Wellbeing and mood

If you are waiting for treatment or surgery, it is understandable that you may feel worried or anxious.

It is normal to worry but it can sometimes have an effect on the body, such as headaches, muscle tension or pains, difficulty concentrating or sleeping, feeling restless or easily fatigued, among other things.

You can find information and resources below aimed at supporting your wellbeing and mood.

Useful advice

We cannot eliminate worrying completely from our lives but if your worries feel overwhelming there are lots of ways you can try to manage or overcome them.

• Write them down - sometimes just getting things out of your head and onto paper or your phone can help to clear your mind and make it more manageable to work through your concerns.
• Set aside 'worry time' - try to set yourself a short period of 'worry time' every day or so to write things down and try to find solutions. 
• Don't dwell during the day - having a regular 'worry time' can help prevent us from dwelling on our worries during the rest of the day. If a worry enters your mind, think "I'll set that aside for my worry time", which can help you to focus on the present.
• Focus on things you can control - work out the difference between problems you can solve and hypothetical worries that are beyond your control.
• Make a plan - write a plan of action for worries you can do something about. If the worry returns, you can remind yourself of the steps already taken.
• Focus on the present - it can be useful to have go-to strategies like mindfulness or breathing techniques to help calm yourself down and bring you back to the present moment.

Mindfulness

Paying more attention to the present moment – to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you – can improve your mental wellbeing.

Mindfulness involves paying attention to what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment.

An important part of mindfulness is reconnecting with our bodies and the sensations they experience. This means paying attention to the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the present moment. That might be something as simple as the feel of a banister as we walk upstairs.

Becoming more aware of the present moment can help us enjoy the world around us more and understand ourselves better.

Mindfulness also allows us to become more aware of the stream of thoughts and feelings that we experience, and to see how we can become entangled in that stream in ways that are not helpful.

Follow this link to the NHS website where you can read more about mindfulness and how it helps mental wellbeing.