The Spark Blog

Category: mental health

  • Can I ‘have it all’ and Mental Health?

    Can I ‘have it all’ and Mental Health?

    As part of Mental Health Awareness week we are considering this year’s theme: surviving or thriving? 21st century society leads us to believe that we can ‘have it all’. Where all is defined loosely as everything an individual might desire at some point in their life. The reality – and whether we end up surviving…

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  • A Nation of Unhappy Men?

    A Nation of Unhappy Men?

    The theme of 2017 Mental Health Awareness Week is ‘surviving or thriving?’ In the context of men’s mental health in the UK in 2017 it feels like a perfect question to pose. Data – and there is lots of it – points to only one conclusion: many men are, at best, just about surviving and…

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  • Songs For Sound Minds #10 – Red Hot Chili Peppers

    Songs For Sound Minds #10 – Red Hot Chili Peppers

    Songs for Sound Minds are our picks of the best music that uplifts, inspires and boosts mental health. Songs written as an anthem to overcoming the storms of life. The songs that give hope in those times when we are struggling. The song that propelled Red Hot Chili Peppers to superstardom is a poignant story…

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  • Holidays Highlight Relationship Issues

    Holidays Highlight Relationship Issues

    Holidays are important. Especially since we only get a few each year. They can be fabulous times packed with great memories we will cherish forever. Whether we get to enjoy some family fun over Easter or the summer school break, holidays are one of the biggest (if not the biggest) motivation for working 9 to…

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  • Sexting: 5 Ways to Protect Your Child

    Sexting: 5 Ways to Protect Your Child

    Raising children in the digital age brings with it a host of challenges previous generations never faced. One such high profile and extremely distressing issue is sexting. Sexting is an issue that is fast becoming a common problem. As the lives of young people become ever more embedded in social media, its significance and the…

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  • Songs For Sound Minds #13 – Candi Stanton

    Songs For Sound Minds #13 – Candi Stanton

    Songs for Sound Minds are our picks of the best music that uplifts, inspires and boosts mental health. Songs written as an anthem to overcoming the storms of life. The songs that give hope in those times when we are struggling. You Got the Love is the next track in our series, a gospel/soul/disco classic…

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  • Exam Stress Tips for Students

    Exam Stress Tips for Students

    It is not long until schools, colleges and universities across Scotland will put up their ‘Quiet! Exam in Progress’ signs. And with it comes the inevitable exam stress and worry. To help you cope with pre-exam nerves, The Spark has prepared some top tips. We work in Scottish schools providing courses on how to cope…

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  • Coping with Life Transitions

    Coping with Life Transitions

    Benjamin Franklin famously wrote: “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”. Change is an inevitable part of life. It is as inescapable as the passage of time and is often the precursor to a significant life transition. Life transitions are typically the most significant milestones in our lives.…

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  • How to Have a Better Conversation

    How to Have a Better Conversation

    Poor communication can be a starting point for relationship problems. Whether between married couples, parents and children, amongst friends or work colleagues, bad communication helps no one. Even amidst the rise of social media our primary means of communication remains the same now as it was before the telephone (let alone the mobile phone) was…

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