Mental Health

By Donna Burfield - Joy & Purpose Coaching   Ageing gets such a bad reputation. We’re bombarded with messages telling us to fight it, hide it, slow it, or fix it, as if growing older is something we should apologise for.   But here’s the truth: ageing is a privilege, and somewhere between the grey hairs, the deeper compassion, and the occasional “Why did I walk into this room?” moment, something shifts:   We begin to care less about pleasing everyone else and more about livin

By Donna Burfield - Joy & Purpose Coaching   Dementia isn’t just about memory loss. It isn’t just about ageing. And it isn’t something that only happens “over there,” to other families.   Dementia is deeply human. It affects identity, communication, relationships, and daily life, not just for the person living with it, but for everyone around them.   Dementia doesn’t just change what someone remembers; it changes how they experience the world.   But even with all its challeng

By Donna Burfield - Joy & Purpose Coaching   Grief isn’t something you “get over.”It isn’t a straight line or a tidy set of stages you tick off like a checklist. Grief is the echo of love. It’s the space someone held in your life, now shifting and reshaping itself inside you.   Grief doesn’t only show up when someone dies; it comes with the loss of health, identity, relationships, safety, dreams, and versions of our lives that no longer exist.   If you’ve ever felt confused b

By Donna Burfield - Joy & Purpose Coaching   Substance misuse doesn’t always look like the stereotypes. It isn’t always chaotic, obvious, or dramatic. For many people, it begins quietly, a drink to unwind, a sleeping tablet to get through the night, a painkiller to take the edge off, a pattern that slowly becomes a lifeline.   Substance misuse often grows in the shadows of stress, loneliness, trauma, chronic illness, grief, and emotional overwhelm. It’s not about “poor choice

By Donna Burfield - Joy & Purpose Coaching   A panic attack can feel like your world is collapsing inwards, fast, overwhelming, and without warning. Your heart surges, your chest tightens, your breathing races, and your mind insists something terrible is happening. And even though panic attacks aren’t life-threatening, they feel like they are.   If you’ve ever thought you were having a heart attack, losing control, or “going mad,” you are not alone.   According to Mental Heal

By Donna Burfield - Joy & Purpose Coaching   Coercive control doesn’t leave bruises. It doesn’t always shout, slam doors, or look dangerous from the outside. In fact, that’s what makes it so insidious: it hides in everyday interactions, in subtle shifts of power, in the erosion of confidence and autonomy, and in the silent suffocation of someone’s freedom.   Coercive control is not the same as conflict. It is not a “bad relationship phase.” It is a pattern of domination where

By Donna Burfield - Joy & Purpose Coaching   Anxiety isn’t always the dramatic panic attack people imagine. More often, it’s the quiet hum under your skin, the racing thoughts at 3 am, the knot in your stomach you pretend isn’t there. It’s the constant scanning for danger, the overthinking, the dread that comes out of nowhere, even on the calmest days.   And here’s something we don’t talk about enough: anxiety is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign that your nervous system ha

By Donna Burfield - Joy & Purpose Coaching Depression isn’t always the dramatic collapse people imagine. More often, it’s the quiet withdrawal, the heaviness in your chest you can’t quite explain, the smile you hold together because you don’t want anyone to worry. It’s the flatness, the fog, the exhaustion… and the loneliness that comes from feeling like you “should” be coping better.   But here’s the truth: depression is not a personal failing. It’s a human experience and on

By Donna Burfield - Joy & Purpose Coaching   PTSD isn’t just about “big” traumatic events or dramatic flashbacks, and it doesn’t only affect veterans or emergency responders. It can come from experiences people dismiss, minimise, or carry silently for years.   PTSD is what happens when the brain and body haven’t yet realised that the danger is over.   It lives in the nervous system, in the startle responses, the nightmares, the sudden panic, the shutdowns, the emotional numbi