Mental problems, however temporary or minor, are more common than you might think, often sparked by major life changes which people are struggling to cope with.

But, while anxiety and depression can creep up on anyone, handled correctly, they need not become a permanent feature.

Psychologist Philip Brownell, of Benedict Associates Ltd, said a very frequent problem is adjustment disorder where people are hit with a big change, a new job, a move, the loss of a partner or a crash.

"Something happens which you need to adjust to, but if you can't do that within about three months, you get kind of stuck, which a lot of people do.

"Then what you are going to be experiencing is depression or anxiety or a combination of the two.

"In some cases people are not really aware they are being affected by the need to adjust to change and they are acting out in some way, their behaviour becomes problematic or intrusive."

While many of the problems Dr. Brownell sees are universal, others seem to be rooted in Bermuda's particular environment.

A tourist island has a constant party atmosphere while Bermuda's rampant materialism and the pressure to keep up with peers, takes its toll.

"A lot of people are living larger than life, living at a higher pace," said Dr. Brownell.

"And, now with the economic downturn, you add to that the anxiety of 'Am I going to keep my job?' or 'I am left, six team-members were let go, but I have all their work to do as well.' There are a lot of people overworked and overstressed here."

Dr. Brownell, originally from the US, said: "I do a lot more couples work here than I have done anywhere else.

"There are stresses on committed relationships and marriages. There is something about this environment which makes it really difficult."

It's difficult to pin down why, but factors include expat spouses coping with the pressure of being deemed foreign.

Dr. Brownell also said businesses built on the culture of boozing with client lunches and parties can take their toll with people drinking too much. "That can affect relationships with the family."

He said there was a lot of changing of partners in Bermuda. "I think there is a lot of infidelity. statistically, I don't know how that stacks up with other places. There is a frequent need to deal with infidelity."

The repercussions were felt even when single parents hooked up with a new partner, as often their children would not accept the new parent figure in their life, usurping them as being the most important person in their parent's life.

"The child doesn't accept their authority. they say things like 'You are not my father'."

There are rows and the parent ends up treating the new partner and child, both, as 'squabbling children'.

"It destroys the new relationship. A significantly higher number of second-marriage relationships fail because there are children involved and people can't negotiate this new family."

In order for the new situation to work, Dr. Brownell said the child had to accept the new adult in their life and their position in the hierarchy.

"That's really hard because the child will be pulling at all the heartstrings with the parent, saying 'You are turning on your own child, what's wrong with you?'

"But, the biological parent has to factor in their lover at the higher level, so when issues come up when the child would normally go to their biological parent and bypass the other completely, that biological parent says they will consult with the lover who exercises parental authority.

"And, the biological parent backs them up." But, once that's done everything usually settles down.

The most common forms of mental problems Dr. Brownell treats are anxiety, including panic attacks, and depression.

Anxiety and depression often creep up on people so they don't realise they are struggling with a problem they need to address.

Dr. Brownell said there had been an upsurge in 'positive psychology' looking at people's strengths and getting them to lead a healthier more positive life, rather than concentrating on trying to fix disorders.

"Most people could really benefit from having a counsellor."

He said life coaches and executive coaches were taking off and would soon be regulated internationally.

Sometimes it's a matter of working with your limitations, said Dr. Brownell.

He knew of one person who had both learning disorder and attention deficit disorder.

"He learned if he procrastinated with projects it would create so much pressure that finally it would rise to the level that he could pay attention to get the job done.

"So he now routinely operates like that. He targets things just before the due date. he has enough awareness of himself to see what's going on and use it to his advantage.

"A lot of what I do in my practice is trying to make people aware of what they do and how they are doing it.

"When they see that they put two and two together and make changes."