Isolation is extremely bad for brain chemistry. It can result in a dramatic drop in levels of seratonin, leading to aggressive impulses. It can also lead to a drop in dopamine, so you can feel awful over and above the distress you feel.
Margot Sunderland, The Science of parenting
I was reading through a book on parenting the other day and came across these words in a section on crying. I instantly understood this, in a way you can only understand something which you have lived. Not that I have experienced this brain chemistry at work as a parent, but that it has infiltrated almost all of our lives in the last 6 months.
The week before I had been feeling awful, contemplating the second wave and the impact it is having on mine and others lives. It was only when I met up with some friends, towards the end of the week, and found that they too were scared, that I could calm myself down.
Last March (before lockdown hit) I was super run down. I was teaching most evenings, with lots of early morning starts, and travelling all over London to get to classes. Any night I wasn’t teaching I’d be seeing friends. I didn’t have a clear weekend for months ahead. On top of this (or as a… Read More
Baby Massage has been practised in societies across the world for thousands of years. In the last half century there has been a great deal of research which testifies to the benefits of infant massage for both caregiver and child, but there are likely wider benefits, that may not yet have found expression or evidence…. Read More
