Maintain your relationships - for all kinds of reasons, friends are vital. Good friends, supportive friends, friends who won't judge you or try to take advantage of you.

Keep active - do something physical each day. Could be as simple as taking the dog out for a walk (if you've got a dog!), but could be going for a swim, or going to the gym every day.

Rumination tends to be eased if we learn to be mindful; if we are able to be aware of, and understand how our own thoughts work.

There's real evidence that getting involved in charitable activity (and it's probably better to give your time and effort, rather than money) makes people happier.

When people are in acute crisis, residential care may be needed, but this should not be seen as a medical issue.

I believe that mental health services should be based on the premise that the origins of distress are largely social.

People deserve to have their experiences understood in a genuine bio-psycho-social approach. All too often, this is ignored in favor of what is a very reductionist, bio-medical, model.