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If you’ve found your way here, chances are you’re looking for something — understanding, comfort, a bit of truth that cuts through the...

Living with mental illness is a bit like trying to fly a plane through turbulence without instruments — I also had four small passengers...

Controlling Christmas spending isn’t just about money - it can really affect your mental health by Kate, Armadillo Christmas used to feel simple. When I was a kid, our family Christmases were brilliant - my older brothers would come home with their wives and ever-growing families, my mum made the best lunch, we all watched the same films the rest of the country was watching, and there was just so much laughter. What we  didn’t  have was a mountain of expensive presents. I’d u

Tonight, the skies will light up with colour, crowds will gather, sparks will dance, noise and fun-filled chaos all around. For many, it’s a night of joy and tradition. But for others, it’s something quite different. The noise and unpredictability can stir anxiety, trauma, or painful memories. If that’s you, you’re not alone. It’s perfectly okay to close the curtains, keep the lights low, and protect your peace. Safety and calm are precious things. Bonfire Night also carries

Sometimes people mean to comfort you, but their words miss the point. Grief needs listening, not fixing. I was talking to a colleague over the weekend. She sadly lost her mother earlier this year. They were very close, leaning on each other for support, love, and friendship. Her mum was 77, fit and healthy with it. There was no reason for her to die. She had gone into hospital fit and well for a routine procedure. Unfortunately, the surgeon made a mistake. It wasn’t recognise

I was driving home early this morning, headlights still dancing on the motorway , when I heard a Radio 2 debate: “Are night shifts bad for you?”  It made me smile, a simple question, but one that lives in the bones of every doctor, nurse, carer, and parent who’s ever been awake when the rest of the world is asleep. I’ve worked plenty of night shifts in my time. I actually quite like them — there’s something strangely peaceful about the small hours in a hospital. The corridor

There are moments in life that divide everything into before  and after. For me, that day came in the shape of catastrophe— noise,...

Addiction is one of those words that people whisper — even in medicine. We talk openly about depression, cancer, diabetes… but mention...

I started writing a book — but I wasn't sure why I was writing it and for who's benefit? I am half way through and I am laying bare some...