Can You Spare 60 Seconds?

Can You Spare 60 Seconds?

19 March 2019

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a brilliant weekend – fingers crossed you managed to get through it without being blown away! Hats off to all my netball girls, and all those half marathon runners – any sport this weekend must have been an utter nightmare!

I feel this week is a good opportunity to discuss mental health. It’s a difficult subject, one that no one finds particularly easy to talk about – but there’s been so much going on recently, both for me personally and from what I can see in the media, that it just seems like a topic that needs to be broached.

Whenever I go to any of my antenatal appointments, aside from the routine checks on my baby, the one consistent check they do, is on my mental well-being. Without fail, I am asked how I’m feeling, have I experienced any low thoughts, have I been through any stress that I want to discuss? At first, I found it to be bordering on OTT – but now, on reflection, I realise it takes about a minute for them to ask the questions, and for some people, those questions being asked will be a godsend. I feel as though if we all spent a minute of our day checking in on another person – even if it’s the happiest person you know, we could start making a difference to those people who are struggling. The sad passing of ‘Love Island’ star Mike Thalassitis gives a stark reminder to everyone that not all mental health problems are obvious – social media isn’t always an accurate reflection of our lives.

During our check up appointments, we always check your jaw joints, and we’ll normally ask you if you’ve experienced any headaches, tenderness in your jaw, clicking on opening – it’s a routine check we do, as not all dental problems happen in the mouth. If you do have any of these symptoms, we’ll probe a little deeper – are you aware of a clenching or grinding habit? Are you going through a particularly stressful time? Many aspects of your dental health can be affected by stress – gum diseases can be exacerbated by stress, clenching and grinding can be brought on by stress. I wouldn’t go as far as saying we’re a counselling service at The Briars, but we are always here to talk, or just to listen – you won’t ever find us watching the clock if you need a little longer with us – we’re human too.

I won’t be blogging next week, as I’m disappearing down to Devon to steal some time away with my Husband before we welcome our son into the world – but I’m sure I can set you up with a cracking guest blogger to keep you all entertained (no pressure Jo!)!
Rich and I are looking forward to our break after a difficult weekend, where we had to say goodbye to our beautiful bunny, Benjamin. For those of you who follow this blog, you may remember him as ‘Big-X’ from ‘Jungles, Goal Celebrations and Escaping Rabbits’ – but to me, he was my first baby, and he has gone from our lives far too soon. It may be sad, it may be soppy – but this blog is dedicated to my big, grumpy, gorgeous Benjamin Button – who brought Richard and I so much happiness in the four and half years he hopped around this world – we can’t wait to have you back home next week Benjamino, the house seems much emptier without you.

I hope you all have a fantastic rest of the week – and remember if you can, to take 60 seconds out of your day to check in on someone. It might be the 60 seconds that makes all the difference.

Love, Amy x