Low mood is complicated. It has been the subject of thousands of clinical studies and all sorts of contributing factors have been identified, biological, psychological, social, behavioural….. One of the theories I find particularly helpful when thinking about low mood comes from Stephen Ilardi, a professor of clinical psychology in the United States. He suggests that low mood can be understood in the context of our stress response never having the opportunity to switch off. As you know our brains have evolved with a survival system commonly referred to as the fight/flight/freeze (FFF) response. This system evolved because for much of our time on this planet our ancestors were trying to survive in very hostile environments. A typical scenario might look something like this, we come out of our cave and immediately spot a sabre-toothed tiger. Our FFF system is activated, we fight or flee, the threat passes and we can return our bodies to a calmer relaxed state.