Good news... resolutions are bad for you

"New year, new you" is a popular phrase, but in the dawn of 2009, leading mental health charity Mind is urging people not to feel obliged to make New Year's resolutions as they can be bad for your mental health.

Around 7 million people in the UK will make a New Year's resolution, many with a negative focus that lead people to concentrate on perceived imperfections such as being overweight.

This creates a negative self image which in turn can lead to feelings of hopelessness, low self-esteem and mild depression.

For others, feelings of failure and inadequacy can be triggered by the inability to stick to New Year's resolutions. Research has shown that only one in ten people will keep their resolution for a whole year.

Often people set themselves up to fail by creating unrealistic targets. They either deprive themselves or push themselves too far and are left feeling low when they 'give up' or 'give in'. This is a blow to self-esteem, and what started out as a resolution to improve wellbeing ends up being detrimental to our mental health.