The complete list of all life-guiding messages for young people – click the titles for further information
In some situations, despite our best efforts, we still can’t fix the problems we find ourselves in. Coping strategies can help you learn to accept situations that are beyond your control and find ways to help you feel better even if the problem still exists.
Advice and support is available after a miscarriage from hospital counselling services and charity groups. You can contact Miscarriage Association (01924 200799) for support.
It is important to know that, whatever the cause, miscarriage is never anyone’s fault. If a miscarriage is going to happen, there is very little that anyone can do to stop it.
A miscarriage can be an emotionally and physically draining experience. You may feel shocked, distressed, angry or just numb after having a miscarriage. You may feel guilty, wondering whether your miscarriage was caused by anything you did or did not do.
If you have food poisoning, you should contact your GP if your symptoms are severe or don’t start to improve after a few days, you have symptoms of severe dehydration, if you’re pregnant or are over 60.
If you’re recovering from food poisoning, eat when you feel up to it, but try small, light meals at first and stick to bland foods, such as toast, crackers, bananas and rice, until you begin to feel better.
Being able to stop and think before reacting, to generate alternative solutions, weighing consequences of decisions before you act, and having openness to seeking support when needed, will help build your resilience to adversity.
Resilience uses four basic skills: awareness (noticing what is going on around you and inside your head); rational thinking; reaching out (how we call upon others to help us meet the challenges we face); fitness (our mental/physical ability to cope with the challenges without becoming ill).
Sympathy is about feeling for someone: seeing their distress and realising that they are suffering. Compassion means to act on this, to ease their suffering. Empathy is about experiencing those feelings for yourself, as if you were that person, through the power of imagination.
Some wet wipes marketed as “flushable” or biodegradable take months to decompose and, if you flush them down the toilet, quickly join with fat, oil and grease to create large pipe-blocking objects.