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The Vitality Unleashed Blog
Clear, evidence-based writing on mental health, the mind and body, and living well — written by our Clinical Psychologists and Accredited Practising Dietitian. You’ll find plain-language explainers on conditions like anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, pieces on neurodivergence and psychometric assessment, a look at the science of the brain, and practical strategies for everyday wellbeing.
General information to help you understand what you’re experiencing and what support can look like — never a substitute for personalised advice from your treating practitioner.
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Photo: featured image Mood & Depression 10 Easy & Quick Ways to Boost Your Mood When You’re Feeling Down Everyone has days when their mood dips — when energy is low, motivation is thin, and everything feels a little heavier than usual. On those days,… Read article → Topics
Showing all 56 articles
Photo: featured image Nutrition & Wellbeing 10 Signs of Poor Quality Sleep (and What They Might Be Telling You) You might be spending a full eight hours in bed and still waking up feeling like you barely slept. That is because sleep is not just about… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Everyday Strategies 10 Signs You Are in a Toxic Friendship or Relationship Not every difficult relationship is toxic — all close connections go through rough patches, disagreements and seasons of distance. But some… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression 10 Signs You Could Be Suffering From Depression Depression rarely arrives with a dramatic announcement. More often it creeps in quietly — a little less energy, a little more irritability, a slow… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Everyday Strategies 10 Tips for a Relaxing and Easy Christmas Christmas is meant to be a time to slow down, connect and enjoy — yet for many of us it arrives as a whirlwind of lists, shopping, cooking and… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Anxiety & Stress 10 Ways to Reduce Coronavirus Anxiety and Build Lasting Resilience The coronavirus pandemic changed the way many Australians relate to uncertainty. For a while, worry about health, work, and the future became part… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Anxiety & Stress 5 Ways to Manage Stress: Simple Techniques You Can Start Today When life feels like too much, you do not need a lecture on stress; you need something practical you can actually do. The five techniques in this… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Anxiety & Stress 5 Ways to Reduce Coronavirus Stress and Anxiety (and Anxiety in Any Uncertain Time) When the coronavirus pandemic first swept across Australia, many of us felt a kind of worry we had never experienced before. The rules kept… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Nutrition & Wellbeing 6 Tips for Daily Meditation Almost everyone who tries meditation runs into the same two hurdles: finding the time, and the nagging feeling that they are “doing it wrong”. If… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression About Gratitude: How a Simple Practice Can Boost Your Wellbeing Gratitude has a bit of an image problem. To some, it sounds like a fridge magnet — pleasant enough, but hardly the stuff of real change. Yet… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Nutrition & Wellbeing About Mindfulness and How It Can Benefit You Mindfulness has become something of a buzzword, promising calm in a busy world. But behind the hype sits a genuinely useful, well-researched… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Neurodivergence & Assessment About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Signs, Myths and How It’s Treated “I’m so OCD about my desk.” Most of us have heard OCD used this way — as a shorthand for being tidy, organised or particular. But… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression Breaking the Pursuit of Perfection: Why Perfectionism Keeps You Stuck From the outside, the pursuit of perfection can look like ambition — high standards, hard work, an eye for detail. But if you live inside it, you… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Anxiety & Stress Busting Christmas Stress This Season: Managing Overwhelm and Setting Boundaries For all its tinsel and good cheer, Christmas can be one of the most stressful times of the year. Behind the celebrations sit long to-do lists,… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression Can You Really Manage Anger Without Therapy? If you have found yourself snapping more than you would like, replaying arguments in your head, or feeling a heat rise in your chest over things… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Trauma & PTSD Cellular Memory of Trauma: How the Body Holds What the Mind Can’t Say Have you ever noticed your body reacting to something before your mind has caught up? A particular smell, a tone of voice or a certain place, and… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression Dealing with Loneliness: Understanding It and Rebuilding Connection Loneliness is one of the most universal human experiences, and yet it can feel deeply isolating to go through — as though everyone else is… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Anxiety & Stress Dealing with Stress: Understanding It and Taking Back Control Stress is part of being human. A looming deadline, a difficult conversation, money worries, or a packed family calendar can all leave us feeling… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression Demystifying Borderline Personality Disorder: What You Need to Know Few mental health conditions are as misunderstood — or as unfairly stigmatised — as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The label itself can… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression Depression: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment — A Gold Coast Psychology Guide Depression is one of the most common reasons people reach out to a psychologist, and it is also one of the most misunderstood. It is far more than… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression Do I Have Bipolar Disorder? Understanding the Signs and How Assessment Works If you have found yourself searching “do I have bipolar disorder?”, you are not alone, and asking the question is a reasonable and self-aware… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Nutrition & Wellbeing Eating Disorders and Body Image: Understanding the Link and Finding Support The way we feel about our bodies and our relationship with food are deeply connected. For some people, distress about body image becomes tangled… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Nutrition & Wellbeing Eating Disorders: The Signs to Look Out For Eating disorders can be easy to miss, both in ourselves and in the people we love. They often develop quietly, hidden behind everyday routines and… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Nutrition & Wellbeing The Effects of Dehydration on Mental Health We tend to think of hydration as a matter of physical health: quenching thirst, supporting the body during exercise, or keeping cool on a hot Gold… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression Ego vs. Genuine Self-Esteem: Building Confidence That Actually Lasts Most of us want to feel good about ourselves. But there is a world of difference between confidence that has to be constantly defended and… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Nutrition & Wellbeing Food & Sleep: How What You Eat Shapes How You Rest Most of us think of sleep as something that happens to us at the end of the day. In reality, the quality of your sleep is being shaped from the… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression How Are Anger and Depression Related? When we picture depression, most of us imagine sadness, tears and withdrawal. Anger rarely makes the picture. Yet for a great many people,… Read article → 
Photo: featured image The Brain & Behaviour How Neurotransmitters Influence Your Behaviour and Emotions Why do you feel a wave of motivation when you tick something off your list, a rush of calm after a good conversation, or a jolt of dread before a… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Everyday Strategies How Social Media Addiction Affects Our Lives — and How to Regain Balance Social media has become woven into the fabric of everyday life — how we stay in touch, share moments, work, shop and unwind. For most of us it is… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Anxiety & Stress How to Be Social with Social Anxiety: Practical Steps That Work If the thought of a party, a work meeting, or even a casual conversation fills you with dread, you are far from alone. Social anxiety is one of… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Trauma & PTSD How to Heal Abandonment Trauma: Steps and Therapies That Help If a fear of being left has shaped your relationships for as long as you can remember, you may have wondered whether it can ever really change.… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Anxiety & Stress How to Manage Panic Attacks: Useful Tips That Actually Help A panic attack can be one of the most frightening experiences a person goes through. Your heart pounds, your chest tightens, the room may feel… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Everyday Strategies How To Set Goals and Actually Stick To Them Most of us know the quiet disappointment of a goal that started with real enthusiasm and quietly faded a few weeks later. The gym membership goes… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Neurodivergence & Assessment Identifying Narcissism: Recognising Narcissistic Behaviour and Protecting Yourself Most of us have described someone as “a bit of a narcissist” at some point — usually meaning they seem self-absorbed or full of themselves. But… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Everyday Strategies Learn How to Break Free from Toxic Relationships and Friendships Recognising that a relationship or friendship is unhealthy is one thing. Actually breaking free — setting boundaries, stepping back, or leaving —… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Everyday Strategies Accessing Psychological Services After Bushfires and Natural Disasters: Medicare and Mental Health Care Plans Bushfires, floods and other natural disasters leave more than physical damage. Long after the immediate danger has passed, many people carry an… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Nutrition & Wellbeing Mindful Eating for Better Health, Wellbeing, and a Peaceful Relationship with Food So much of our eating happens on autopilot: at the desk, in the car, in front of a screen, or in a rush between tasks. Mindful eating is a gentle… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Trauma & PTSD PTSD and the Brain: How Trauma Changes the Mind and How Healing Happens If you live with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), you may have wondered why you cannot simply “get over” what happened — why your body still… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Trauma & PTSD PTSD: How to Deal with Flashbacks Flashbacks are one of the most distressing and disorienting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In a flashback, the past does not… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Trauma & PTSD PTSD Triggers: Understanding and Managing What Sets Off Trauma Responses If you live with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), you may have noticed that certain sights, sounds, smells, places or situations can… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Trauma & PTSD The Self-Sacrifice Schema: Signs, Origins and How Therapy Helps Are you the person everyone relies on — the one who always says yes, puts others first, and struggles with guilt the moment you consider your own… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Nutrition & Wellbeing Sleep and Health: Why Quality Sleep Matters for Your Whole Wellbeing Sleep can feel like the first thing we sacrifice when life gets busy — an optional extra we will “catch up on” later. Yet decades of research tell… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Trauma & PTSD Sleep and PTSD: Why Trauma Disrupts Your Sleep and What Helps If you live with post-traumatic stress, night-time can be the hardest part of the day. The house goes quiet, the distractions fall away, and your… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Everyday Strategies Social Media Addiction and Its Consequences: What It Is and How It Affects You Social media connects us, entertains us and keeps us informed — and for most people, that is where it stays. But for a growing number, use tips… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression Step-by-Step Instructions to Identify and Overcome Perfectionism If you already suspect perfectionism is holding you back, you may not need more convincing — you need a plan. This article is a practical,… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Anxiety & Stress Techniques for Improving Assertiveness: How to Speak Up and Set Boundaries Do you say yes when you mean no? Swallow your opinion to keep the peace, then feel resentful later? Or perhaps you swing the other way — bottling… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Everyday Strategies The Art of Unplugging: Reclaiming Your Focus, Calm and Time For most of us, the phone is the first thing we reach for in the morning and the last thing we put down at night. Screens have woven themselves so… Read article → 
Photo: featured image The Brain & Behaviour The Power of Your Subconscious Mind: How Hidden Patterns Shape Your Life Much of what you do each day happens without conscious thought. You drive a familiar route while your mind wanders, react to a comment before you… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Trauma & PTSD The Science Behind Concussions: Exploring the Neurological Impact of Traumatic Brain Injuries A concussion is often described as a “mild” traumatic brain injury — but there is nothing minor about how it can affect your thinking, your mood… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Nutrition & Wellbeing Tired of Being Tired? 8 Sleep Tips to Beat Insomnia If you are tired of being tired — lying awake watching the clock, or waking at 3am with a racing mind — you are far from alone. Insomnia is one of… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Anxiety & Stress Top 10 Healing Foods for Anxiety When anxiety takes hold, it can feel like your body is running on high alert — racing thoughts, a tight chest, a restless, buzzy energy that will… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression Top 10 Healing Foods for Depression The connection between what we eat and how we feel is real, and it is backed by a growing body of research. Food is not a cure for depression, and… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression Top 10 Mood-Boosting Foods to Nourish Your Mind The connection between what we eat and how we feel is real, and it is one of the most encouraging areas of health. The food on your plate provides… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Trauma & PTSD Understanding Abandonment Trauma: Origins, Signs and Why It Happens Do you carry a deep-seated fear that the people you love will eventually leave? Do you find yourself bracing for rejection, reading too much into… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Neurodivergence & Assessment Understanding Adult ASD Diagnosis: The Essential Role of Psychometric Testing in Autism Evaluation for Adults More and more adults are reaching a point where they wonder whether autism might explain a lifetime of feeling different — of masking to fit in,… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Trauma & PTSD Understanding the Emotional Deprivation Schema: Signs, Origins and How Therapy Helps Do you often feel that no matter how much you give in relationships, your own emotional needs somehow go unmet? Do you find it hard to expect… Read article → 
Photo: featured image Mood & Depression What Are the 10 Keys to a Happy Life? Happiness can feel like a moving target — something we will finally reach once the next goal is ticked off, the next purchase made, or the next… Read article → No articles here just yet.
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