Jivan Dempsey

24/03/2026

Young Carers Action Day is here. Find out how you can help young carers get the school support they need and deserve.

24/03/2026

“You lose yourself.”

That line from this recent article on Gen X women mental health crisis really stayed with me.

It captures something many women in midlife quietly experience — not just hormonal shifts, but a deeper identity shift.

This isn’t simply about menopause.

It’s about:
– caring for ageing parents
– supporting children (sometimes well into adulthood)
– navigating career changes or uncertainty
– facing health challenges
– and often… placing themselves last for decades

By the time many women reach their 50s, they’re not just tired — they’re holding the weight of multiple lives, roles, and expectations.

And yet, as the article highlights, many still don’t seek support.

💭 What stands out to me is this:
This is less a crisis… and more a reckoning.

A moment where the strategies that helped someone survive earlier life stages no longer work.

A moment where the question becomes:
“Who am I now — beyond the roles I’ve been playing?”

From a psychological and therapeutic perspective, this stage of life can be incredibly powerful.

Not because it’s easy — but because it creates an opportunity for:
– redefinition
– reconnection with self
– and a more conscious way of living

But that only happens if space is created to explore it.

And that’s often what’s missing.

👉 Support that understands the whole picture — not just symptoms, but lived experience
👉 Conversations that go beyond labels and acknowledge identity, purpose, and meaning
👉 Environments where people feel safe to say, “I’m not okay” without judgement

Because losing yourself… can also be the beginning of finding yourself again — differently, and often more honestly.😇

📖 Read the full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/22/you-lose-yourself-inside-the-mental-health-crisis-hitting-gen-x-women

16/03/2026

Recent research shows that more than two-thirds of UK students report feeling lonely or isolated during their time at university. In halls of residence alone, one in three students (33%) say they often feel lonely, while another 37% experience these feelings occasionally.

For many young people, university is expected to be an exciting and social chapter of life. Yet the transition can also bring significant emotional challenges — moving away from home, adjusting to new environments, academic pressures, and the difficulty of forming meaningful connections in unfamiliar surroundings.

One factor increasingly discussed is the role of technology. While digital platforms make communication easier than ever, they can sometimes replace the deeper connection that comes from face-to-face interaction. Spending more time communicating online may unintentionally leave some students feeling more disconnected in their day-to-day lives.

Loneliness is not simply about being alone. It’s about feeling unseen, unheard, or unsupported — and it can have a real impact on mental health and wellbeing.

Creating spaces where young people feel able to talk openly, build friendships and access support is more important than ever.

If you’re a student struggling with loneliness, please remember: you’re not the only one experiencing this, and support is available.

Sometimes the first step is simply reaching out and starting a conversation. 💬

*Source: UK student loneliness research study.

15/03/2026

Happy Mother’s Day 🌸

Today I’m thinking about my Mum — the woman who shaped so much of who I am.

Her strength, kindness and resilience continue to inspire me. The lessons she shared, the love she gave and the example she set have stayed with me throughout my life.

I feel deeply grateful for everything she gave and taught me. 🙏

Mother’s Day can bring many emotions — joy, gratitude, reflection and remembrance. Today is also a moment to honour all the mothers and mother figures whose love continues to live on in the people they raised and the lives they touched.

Thinking of all the incredible mums, and all those holding special memories of their mothers close to their hearts today. 🫶

13/03/2026

Friday reminder🫶

To that friend who never turned life into a competition.
The one who genuinely celebrates your wins, encourages you when things feel tough, and reminds you that there’s space for everyone to grow and succeed.

Those friendships are rare — and incredibly powerful.

In a world that often encourages comparison, having someone who simply wants the best for you is something really special.

As we head into the weekend, take a moment to appreciate that person in your life.
Send them a message. Tell them thank you.😊

Because friendships built on support, kindness and genuine happiness for one another are a beautiful part of healing and wellbeing.

Happy Friday everyone. 🌿

09/03/2026

Racism can be a source of trauma — and mental health services must recognise it.

A new report by the Centre for Mental Health and Coffee Afrik CIC, commissioned by the NHS Race and Health Observatory, highlights an urgent issue:

For many people from racialised communities, experiences of racism are not only socially harmful — they can also have lasting psychological consequences.

The report finds that racism can contribute to trauma and mental illness, while at the same time creating barriers to accessing the right mental health support.

For many individuals, trauma is not experienced in isolation. It can be shaped by multiple factors including discrimination, migration experiences, housing inequality, policing practices, and long-standing historical injustices.

These experiences can affect:
• Emotional wellbeing
• Self-worth and identity
• Trust in institutions
• Access to appropriate support and care

The report calls for mental health services across the UK to adopt trauma-informed and anti-racist approaches, ensuring care is culturally sensitive, community-informed, and grounded in dignity and understanding.

Listening to people’s lived experiences is essential.
Healing cannot happen in spaces where those experiences are dismissed or overlooked.

At Jivan, we believe mental health care must be inclusive, compassionate, and culturally aware.
Understanding the social and cultural contexts that shape people’s lives is an important step toward building services that truly support wellbeing for everyone.

Real progress begins with listening, learning, and acting with empathy.🙏🫶

05/03/2026

05/03/2026

A compliment costs nothing… but it can mean everything. 🙏

This wonderful woman decided to brighten people’s day by simply complimenting strangers she met on the street — and the reactions say it all.

A small reminder that kindness is contagious.
One kind word can make someone smile, lift their mood, or even change their whole day.

Let’s spread a little more of it. 😊

04/03/2026

A recent poll commissioned by the Royal College of Psychiatrists found that 72% of women in the UK do not know that menopause can be associated with the onset of a new mental illness.🙁

Most people associate menopause with hot flushes or physical symptoms.
But the psychological impact is often overlooked or misunderstood.

Hormonal changes during perimenopause and menopause can contribute to:

• Anxiety
• Low mood or depression
• Sleep disturbances
• Brain fog and reduced concentration
• Emotional instability
• In some cases, the onset or relapse of more serious mental health conditions

Research shows that during perimenopause:
• Women are 30% more likely to develop clinical depression
• Risk of bipolar disorder can more than double
• Su***de rates are higher among women of menopausal age

Yet many women are misdiagnosed or dismissed, sometimes being treated for depression or anxiety without the underlying hormonal changes being recognised.

This lack of awareness means many women struggle silently, unsure why they feel so different or where to seek the right support.

Menopause is not simply a physical transition.
It can be a significant psychological transition as well.

Better awareness, better training for health professionals, and more open conversations are essential so women receive the understanding and support they deserve.

I believe mental health conversations must include the life stages that shape emotional wellbeing — including menopause.

No woman should feel confused, dismissed or alone during this time.🙏🫶

01/03/2026

A beautiful reminder from Mind!
We don’t always pause to acknowledge how far we’ve come, the challenges we’ve faced, and the quiet victories that shape us. The good we do matters — the big and the small.

Self-kindness isn’t indulgent. It’s necessary.🫶

28/02/2026

Sometimes the patterns we need to unlearn are not loud or dramatic.
They are subtle. Quiet. Almost invisible.

It can look like staying silent when you have something valuable to say.
Turning down opportunities before you’ve truly considered them.
Avoiding responsibility because you assume someone else would do it better.
Dimming your strengths so you don’t make others uncomfortable.

Over time, this becomes a habit — a way of moving through the world that feels safe, but also limiting.

Staying small often begins as protection. At some point in life, playing safe may have reduced conflict, avoided criticism, or helped you feel accepted. For a younger version of you, it might even have been necessary.

But what once protected you can later restrict you.

Many adults who struggle with visibility, confidence, or stepping forward are not lacking ability. They are carrying old emotional scripts — messages about worth, capability, or safety that were absorbed early on and never questioned.

The fear of being judged.
The fear of getting it wrong.
The fear of being “too much.”

These fears can quietly keep potential contained.

Awareness is the turning point.

When you begin to notice the moments you shrink yourself — when you hesitate, downplay, or retreat — you create space for choice. You can pause and ask: Is this caution serving me, or is it habit?

Unlearning the habit of staying small is rarely dramatic. It happens in small acts of courage — speaking up once, saying yes once, allowing yourself to be seen once.😊

26/02/2026

The Burden of Old Beliefs

Many of us carry beliefs that were formed long before we had the awareness to question them.

Perhaps you learned that love must be earned through hard work.
That being strong means never asking for help.
That your worth is measured by achievement.
Or that keeping others comfortable should come before your own needs.

Over time, these beliefs quietly shape how we live. They influence the standards we hold ourselves to, the relationships we tolerate, and the way we speak to ourselves when we fall short.

The truth is, many of these beliefs were never consciously chosen. They were absorbed — through family expectations, cultural messages, school experiences, or moments that left a deeper mark than we realised.

What once helped you survive may no longer help you live fully.

Letting go of old beliefs doesn’t mean rejecting your past. It means gently examining what you’ve been carrying and deciding what still belongs.

You are allowed to question the rules you inherited.
You are allowed to redefine what worth means to you.
You are allowed to put down what feels heavy.

Get in touch! If you are experiencing low self confidence, low self esteem stress and anxiety, depression, addictive or compulsive behaviours, fears and phobias, PTSD I can help you.
Contact me today for a free confidential chat.😊hello@jivandempsey.com