What does it feel like to reach rock bottom, and start to recover from that? We hear from three people who’ve reached out and received much-needed support from charities in the toughest of times. By sharing their experiences, they hope to help you, or someone you love, to reach out, too…

Consuming the news right now can be alarming, especially if you need help with your mental health and wellbeing. We’re constantly faced with stories illustrating how stretched NHS and mental health services are, and the ongoing economic uncertainty, which could impact the money we have available to even consider private counselling or support if we can’t endure the waiting lists for referrals from GPs.

While this might seem like a bleak way to start an article about returning from rock bottom, it’s our collective reality right now. That’s why it’s more important than ever to look out for each other, signpost the amazing charities and peer support groups who are doing incredible work, and for Happiful to champion the websites, phone lines, and chat services that are available to us all in our times of need.

However, we know from personal experience that taking the first step to call, email, or attend a support group can be daunting, even though it’s clear that what’s possible on the other side of that step could be life-altering, or at least better than the situation we currently face. That’s why we’re grateful to the following people who have kindly shared their stories about making that initial move.

If any of these stories resonate with you, please consider checking out the websites listed, and remember you can also find more information at
happiful.com/where-to-get-help.

Jane*, a member of AA, shares how she began her life of sobriety after a long-standing detrimental relationship with alcohol.

From the outside, and to a stranger, I would have looked like a perfectly fine and functioning person, but on the inside my life was utter chaos. By the time I attended my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at the age of 30, I couldn’t even imagine a world without alcohol.

You could say I was in denial the first time I went. I think I was just focusing on the differences between myself and everyone else’s experiences of drinking, and the impact it had on their lives. It wasn’t affecting me in the same way at all, and so I left that meeting and the AA behind. It took me a further 10 years to attend another meeting and to start my journey with sobriety.

By that point, the stories I’d heard before were ringing true for me. Alcohol was affecting my daily life, I wasn’

Looking for a quick motivation boost? We share five quick ways to improve your motivation and start seeing progress fast

Motivation can be a tricky thing. Whether you’re thinking about working towards a healthier lifestyle, want to change your career, or get started with a new creative hobby, once the initial excitement has worn off, the actual work needed to put in before you start seeing significant progress can be daunting.

Procrastination, burnout, low mood overwhelm – there are so many different reasons why our motivation can falter. But low motivation doesn’t mean our progress needs to stop. Here are five quick ways to kickstart your motivation and get back on track.

1. Make a fresh start

You don’t have to wait until the new year to make resolutions. Setting new goals, making commitments, and giving yourself the chance for a fresh start can happen at any time. This can help you to feel energised and reinvigorated, giving you a much-needed boost to get started.

If you’ve been feeling weighed down by big, daunting tasks or unclear pathways towards what you should do next, giving yourself a fresh start creates the opportunity to re-evaluate what you want to achieve, figure out how you want to do that, and let go of any negativity that may have been holding you back.

2. Simplify your goals (and your to-do list)

In order to achieve more, sometimes we need to aim for less. That doesn’t mean we want to achieve less – just that we want to focus on fewer big, complicated goals, allowing for a more simplified to-do list.

The more we try to put onto our to-do list, the more likely we are to feel overwhelmed. Cutting back on activities that don’t motivate or excite you can help you to avoid procrastinating. When our to-do list feels cluttered, it can be confusing. Where do you get started? What’s the real priority? Why are you doing this again?

Keep things simple. You can always expand on your goals later on, once you’ve started seeing progress.

3. Try the five-minute rule

Typically used for procrastinating, the five-minute rule can help you to feel more productive and, in turn, more motivated as you start to see real progress.

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It’s the essential fuel that sees them through the day, so help youngsters get the sleep they need with these insightful ideas

Many children will go through periods when they struggle to sleep, wake up regularly, or feel tired throughout the day. Like adults, this may be the result of a number of triggers, from stress and anxiety, to lifestyle habits.

“Sleep is such a fundamental human requirement that, when it eludes us, it can have a negative impact on our day-to-day lives,” says hypnotherapist Angela Brown. “The impact of poor sleep can range from poor concentration to challenging behaviour, inability to learn new tasks, stress, anxiety, and depression.”

Angela also points to the benefits of a good night’s sleep, including feeling better prepared to take on new challenges, as well as more energy to fuel the day. So, how can you support a child who’s having problems with sleeping?

Establish a routine

“Keep to a routine with a set amount of sleep,” Angela suggests. “This helps to get our circadian rhythm back on track, so we feel more alert and able to function effectively.”

The NHS recommends children start to wind down 20 minutes before they usually fall asleep. If they’re in the habit of going to sleep later (e.g. during school holidays), you can try bringing this time forward by five to 10 minutes each week. Plus, for younger kids, you may want to incorporate a bath, or reading, into this routine.

Set the scene

As Angela points out, our bedrooms are often our sanctuaries, and somewhere we look forward to being following a busy day. “If we can control the stimuli in the bedroom, it can have a positive effect on our sleep,” she says. “Things to think about are the weight of the duvet – lighter for summer, heavier for winter. Thick curtains or black-out blinds, so our brains know it is time to sleep. No blue light, so no phones, TVs, or electrical devices in the bedroom.”

Creating a tech-free space can be a challenge in modern times, but taking steps to cut out blue light before bed can have a big impact on the quality of our sleep.

Encourage exercise

There’s truth in the technique of wearing out children during the day to help them sleep better.

“With as little as 30 minutes of activity, such as walking, running, and playing, we increase our ability to concentrate, giving us a chemical reward by generating positive endorphins, which help us to cope with life’s ups and downs,” Angela says.

That said, try to leave two hours between exercise and bedtime.

Control the light

“Our sleep is affected by the amount of sunlight we get. If we’re sitting inside on a computer by a window for 30 minutes, we might get 300 lumens of light on a sunny day. Whereas if we went outside and had a drink in the sunshine we might get as many as 25,000 lumens of light. That means more vitamin D and melatonin, which are both important for sleep.”

Sunlight is turned into melatonin by our bodies. This hormone regulates our circadian rhythm, helping us to fall asleep, and feel balanced throughout the day.

“If we have excess melatonin, it will be converted to serotonin – the

Writer, creator, campaigner, and mum-of-two Louise Pentland shares the rollercoaster ride that comes with completing a novel, and the healing, happiness, and opportunities for growth, her daughters bring to her life

“Whip it off!” bestselling author and ‘OG’ content creator Louise Pentland exclaims. It’s the hottest day of the year, and although we’re chatting over Zoom, we’re both struggling with the heat. Louise has spotted that I’m self-consciously wearing a cardigan over my sleeveless dress, and she wants me to be more comfortable. It’s the first time I’ve ever been encouraged to shed clothing during an interview, and I have to tell you, I love her for it.

A lot of people know Louise to be exactly as she is in this moment: friendly, funny, and here for the real talk about life’s ups and downs. If you’ve followed her on social media, you’ll also know that Louise is open about her mental health, and has bravely shared the childhood experiences of abuse that led her to become an active ambassador for the NSPCC.

It’s this combination of cheerleading, courage, and charisma that makes Louise such a pleasure to talk to. There’s something incredibly down-to-earth about her, and while she may have four novels under her belt, a highly successful media career, and more than 2.2 million subscribers to her YouTube channel, she’s emphatic that she still has a lot still to learn about life.

As Louise says, 2022 has been a good year for evolving, and she’s relieved that things are looking up after a tough 2021.

“I don’t know if it’s because during the pandemic everything was put on pause, including my own mental growth, but I feel as though I am having a period of coming out of myself a bit,” she says. “Last year was a bit of a bleak, low year, a bit more of a survival year, and now I feel like I’m thriving again. I’m like a sponge and I’m soaking everything up!”

Embracing her post-book publication period is just one way Louise is taking the opportunity to reflect before moving forwards. Her latest novel, the charming Time After Time, hit shelves in August, and Louise is now happily contemplating the central role that writing plays in her life.

“I think it’s being able to pour everything out on the page,” she says. “When I was little I had diaries, then I’d write in notebooks, then my blog was a continuation of that. Now I have my books.”

Keen to show that there are two sides to life as a published author, Louise tempers her enthusiasm by explaining the real process of writing novels, and where her passion truly lies.

“I love coming up with the idea, the characters, and I really like creating child characters because they are so playful,” she says. “I enjoy mapping the story out, but the hardest part is the first draft, when you have to get everything in your head out onto the paper.

“That’s when I come crashing down. I think it’s rubbish, the worst book I’ve ever written, it’s embarrassing, and I’ll have to pull the contract because I can’t send this book out into the world! Then my editor goes through it, gives me a pep talk and

Attitudes towards mental health have been changing for the better in recent years. We’re more comfortable than ever talking to our kids about their mental health – and our own. But how can we encourage our parents' generation to open up about mental health and wellbeing?

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of us think it’s getting easier to talk about mental health. According to figures released in 2022, however, older people could do with more mental health support but are less likely to receive it than younger people.

The older we are, the harder we find discussing our mental health and admitting when we need help. Yet data shows that over half a million over 65s are experiencing an anxiety disorder, nearly half a million have a major depressive disorder, over 190,000 are experiencing chronic depressive disorder, and over 140,000 have bipolar disorder.

Nearly a fifth (19%) of the population in the UK are now 65 and over, with over half of over 55s having experienced common mental health problems. While more and more of us are willing to reach out and ask professionals for support according to figures released by Happiful, figures from the Mental Health Foundation reveal that, despite our increased comfort in talking about our struggles, just one in eight adults received mental health treatment.

While many of us are willing to seek out help for ourselves, how can we start the conversation with older parents and family members who may be reluctant to even talk about mental health, much less recognise or admit when they need help?

How do I talk to my parents about their mental health?