All of us at the Mayo Recovery College were very excited to be invited by HSE Mental Health Engagement and Recovery to present the first of their Conversations That Connect webinars, or MHER-inars.

You watch back the whole webinar on You Tube right now by clicking on this link:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyLUbU54hRs

The Q & A aspect of the webinar was one of the most enjoyable parts for us. However, we did not have time to answer all of the questions that came our way on the day. So here is our responses to the questions that we did not get to during the live broadcast:

• Tips for dealing with anxiety?

Connecting with a friend, a loved one or a support service and talking it through.

Writing down the root causes-i.e. fear of failure, afraid to say no, social anxiety and then identifying possible solutions

Staying physically active

Eating Healthy-Avoiding Caffeine and High Sugary Foods

Limiting our time online

• Anxiety and Sleep?

A 10 or 15 minute mindfulness meditation before going to bed is an excellent way to settle the mind.

Taking a bath with lavender oils or a few droplets of lavender on ones pillow can also help

Limiting on-screen or on-line time before bed is also suggested

• Experiencing Panic Attacks in crowds?

The most important thing to remember is that you can remove yourself from any situation you feel uncomfortable. Whether it is in the Supermarket or a Social function, allow yourself to drop everything and leave.

Using Mindfulness techniques such as focusing on one’s breath or focusing on an object outside of yourself is also very beneficial

• How to deal with the racing mind (when thoughts take over)

The racing mind is common for a lot of people with anxiety. It is a sign that we need to give our mind space. The best way to do this is to do something physically active, i.e., going for a “power-walk”, a run, even cleaning the house. Anyway at all we can burn up that trapped energy.

• Tips for dealing with feeling of impending doom on awakening?

Thank you for this question. It is very important to address. The best tip that I could give for this is to try and get out of the bed as soon as possible. I personally found that the longer I stayed in bed, “thinking”, the worse I felt.

It is important to try and implement a daily routine, i.e.-get up, have breakfast, go for a walk. These are all thing that can help

Also, it is always good to connect with someone and tell them how you are feeling.

Thanks to everyone who joined us on the day and a special thank you to HSE Mental Health Engagement and Recovery for the invitation.

• “I am lately finding that I don’t want to do anything, I just want to hide away from everything. I work full time, I have two teenagers and I study too. This lockdown makes me feel worse”

Thank you for joining us on this webinar and for sharing that with us. It sounds like you are over-whelmed by life at the moment. First of all, it is perfectly natural to feel this in the current climate. Sometimes we get so caught up caring for and providing for others that we neglect our own self-care.

When we are feeling overwhelmed like this, it is our bodies way of telling us that we need to prioritise our own self-care. We can do this, firstly, by reaching out to someone we trust and telling them how we feel. Secondly, we need to engage in activities that are “life affirming” to us. It could be trying out a mindfulness practice online, engaging in a hobby or connecting in with some recovery education. We run online classes here at the Mayo Recovery College every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Please feel free to drop us a line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 086-0294901.