Leanne Hoffman

Many people feel that the current social climate has become increasingly toxic and polarised. Disagreements around politics, gender rights, land ownership and cancel culture often escalate quickly into hostility. Positions appear more extreme, and the ability to tolerate difference seems to be shrinking.

History has certainly seen similar periods of division, so it would be simplistic to claim that our moment is uniquely fractured. Yet something does appear to be happening in the way we manage disagreement. Conversations that once might have allowed room for nuance often collapse into rigid “us versus them” positions rather than curiosity about different perspectives. Psychotherapy offers several insights into why difference can feel so difficult.

One explanation lies in early development. Attachment theorist John Bowlby proposed that babies initially experience themselves as inseparable from their primary caregiver. In the first weeks after birth they begin to recognise that the caregiver is a separate person. This moment marks the beginning of a lifelong process of learning to tolerate difference and separation.

Human development unfolds through a series of transitions: moving from breast or bottle to solid food, starting school, leaving home, forming relationships and building independent lives. Each stage involves both gain and loss.

When caregivers support these transitions well enough, children gradually learn that difference and loss is manageable. We do not have to be identical or merged to stay connected. Healthy relationships become more like Venn diagrams - interdependent but distinct.

Therapy also recognises that strong emotions can reactivate earlier experiences. Encounters with difference in adulthood may unconsciously trigger early feelings of separation or loss that were first experienced before we had language to describe them. What looks like a disagreement in the present can sometimes carry echoes of much earlier emotional experiences.

Another reason difference can feel threatening lies in human evolution. For most of our history, belonging to a group was essential for survival. Being cast out of the tribe could mean exposure, starvation or violence. Our brains therefore evolved to make rapid judgments about who belonged and who did not.

A striking illustration comes from the discovery of Ötzi the Iceman. Found by hikers in the Italian Alps in 1991, Ötzi lived around 3200 BCE. Analysis of his body revealed a life marked by illness, injury and ultimately death from an arrow wound.

Archaeological evidence suggests that in prehistoric societies as many as one in three men may have died violently. By comparison, modern societies in Europe and North America experience far lower rates of violent death. Yet our nervous systems still carry the ancient mechanisms designed to detect threat quickly.

In other words, even in relatively safe societies we may still react to difference as if survival were at stake.

When our threat system is activated, the body moves into the familiar “fight, flight, freeze or fawn” response. Stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol flood the body, heart rate increases and attention narrows.

At the same time our thinking changes. The emotional older limbic brain becomes dominant while the newer more rational prefrontal cortex becomes less active. This response is excellent for escaping physical danger but less helpful when navigating complex social issues.

Under threat, thinking becomes simplified. Psychologists describe this as “cognitive errors”: generalising, catastrophising, blaming or assuming certainty. Statements such as “they are wrong and we are right” or “they are idiots and we know best” become more common. Nuance disappears and positions harden.

Modern communication environments may intensify this pattern. Social media platforms often reward certainty, speed and outrage rather than reflection and nuance. Complex issues are easily reduced to moral binaries.

The cancelling of J. K. Rowling in response to her tweets and views about the trans/women debate illustrates how quickly disagreements can escalate into hostility and personal attack. Regardless of where one stands on the issue, the intensity of reaction suggests that broader anxieties and conflicts may be playing out through symbolic figures.

Similarly, conflicts involving Israel and Palestine show how competing narratives can harden into polarised positions. When people feel existentially threatened, black-and-white thinking intensifies and dialogue becomes extremely difficult whilst the suffering continues.

Another factor may be the sense of global uncertainty many people experience today. Constant exposure to news about war, climate change, economic pressures and population growth can create a feeling of scarcity and insecurity.

Scarcity tends to increase stress and anxiety. When people feel under pressure, the nervous system becomes more vigilant and reactive. In this state, difference may feel not simply uncomfortable but potentially dangerous.

Yet for many of us this sense of threat is psychological rather than immediate. Living in a constant state of alarm is rarely helpful and makes meaningful dialogue or collaboration even harder.

A useful concept for understanding these reactions is the “window of tolerance,” developed by psychiatrist Dan Siegel. Within this window our nervous system is regulated enough for us to think clearly, listen and remain curious.

Outside this window we move into hyper-arousal (

, angry and reactive) or hypo-arousal (shut down or withdrawn). When discussions about difference push us into either state, productive conversation becomes very difficult.

 practices can help people notice when they have moved outside their window of tolerance. Paying attention to physical cues - such as a racing heart or tension - creates the opportunity to pause and regulate our response. Once calmer, the prefrontal cortex becomes more active again, allowing more thoughtful engagement.

In mediation and conflict-resolution work, productive conversations usually begin with creating psychological safety. Participants are reminded that disagreement does not have to be a zero-sum game and that shared humanity remains.

Conversations then follow a simple structure:

When conversations are guided by curiosity, respect, compassion and the principle of unconditional positive regard developed by Carl Rogers, they can be surprisingly transformative. Even deeply entrenched conflicts sometimes soften once people feel genuinely safe and heard.

Many conflicts reveal an important truth: behind opposing positions often lie similar human experiences. Fear, 

, trauma and the desire for safety frequently exist on all sides.

Organisations such as Solutions Not Sides work with schools to explore multiple perspectives on the Israeli Palestinian Conflict. By presenting different narratives and encouraging critical thinking, they model an alternative to polarised debate.

The opposite of black-and-white thinking is not indifference but the ability to hold multiple perspectives at once. Developing that capacity may be one of the most important skills for navigating difference in an increasingly complex world and is one that therapy can foster.

Difficult Conversations: How to discuss what matters most

 Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, and Douglas Stone - Nonfiction book about having better conversations about difference.

, Colin McCormac - Fiction book about Israel Palestine conflict.

, John Bowlby – Non-fiction book on the psychotherapeutic theory of attachment.

, John Bargh - Non-fiction book about the unconscious reasons behind human behaviour.

Why We Struggle with Difference – the Rise of Black and White Thinking

Louise Chunn is a prize-winning journalist and former editor of a number of magazines, including Psychologies, Good Housekeeping and InStyle. She is the founder of Welldoing Ltd.

Louise Chunn

At the end of March 2026 a jury in Los Angeles found Facebook and YouTube had endangered the mental health of young users by building technology specifically to lead to 

In this widely-reported test case an anonymous woman known as Kaley accused Meta (Facebook’s parent company) Google's YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok, intending her to become addicted to their products. She started using YouTube at the age of 6 and Instagram at the age of 9 and over the years following heavy use of these platforms developed 

The jury awarded the plaintiff US$6million with Meta responsible for 70 per cent of the amount. Snapchat and TikTok had settled with her in advance of the case.

The focus of the case was the concept that these social media platforms had been specifically designed to be addictive.

As The Observer editorial described the jury decision: “They were persuaded the platforms had built “traps, not apps”, designed expressly to draw in young minds and hold them rapt with “endless scroll” and autoplay videos; and that senior people at the biggest companies in Silicon Valley were well aware the content could be harmful. “They knew.”

Only a day before this verdict, a court in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375m for misleading users over the safety of its platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, for use by children.

A jury held Meta liable for the way in which its platforms endangered children and exposed them to sexually explicit material and contact with sexual predators. This verdict was greeted

as "historic" by the attorney general of the state.

Many commentators are seeing these two cases as significant. According to the BBC’s Media Show the technology companies were surprised by the results, and have announced that they will appeal. But campaigners such as online safety campaigner Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life in 2017 after consuming harmful content online, told the BBC's Newsnight programme: "There is a big hope that this is a big moment and tech will… [need] to change, but only if the governments do something about it.”

In a controversial move, Australia has banned under-16s from registering on social media platforms since December 2025. In the UK, Keir Starmer’s government has recently kicked off a pilot study of social media bans, time limits, and digital curfews for the homes of 300 teenagers. Running alongside this is a 

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: “We are determined to give young people the childhood they deserve and to prepare them for the future.

"This is why we are listening to parents, children and experts with our consultation, as well as testing different options in the real world. These pilots will give us the evidence we need to take the next steps, informed by the experiences of families themselves.”

Facebook and YouTube Trials Expose Social Media Addiction for Young People

Dr Pippa Grange is a sports psychologist and a culture coach working across elite sports and business internationally. As Head of People and Team Development at the Football Association, she worked closely with the England team for the World Cup in 2018. She believes relationships are at the heart of everything and the antidote to fear.

Pippa is now part of the senior leadership for the global Right to Dream group, working on cultural strategy. She is particularly invested in ensuring opportunities for women and girls. Pippa is also passionate about finding a different archetype for women working in sport and other male dominated areas.

Pippa was born and raised on a council estate in Yorkshire with her mother. At aged 25, she moved to Australia where she lived for 20 years, followed by some time in LA. She now lives in the glorious Peak District with her husband and two dogs. 

Photo credit Urszula Sołtys

Dr Grange

Have you ever noticed that some success doesn’t actually feel that great?

From the outside, everything looks as it should. You’re functioning, winning, achieving and keeping things moving. But something about all that momentum feels… a little ‘off’.

Maybe you have a sense of being slightly ahead of yourself all the time, as if you’re always tilting forward, ready. Even when you do stop for a moment, you don’t really feel like you ‘arrive’.

While the whole world talks about underperforming, could it be that you are…overperforming?

Chronic overperformance isn’t simply about doing too many hours at work. Its when your way of living, working and thinking becomes 

around output, achievement, and ‘staying on’. So much so that you find yourself constantly willing to override the signals that say ‘too much’, and defend the need to keep your foot on the gas and grit it out.

Chronic overperformance is shaped by both culture and personal histories.

Most of us are living inside powerful narratives that have told us since childhood that we need to be more, do more, improve constantly, and keep moving forward.

Our mentalities whisper to us that rest must be earned. That you cannot drop the ball, ever. That you can sleep when your dead or when you hit that illusory finish line later. That just a bit more would be better.

At the same time, for some people, performance is tied to something deeper. Being capable, useful, or successful may have once been a way of feeling safe, valued or connected. In that sense, overperformance is more like an intelligent adaptation - but one that may have been carried too far and relied on too often.

It’s not inevitable that a chronic overperformer will crash and burn - although they regularly do. But it can be more subtle than that.

A gradual disconnection. A narrowing of your emotional range. Regularly feeling tired but wired. Reduced capacity to truly rest without a dose of angst. A body that feels tense or hard to fully settle when you have ‘allocated time’ for just that.

Pushing through, revving harder, and constantly deferring your well-being for a more convenient time gets expensive psychologically and physiologically.

You might still be functioning well, but you’re no longer fully present in your own life.

Coming back into relationship with yourself

What if you changed the question running through your mind from: ‘how do I keep going?’ To ‘How do I come back to myself?’

This is what I think of as “coming home”.

Coming home is ‘returning’ and renewing within your life rather thinking you need to get a whole new one. Instead of fixing, transcending or becoming someone new, it’s about reconnecting with what’s already there, beneath the layers of pressure, performance and exhaustion.

In many ways, it is about reducing the gap between your behaviour and what is true for you.

As a sports and performance psychologist, I’m not likely to encourage you to diminish either ambition nor effort towards it. What I would like to know though, is what is driving that ambition, and whether it’s sustainable.

When I start working with people, it’s common for me to notice a pattern of someone living slightly outside of their own capacity and pushing against themselves. They have often learned to override early signals of tiredness, tension, emotional discomfort - in order to keep going.

This is necessary for all of us now and then - on ‘game day’ so to speak, but when it’s adopted as a way of life, it creates strain. It offers no space to renew, to regenerate.

There is a more regenerative way of living and working, and the shift is not necessarily in how much you do, but how you relate to yourself while you are doing it.

This means that effort is no longer driven primarily by fear, approval, or the need to prove something. Instead, it comes form a more grounded place - one that includes curiosity, expression, and a greater sense of connection to self and others.

From that place, you are more likely to be faithful to yourself and your needs.

There are many simple, small steps that you can make to get started.

Creating what I call psychological ‘firebreaks’ in your day or your week can interrupt the sense of constant urgency and invite time that isn’t directed towards output.

Coming to presence is a powerful circuit breaker - even just for a moment or two. This might look like pausing between tasks, getting outside for air and a sense of the horizon, or reducing unnecessary input from group chats that suck up your psychological space.

Learning to vary your pace is also important. Chronic overperformers tend to live in one speed: fast. A healthier system can move between modes - between doing and being, effort and recovery, intensity and depth. It’s a game-changer to plan for regular gear shifts.

Refocusing on finding rhythm rather than attempting to ‘make time’ for yourself is also valuable - like how you start and finish each day. Like what you do in spring that’s different to winter. And like revisiting the best rhythm for this chapter of your life - not the one that you were in a decade ago.

And perhaps most importantly, learning to listen anew to the vast intelligence of your body. Fatigue, tension, frustration and the desire to numb out are signals to work with, not just problems to fix or control.

Are you an unhappy overperformer? Sports psychologist Pippa Grange knows what feels better

Catherine Carr

Before I learned about all of the different roles, I hadn’t realised how the Black Sheep might function in the family system, where very often they are the yin to the Golden Child’s yang. The glare of attention on the Golden Child can create a space for the family’s Black Sheep to be painted into being.

Psychologists use the term Black Sheep in family therapy to mean things like ‘the sibling who has rejected the curse of the Golden Child’ or ‘steps off the path’ prescribed by that whole ‘family narrative’. Black Sheep can feel angry and impotent, with little motivation to try to succeed, saddled with the label of ‘failure’ simply for not wanting to conform.

In truly unhappy families, ‘Black Sheep’ can be used interchangeably with the term ‘Scapegoat’, which suggests something altogether more troubling. After all, its biblical roots describe a creature forced to carry the sins of others, before ultimately being sacrificed. And sometimes that scapegoat, says psychologist Annie Wright, a specialist in family trauma, is treated like ‘the person that everyone in the family thinks “needs fixing” (or the “identified patient”)’. ‘A family unable to face up to the fact that the whole system is collectively responsible for the happiness or unhappiness of the family unit,’ she explains, ‘will instead simply pick on the scapegoat.’

Enablers and Clowns hold very different functions, although both try to detect attention away from what is really wrong in a family. Enablers will try to ‘keep up appearances’ by endlessly trying to sort and fix every slight problem. Their tendency is to empty their own tanks while attempting to rescue the person struggling.

Clowns want to avoid confronting the root cause of the family’s problems. But, instead of setting themselves up as self-appointed ‘fixers’, they take on the mantle of court jester, greeting any tension with a joke. The cumulative effect is to deny other family members the opportunity to express themselves fully: to open up, have difficult conversations or resolve conflicts.

Which gets to the crux of it all. If we feel somehow forced to ‘stay in our lanes’ – performing the same role ad infinitum – we don’t give ourselves or our siblings room to develop. At the more harmless end of the scale – in average families full of their unique foibles and oddities – it might just have a kind of mild stifling effect, making the family dynamic feel superficial and stale. At the other end of the scale, in families with serious issues, being conned into performing the same unhealthy roles on a loop can fuel real unhappiness.

It is usually better (but much more difficult) to step back and allow the natural consequences to play out. If not, you risk creating an intense and often doomed sibling dynamic. In families where the parents have enabled the behaviour of one sibling, to the dismay and frustration of the other children, therapists agree the resentment lasts well into adulthood.

Catherine Carr spoke to Louise Chunn about sibling relationships, rivalry and her new book 

Black Sheep, Golden Child, Clown: What Role Do You Play With Your Siblings?

Ondine Smulders is an existential psychotherapist in London and online

Ondine Smulders

Saul Hillman is a welldoing.org therapist in London

Saul Hillman

Andre de Trichateau is a Welldoing therapist

Andre de Trichateau

The current global political turmoil and uncertainty is turning up in the counselling room, according to therapists and researchers in the US, and conversations with Welldoing therapists in the UK. Constant exposure to news and social media means people rarely get a break from political content and it is taking its toll.

According to a Guardian piece this month titled 

How Trump turmoil is driving more people to the therapist’s office

, both surveys and therapy organisations in the US are finding that more people are seeking to speak to therapists about the political and social situation in the world. Political stress is linked to serious fatigue, sleep loss, 

. Young, left-leaning and politically engaged people were hit hardest.

Therapists and clients are now talking about “political depression” as a term to describe this situation. Brett Ford, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto who studies 

 and emotion, told the newspaper, “Chronic stressors are large-scale, they don’t have clear endpoints, they feel out of your hands, and they reliably evoke negative emotions.”

We spoke to three therapists in the UK who all agreed that current affairs does enter the consulting room, though usually it is very local, like the 

. But the Middle East situation is clearly causing distress for some clients.

 says, “More than half of my clients are bringing in concerns about the state of the world. Themes of safety and uncertainty are common, often focused more on fears for children more than for themselves.

“For some (for example, Jewish and Muslim clients), this has felt particularly personal and has increased feelings of vulnerability. For some, the global context offers perspective on their own difficulties, while for others it intensifies their own anxieties. It can be helpful therapeutically to move between the “macro” (global events) and the “micro” (their personal experience).”

 says she is not seeing as much focus on these conflicts as she might have expected. “While the Middle East is all over the news, my clients from the region are looking at the long term; they’re more worried about future safety and have the feeling that this cycle of violence won't be the last.

“Meanwhile, my clients in Europe and the UK are processing differently. Some of those living abroad are feeling unsettled and/or questioning their sense of 'home,' while for others the conflict feels far away.

“It’s a contrast to how everyone reacted when the 

 started. That felt much closer to home. In recent weeks especially, Ukraine has moved to the back pages of the news but it remains a quiet undercurrent of anxiety.”

 says the situation in Iran has dominated the past few sessions as the ever changing Middle East conflict has “led to a sense of confusion and 

 that expresses itself in heightened tensions in relationships.

“On a broader level, it feels different as it feels closer now than ever. With UK bases being attacked and a potential lack of direction, people are feeling exposed, vulnerable, and exhausted. Will another war impact us financially, in a climate that already feels so precarious? This is more of a different kind of survival.

“My aim for the clients is to provide a space where thoughts can be explored without risking the conversation escalating into a dispute. This can happen between friends and family who have their own feelings and alliances. Here, in therapy, there is an opportunity to work through uncertainty so that you might leave it in the session and focus on surviving. Ironically, it may be their only environment where they feel free.”

In the US where the political stress appears to be more tied to the US government, the Trump presidency, and its actions at home and around the world, therapists are giving a range of advice. While some suggest turning away from news and social media, others, like Brett Ford, warn that strategies to help people cope can also lower their motivation to act. “We need people to be OK in terms of their mental health, and we also need them to be engaged,” she said.

British therapist Saul Hillman meanwhile has some advice for anyone struggling to deal with these lowering, fearful feelings.

At Welldoing we have verified therapists with a broad range of trainings, suitable for a wide range of needs. Use our 

“Political Depression” Is Now a Popular Topic in Therapy Sessions in UK and US

Young people are struggling with their mental health. According to the World Health Organization, around 1 in 7 adolescents (ages 10–19) experience a mental health condition worldwide, yet many remain unrecognised and untreated. As a result, parents, teachers, clinicians, and policymakers are increasingly sounding the alarm about social media.

Smartphones have been part of everyday life for nearly two decades, but their influence has intensified as social media platforms have multiplied. From Twitter’s arrival in the mid-2000s to the rise of newer platforms like TikTok in 2016, digital spaces now play a central role in young people’s lives. As more of life moves online, rates of 

, and emotional distress have also risen, prompting growing interest in possible links between social media and mental health. With far more interest and attention around ADHD, arising from exponentially higher rates of

both diagnosed and self-diagnosed individuals, this link feels even more significant. However, if we think about ADHD and social media, any correlation between the two does not equate to causation with research suggesting that the relationship is more nuanced. It is not simply the amount of time online that predicts attention problems, but how much about how digital use interfere with emotional regulation, relationships, sleep, and our work/study.

Social media is not going anywhere right now even though in the UK and elsewhere, the Government is actively considering major restrictions on children and teenagers, especially those under 16. Social media is ubiquitous and has become a powerful

informal educator for just about everything. If we think about the subject of ADHD, millions of people now encounter information about it through short videos, personal stories, symptom lists, coping strategies, and humour. TikTok in particular has the

brief, fast-paced format with bite-sized explanations that spread quickly and widely. This visibility has brought both benefits and risks.

One of the most significant outcomes of online ADHD content has been a surge in public awareness. Many individuals report recognising patterns in their own lives through online discussions and seeking professional assessment as a result. In this sense, social media can act as a prompt for help-seeking.

Online communities can also provide valuable peer support. For people who have long felt misunderstood or isolated, these spaces can normalise experiences, share coping strategies, and create a sense of belonging. Social media has also opened opportunities for creativity, advocacy, and wider conversations about neurodiversity.

But then there are risks. Short-form content can oversimplify complex conditions. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that requires careful assessment across multiple areas of functioning. Viral videos can blur the line between clinically

significant symptoms and common human experiences such as boredom, distraction, or forgetfulness.

Self-diagnosis is another challenge. While self-reflection is such a useful and admirable quality, accurate diagnosis requires ruling out other possibilities such as anxiety, trauma, sleep deprivation, environmental 

. Without this broader perspective, people may mislabel their difficulties

Algorithms also shape what we see. Content that is relatable, emotionally engaging, and quick to capture attention tends to perform best. ADHD-themed videos about procrastination, distraction, and overwhelm therefore spread easily. Over time, users may encounter content that confirms their existing beliefs while overlooking material

that does not—a process known as confirmation bias.

Finally, it is worth remembering that TikTok and similar platforms are heavily used by adolescents. During this stage of development, brain systems linked to social reward mature earlier than those responsible for impulse control. Social media platforms are designed to activate reward systems through likes, notifications, and endless scrolling. For young people with ADHD—who may already experience heightened reward sensitivity—these features can be particularly compelling.

Overall, social media is here to stay, even as conversations continue about age limits and safer digital environments. For young people with ADHD, the focus should be less on eliminating screen time entirely and more on supporting healthy regulation, boundaries, and balance.

The rise of ADHD content online reflects a broader cultural shift toward openness about mental health. Increased awareness can reduce stigma, empower individuals, and encourage people to seek help. That is something to welcome. At the same time, awareness without nuance can create confusion. Social media excels at rapid, relatable communication—but that speed can also oversimplify complex realities.

The goal, therefore, is not to reject digital platforms but to approach them with curiosity, evidence, and compassion. When lived experience, scientific understanding, and responsible communication meet, social media can become not just a source of noise—but a gateway to insight and support.

Tik Tok and the Ticking Mind – ADHD in 60 Seconds

Dame Uta Frith is the developmental psychologist and neuroscientist who helped shape how doctors and practitioners understand autism today. Nearly 60 years ago she identified autism as a neurodevelopmental disorder that is life-long, rather than damage caused by so-called “refrigerator mothers” not engaging with their babies and toddlers.

Her research led her to pioneering the “theory of mind” approach, which proposed that people with autism struggle to attribute beliefs to others, and that while they could process details it was hard for them to see the whole picture. Her 1989 book 

 became a classic introduction to the cognitive science of autism.

But in recent years there has been an upwards trend in autism. In the last 25 years there has been an almost 10-fold increase in diagnoses of autism, while the number of children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) has tripled in the past decade. Now the government has set up an independent review into rising demand for services for mental health, ADHD and autism, which is set to report later this year.

The rise in autism diagnoses in adults and young girls, has unsettled Dame Uta, who is emeritus professor in cognitive development at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London (UCL). Last week she gave an interview to the Times Education Supplement saying she no longer believes that autism is a “spectrum”. Previously identifying people with autism was “quite precisely defined” but as this narrowly left out some it was thought it should be extended and become more inclusive.

“But that still wasn’t enough. Because of various cultural factors, the spectrum has gone on being more and more accommodating. And I think now it has come to its collapse.”

She describes autism split into two subgroups, those whose situation was discovered in early childhood, and those who are seen as autistic later. “This population is different. It is made up of a lot of adolescents, and among them, a lot of young women. These are people without intellectual impairment, who are perfectly able to communicate verbally and non-verbally, but who might feel highly anxious in social situations. They are perhaps characterised mainly by a sort of hypersensitivity.”

She is eager to say that she doesn’t think the high rate of increase among the second group is because they are “making it up”. But she posits the theory that they would benefit from being treated differently from the people in the first autism group, with intellectual disability.

 goes onto discuss her thoughts on a range of subjects around autism, from masking to brain-imaging, and taking in the ways that different groups on the autism spectrum might benefit from teaching.

She is aware that by speaking out she may upset some people, but as a scientist she is driven by data. Speaking to 

 she expressed concerns that rigour could be easily lost. For example, young adults who have self-diagnosed with autism after reading about it online or on social media and coupled it with their extreme social anxiety, but who have excellent communication skills.

Overdiagnosis dilutes research, Frith told the Times because it mixes groups with potentially different biological causes and different cognitive dysfunctions. “This makes the data we obtain from large groups very noisy.”

She even says autism has “become glamorised, and a diagnosis has become somewhat desirable”. As she said in the TES “many people are self-diagnosing before they are assessed. I have heard from clinicians that they feel themselves to be under severe pressure to give the diagnosis, if the person has waited months or even years and feels absolutely sure that they’re autistic.”

Many of Welldoing’s therapists work with people who are on the autism spectrum, or believe they may be. To find a therapist who is right for you, go to 

Why Autism Expert Uta Frith is Challenging the “Autism Spectrum”

Georgie May

Spring is a time for renewal, a chance to refresh our homes and clear out the clutter. But what about our inner lives? Just like a cluttered closet can weigh us down, negative thoughts and unhealthy habits can hold us back from reaching our full potential.

Here are five simple, yet powerful habits you can incorporate into your daily routine to spring-clean your inner world and cultivate a brighter, happier you:

Our minds are like gardens - we reap what we sow. Unfortunately, negativity can spread like weeds, choking out the potential for growth and happiness. The first step is awareness. Become mindful of the seeds you're unconsciously sowing - the negative self-talk and limiting beliefs that creep into your inner dialogue. These can sound like "I'm not good enough," "I'll never achieve that," or "I'm a failure."

The key is to not passively accept these thoughts as truth. Instead, 

! Just like you wouldn't tolerate weeds in your garden, don't allow negativity to take root in your mind. When you catch yourself dwelling on these thoughts, uproot them and replace them with empowering affirmations. Instead of "I'm not good enough," try "I'm constantly learning and growing." This simple shift reframes your perspective, tapping into self-compassion and motivation.

Remind yourself that your thoughts are not facts - they are seeds with the potential to blossom into beautiful realities. Choose your thoughts wisely, and cultivate a garden that nourishes your confidence and wellbeing.

Taking a moment each day to appreciate the good things in your life, no matter how small, can significantly shift your perspective. Keep a gratitude journal by your nightstand and before you get out of bed each morning, fill a page writing what it is you are grateful for - it can be anything from having air in your lungs to hearing the birds sing.

This simple practice can boost happiness and reduce stress, and ultimately, help you appreciate what you do have in your life.

Social media feeds can create a skewed reality, leading to unhealthy comparisons. Remind yourself that everyone has their own journey, challenges, and blessings. Focus on your own progress and celebrate your unique strengths. If it's getting all too overwhelming, maybe take a social media detox and focus on yourself - discover what brings you joy and do things that fill up your own cup.

Constant digital stimulation depletes our mental energy. Dedicate some time each day to disconnect from your work and devices, and take some quiet time to bring yourself back to the present moment and find peace. Take a walk in nature, meditate, read a book, or sip tea in the spring sunshine.

Allowing your mind to rest and recharge will enhance your focus and wellbeing. By incorporating time out each day for mindful practices, you'll not only experience a sense of peace in the present moment, but also find yourself feeling more focused and energised throughout the day.

The digital world will always be there, but taking time to disconnect allows you to recharge and reconnect with yourself.

Holding onto resentment is like carrying a heavy backpack - it weighs you down and hinders your ability to move forward. Forgiveness isn't about condoning the actions of others; it's about releasing yourself from the emotional burden. Forgiveness allows you to reclaim your peace and create space for positive experiences.

Here's the key: acceptance. You can't change the past or control the actions of others. Accept that, and focus on what you can control - your own thoughts and emotions. Let go of past hurts, forgive yourself for any mistakes you've made, and move forward with a lighter heart.

Think of forgiveness as a gift you give to yourself, not the person who wronged you. It allows you to release the negative energy that's been holding you back and frees you to embrace the present moment. It's a powerful tool for healing and personal growth.

These are just a few steps on your journey to inner peace and personal growth. By incorporating these simple habits into your daily routine, you can spring clean your inner world and develop a more positive, resilient you. Remember, progress over perfection! Start small, celebrate your wins, and enjoy the journey of creating a brighter inner landscape.

Spring cleaning your inner life is not just about decluttering negative emotions and limiting beliefs; it's about creating space for growth, positivity, and self-compassion. By incorporating these habits into your day-to-day, you can embark on a journey of self-discovery and renewal that extends far beyond the spring season.

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