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well-being
by Bill Sheate
This blog post brings together the four papers that were published out of Ute Thiermann’s PhD research on mindfulness and sustainability, under my supervision at Imperial College London, with access to the online papers/journals……[Read more]
Periodically, I post on my blog short articles on key aspects of stress and anxiety, and mental health and well-being, especially related to higher education. Below are just a few of the resources on this blog - clustered in one place so they’re easier to find - that you might find helpful: [Read more]
by Bill Sheate
The problem with the language of heatwaves is that it can cause more anxiety than necessary, when the actual purpose of heatwave planning and heat-health alerts is to encourage people to take preventive action, provide advice and mobilise support, especially for the most vulnerable, for whom prolonged high temperatures can be dangerous. But the language and the reporting invariably frames such weather in a highly negative way that creates unhelpful levels of anxiety among many, let alone those who may already experience eco-anxiety.
‘It's hot’ is a judgement……..[Read more]
by Bill Sheate
Thiermann U, Sheate W (2020), Motivating individuals for social transition: The 2-pathway model and experiential strategies for pro-environmental behaviour and well-being Ecological Economics (2020)
Is there a link between mindfulness and sustainability? Well, there is certainly an ever-growing literature in this field trying to explore it.
Ute Thiermann (a PhD student of mine at Imperial College London) is exploring this and we have just published her theoretical framework for understanding what might be the complex web of relationships between mindfulness and pro-environmental behaviour…….[Read more]
by Bill Sheate
The current Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has all the characteristics needed for generating high levels of concern and worry among the public and creating even more stress among those who already suffer from anxiety:
Uncertainty about what might happen
How might we be affected?
How severe might the impact be?
Concern about friends/love ones
Anxiety about the short- and medium-term future (e.g. if supposed to be taking exams, doing assignments, research, career, loss of work/income, paying bills, buying food)
All of these are key aspects of the coronavirus situation that cause us to ‘worry’……..[Read more]
by Bill Sheate
What is worry?
One way to look at worry is that it is the brain’s random attempt at problem solving, but to no avail. A more formal definition is the:
“Prolonged and fruitless search for a solution that will provide safety from the perceived threat of harm” (Clark and Beck, 2010)
Worry is typically future-focused; it is the opposite of present moment awareness (mindfulness). It’s about excessive thoughts that go round and round, creating stories we tell ourselves about what might happen and asking ourselves what we can do about it - ‘what-if’ questions about the future. ………..
by Bill Sheate
Rightly, student mental health is often now making headline news, with the need for better provision for students' well-being as they move from home to university settings, and throughout their time at university and in response to the demands and expectations upon them. Sometimes forgotten in all this is the fact that university staff - academic, research and administrative staff - also suffer from stress, anxiety, depression and a host of other mental health issues………
