On Vincent & Nina: Images of genius & madness
Over the summer I visited the Vincent Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Given my grasp of Dutch is somewhat limited, I hired the audio-tour so I could better appraise myself of the exhibits. As I wandered around I was struck...
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The ADHD chronicles: Squeezing through the bars of the iron cage
My first two attempts to get evaluated for ADHD only resulted in promises that the psychologist would call me back. This never happened, and the only official indication that I was ever in contact with him/her was the invoices I...
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Do mental health anti-stigma campaigns work? #IAMWHOLE
To mark World Mental Health day 2016, the NHS, working in partnership with YMCA, has launched a new campaign #IAMWHOLE . This is designed to challenge stigma about mental health and specifically targets young people. It is the first time that...
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The Only Way We’ll Get Change Is Through Involving People In Change
All the evidence suggests that current social policy is failing miserably. It is increasing poverty and inequality, undermining social cohesion and personal relations, spreading insecurity and damaging and stigmatising some of the most marginalised groups in society, like disabled people...
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Meanings of Recovery – Exploring the Long Shadow of Illness
A symposium on ‘The Meanings of Recovery’ was recently held at the University of Surrey. Speakers from a range of disciplines and professional backgrounds came together to discuss the ways that recovery has been conceptualised by different groups across various...
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Domestic Violence in the Archers: Gender, Mental Health and Victim Blame
When Helen Titchener finally took a knife to abusive husband, Rob, there was a national outpouring of relief from Archers fans, who had become increasingly frustrated with the long running, apparently endless subjugation of Helen. Others had long switched off,...
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Cracked
How does it feel to have a young person in your care experience psychosis for the first time? An impressionistic answer to this question played out over sixty minutes in a studio theatre in Easterhouse, Glasgow: distress, frustration, repetition, annoyance,...
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Measuring Ideology
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA), introduced in 2007 by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) under the last Labour government, is likely to form a key component in the current Conservative government’s commitment to reducing the UK welfare bill...
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The Paradox of Stigma in Mental Health: Germanwings Flight 9525
On the 24th March 2015 Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps killing all 150 passengers and flight staff. Amidst the shock of this tragedy French Police and Air Crash Investigators began to piece together the details of the...
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CAMHS in Crisis
There’s been more bad news recently about the state of young people’s mental health. One in five 11-15 year-olds in England now report self-harming. The number of people who die by suicide is also increasing, as is the number of...
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Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Mental Health Policy at a Cross Roads in the UK
BME inequality in terms of mental health service use and service provision is no further forward than it was 10 years ago. It needs to be urgently addressed as a high priority area of social policy.
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The “snowflake generation”