The SANE Blog

In SANE's COVID mental health series, Sarah reminds carers to take time to care for themselves. Here, she shares some of her own self-care tips.

It’s 3 am and I can’t sleep. At the moment, I’m busily trying to juggle my work as a psychologist with family commitments, assisting my parents to care for my brothers (who both have schizophrenia diagnoses), and staying fit and well myself. It's challenging, but I'm grateful that I have family and friends who provide me with regular, unconditional support. 

I know I am not alone in saying that the COVID-19 situation has triggered pervasive feelings of powerlessness, entrapment and uncertainty. I also know that I am not alone when I say that, as someone with a history of trauma, these feelings are very familiar and extremely difficult to tolerate.

In working through my trauma, I have learned that when we’re confronted with situations that remind us of our trauma, or where there is any sense that we are in danger, our fight or flight system kicks in. For me, this manifests as extremely high anxiety levels, excessive nervous energy, and frantic efforts to gain control.

In SANE's COVID mental health series, Carissa shares her experience of living with BPD. The COVID shake-up reminded her how far she'd come and that she would be ok.

Oh dear. I thought it was all coming back. The panic attacks were present again. The periods of dissociation throughout the day. The trembling crying. The isolation. COVID really had thrown a spanner in the works for someone like me.

When you have lived experience of borderline personality disorder (BPD), it’s so easy to jump back to the mindset of defining yourself when old symptoms start to show. My brain was slowly trying to convince me that I was sick again.

In SANE's COVID mental health series, Bronwyn reflects on life with OCD. She offers some tips to help lower anxiety and cope in these challenging times.

Living with a diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) means everyday life is often a challenge at the best of times.

I’m always wondering what the next ‘obsession’ will be. What will my brain decide to irrationally cling to this week? It never really goes away, even in my ‘clear’ weeks my brain is ticking away in the background prompting me to obsess over something. OCD is absolutely exhausting.

The last few weeks have been a rollercoaster for all of us. The COVID pandemic has left us with no choice but to quickly adapt to major changes in our routine. One of these changes has been remote working.

Kitchen tables are now makeshift desks, team meetings are held from balconies, plugs and leads are strewn across sitting rooms – and small people climb on us or furry friends race around our feet.

If you’ve found yourself having to work from home right now, it might be quite an adjustment. There are some great work from home tips available across the internet, but we wanted to find some unique ideas to share with you.

In SANE's COVID mental health series, Tanya talks about the pandemic's impact on people living with complex mental health issues. She shares her tips on how to care for ourselves and others.

What a start to 2020. As we all came together as a community and attempted to deal with the fallout of the bushfire crisis, none of us could have foreseen that there was another huge challenge looming on the horizon. 

The COVID crisis is unprecedented. And it’s confusing and worrying for all of us – causing increased stress, anxiety and fear in many.

"When the idea for this book was mooted, I was excited. During the first conversation with my publisher, I was already working out the layout in my head and making a list of people I'd interview. That was before my anxiety kicked in ..."

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Mark Cross knows a lot about anxiety. Many of his patients experience it, which is hardly surprising given anxiety is the most common mental health issue in Australia.

But Mark also knows about anxiety from another perspective, because he too has lived with it all his life.

Angie with SANE CEO Jack Heath

We're excited to announce that former Bachelorette star Angie Kent has chosen SANE as her nominated charity, as she gets ready to compete on Dancing with the Stars (DWTS).

A long time mental health and anti-bullying advocate, Angie was concerned about the mental health fallout of the bushfire crisis. In choosing which charity to support through her appearance on DWTS, she wanted to find an organisation that was committed to providing mental health support for those affected by the fires.

Often when we’re struggling to cope with our mental health, people tell us: “Go and have a chat with your GP”. But what if you don’t trust your GP, haven’t seen a GP in a long time, or aren’t sure what you would say?

When people give us this advice, they’re often on the right track. GPs are a good first step – they can help us explore any underlying physical issues, and suggest different options for supporting our mental health.

But it can be really nerve wracking to make that appointment.

Over the past few months, many of us have been affected by the bushfires that are still burning across our country. Be it emergency workers and first responders who've battled the flames, those living in fire affected areas that may have experienced direct loss, or the people that are watching on and inhaling the smoke haze – we've all felt the distress of the bushfire crisis in some way.

Often if you're dealing with upsetting news, it can be helpful to speak to others who are going through the same thing. We reached out to our Peer Ambassadors to ask how the bushfire crisis has affected their mental health, and how they're coping.