offer a safe and non-judgemental environment to explore these feelings. Identity can be complex, but it can also be simpler for people who are looking to explore who they are… authenticity is a great place to start.

Suicide

Now for the elephant on the table and the belief that it is still one of the most taboo discussions to have… it needn’t be. There is a massive difference between talking and doing; we would rather you come and talk about your feelings, session-on-session, rather than not.

With listening time, trust, positive regard and all the support a professional counsellor can offer, a frame of reference can be changed from full and final, to pending…

The above five attributes are just a small array of the kinds of scenarios and circumstances we regularly face while counselling children, young people, and adults. The reality is, everyone is unique in how they deal with situations, tolerances, internal feelings, and memories – and this makes every life challenge different. At the last count, there was almost five thousand pounds worth of reference books in the Active Listening Therapies library, none of which have the answer to your situation. The answer is, to give you the time and resources to work through the circumstance at your pace, with us, to unravel and unpick what you have been taught to believe. From there we will work toward a level of acceptance and encouragement, so that you can redefine your frame of reference and move forward. Our relationship doesn’t stop there, after all, life moves on and your frame of reference will change, so if you need to revisit your thoughts, emotions, and tolerances again, you can do.

Let us help you, help yourself

Now is a great time of year to explore how Active Listening Therapies can help you move from one mindset to another, to close difficult emotions or learn more about yourself. For information on counselling in Newark on Trent, or to talk to us about how we can help you, click the link and send us your information Click to contact us