Karen Martin Fear of public speaking is one of the most common social phobias and can cause crippling nerves in the most confident people. Often, it’s not just the bride who is blushing on her wedding day. Terror-struck guests are prone to blush when delivering speeches to a reception full of people. Hypnotherapist Karen Martin gives advice to a blushing bridesmaid to help her enjoy her moment in the spotlight.
Most people suffer from insomnia at some point in their lives. In fact, more than half of us will have trouble sleeping in the course of any given year.
For some, the mere thought of not being able to get a good nights sleep gives them insomnia. For others, sleeplessness is a debilitating symptom of wider conditions like depression, stress, anxiety, chronic pain or the menopause. As any new mum with a hungry or colicky baby will tell you, lack of a good nights sleep makes you crabby, forgetful and miserable. Simple things can seem difficult as both brain and body become overwhelmed with exhaustion.
What do the Dalai Llama and Kate Winslet have in common? They’re both afraid of flying. Variously described as aerophobia, aviatophobia, aviophobia or pteromechanophobia.
An estimated 500 million people worldwide have a fear of flying with 2.5 million of those in the UK. As many as 20-30 per cent of population are apprehensive about flying and between 2 and 10 per cent have a phobia. It’s more common in women and often starts in childhood or early adulthood.
So, on a Boeing 737 carrying 200 passengers, between four and 20 passengers will be really scared and more than a fifth will be quite worried.
No one is immune from an invisible killer which stalks silently through every office, factory floor and work-place. It doesn’t discriminate against age, sex, race or occupation and its grip tightens as the social and economic pressures of 21st century life increase.
An epidemic of workplace stress-related illnesses has driven unprecedented numbers of the population to bail out of the workplace. Countless others resort to antidepressants to help them face the day. So, just what is going on in this age of unparalleled prosperity and comfort?
‘Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess,’ trilled comedian Ken Dodd in a pop song from a more innocent age. There’s been a lot of guff written about happiness in recent times. On the one hand, you’ve got the positive thinking gurus peddling their often simplistic fast track to deep joy and on the other you’ve got the doom-mongers telling us we’re richer, healthier and unhappier than we’ve ever been.
Whilst it’s true that most of us are a long way off needing to take the 12 steps programme, a goodly proportion of the adult population of this country unwind at the end of the day with a glass of something and end up drinking too much alcohol.