Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the world as we know it and how we live our day-to-day lives.

In the past few months, we’ve all been under unprecedented pressure, self-isolating and working remotely during a pandemic.

Find out what self-care is. What can happen when it doesn’t work. Why it doesn’t work. And what to watch out for.

What it means to be brave about mental health. And five things every leader should keep in mind.

As columnist Dov Seidman says: ‘When you press the pause button on a machine it stops. But when you press the pause button on human beings, they start.’ 

Time, they say, is a scarce commodity. Underlying this idea is the morbid but unavoidable truth that, one day, we all die. A common response is to try and cram in as much as possible while we are here.

The space in our lives is always under pressure. There are powerful forces that combine to squeeze it out. First among these is technology. Machines work well at a constant speed — and the faster the better. They are designed and built for it.

In 2001, Mark Simmonds suffered a mental breakdown, caused by extreme stress in the workplace. He spent four months off work, descending into the depths of a devasting depression, before he tried to take his own life in July of the same year. Without success. In March 2019, he had a book published, called Breakdown and Repair which recounts this episode in detail, both the before, the during and the after.

In the world’s largest investigation into the impact of DNA on mental disorders, more than 200 researchers identified 44 gene variants that increase the likelihood of anxiety and depression.

From treating depression to achieving a deeper understanding of consciousness, psychedelic drugs are gaining mainstream recognition, perhaps following in the footsteps of CBD.