Reaching Out and Saving Lives - World Suicide Prevention Day
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Each year, September 10th marks World Suicide Prevention Day. The theme this year, ‘Reaching Out and Saving Lives’, highlights not only the role that support and social ties play in combating suicide, but also the role that each of us has in saving lives.Below is a piece from the International Association for Suicide Prevention, organisers of World
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Tony Devaney - Managing long term health conditions: Spiritual awareness and creative practice
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Following a traumatic car accident in 2001, and subsequent attempts to recover, I suffered severely disabling illness in 2004, with rapid onset Rheumatoid arthritis and Fibromyalgia. There have been times since 2004, when I have experienced profound depression and frustration at the lack of adequate care and support available. But through mindfulne
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Jo Higman - exhibition review: It's Not The Baby Blues
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Maternal or 'perinatal' mental health has been in the spotlight recently, following the inquest into the tragic case of Charlotte Bevan.  An exhibition currently on display at the Institute of Mental Health highlights the devastating effect perinatal mental illness can have on women and their families.  At the heart of this exhibition however, is a
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Dr Arun Chopra ~ Are our mental health services in crisis?
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
This post, 'Are our mental health services in crisis?', originally appeared on The Fabian Society on 5 November 2013 and is re-posted with permission from the author.There is an increased demand for mental health services in Britain, but we are failing some of our most unwell and vulnerable people. Last week, the Health and Social Care Information
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Helena Brice - A Step Towards Closing the Gap
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
In addition to Robert's post above, we also have a re-blog from the Centre for Mental Health's Policy Officer, Helena Brice.  The original post, and the rest of the Centre's blog, can be found here.Recently government published an action plan: ‘Closing the gap: Priorities for essential change in mental health’, building on the 2011 strategy paper ‘
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Robert Nisbet - Where will mental health services be one year from now?
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
“History admits no rules, only outcomes. What precipitates outcomes? Vicious acts and virtuous acts. What precipitates acts? Belief’.David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas [2004]. Chapter: ‘The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing’The book ‘Cloud Atlas’ consists of six‘ interrelated’ stories that take the reader from the remote South Pacific in the nineteenth centur
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Amanda Keeling - Making Decisions For Someone Else: The Relevance of Their Views
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a framework for making a decision for an individual who is found to lack capacity to make it him or herself.  Where an individual lacks capacity to make a decision, a decision must then be made in their best interests under s.4 of the Act.  Section 4(6) provides that, when making a decision in someone else's be
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Dr Nell Munro - The death of Connor Sparrowhawk and liability of public authorities
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
This is a guest blog from Nell Munro, originally posted on the Mental Health and Capacity Law blog here. Dr Munro has also written an excellent (and extremely popular) EasyRead version of this blog, found here.Connor Sparrowhawk died in an assessment and treatment centre in Oxford in July 2013 after suffering an epileptic seizure whilst he took a b
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The Reality of ADHD - CANDAL Researchers
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
In March 2014 the national media ran stories on the subject of ADHD based on interviews with a US academic. This article outlines the response from the Institute of Mental Health's CANDAL centre of excellence. The Observer (30.03.14) headlined an article: Children's hyperactivity 'is not a real disease', says US expert. It reported an interview wit
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Fiona Birkbeck - Psychometric Testing and the Case of the Vanishing Teacher
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Peter walks into the staffroom carrying a signed sports tabard and a box of matches. He sits down heavily on the chair beside the fridge, closes his eyes briefly and sighs.‘What’s the matter?’ asks the person sitting next to him.‘Well… you know Billy Jones, big boy, cross-eyed, year Eight, Dad’s in prison for arson…’ but the bell goes before Peter
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The Birth Project ~ An oppurtunity to participate in reserach
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
The Birth Project, an IMH collaborative research project with the University of Derby, is looking to recruit both midwives (students, practising, retired) and women who have given birth in the past 5 years  for 'The Birth Project, researching the birth event through visual methods'.  More details, including how to get involved,  are below:Midwives
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"Some thoughts on stigma" by Toby Williamson
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
This week's IMH blog update is a re-post from: "Changing Minds, Changing Lives: Mental Health and Learning Disabilities in the UK" - this is the blog of the Mental Health Foundation and the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities. The post's author Toby is Head of Development and Later Life at the Mental Health Foundation. He leads on work
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Prof. Paul Crawford ~ "Mental Health and informal care: Maybe now, finally, we can start polishing our hidden gems"
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Re-post: Prof. Paul Crawford ~ "Mental Health and informal care: Maybe now, finally, we can start polishing our hidden gems" The appointment of Lord Victor Adebowale as chair of the Parity of Esteem Board should bring some urgent focus to mental health; but it's only a start, as Prof. Crawford explains in this exclusive editorial (for www.nhsManage
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David Smith ~ "Closing the Gap"
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
David Smith's blog = "My take on the world, life, mental health and charity in the UK". David is Director of Development at The Retreat in York (http://www.theretreatyork.ork.uk @theretreatyork). On January the 21st David posted a reflection re. "Closing the Gap". Please find below the link to this blog. David has given us his permission to use thi
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Dr Tom Insel - Mental Health in Davos
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
In addition to the post by Dr Hendey, we wanted to draw your attention to this post by Dr Tom Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health.  Dr Insel's post follows his attendance at the Word Economic Forum in Davos, where global mental health was a hot topic.   As a taster, here is the first paragraph - for the full post, please visi
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Dr Nic Hendey - Realistic Recovery Model: Rhetoric or Reality?
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Please welcome the inaugural post from our second new editor, Dr Nic HendeyAre our mental, physical, and social care services really operating in tandem, integrated, and equal?  My experience is not.Having just been discharged from a stay on a psychiatric ward I thought that a blog about some of my experiences would be of interest. I am both an aca
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Jon Dun - Is psychiatry’s drug addiction increasing the stigma of mental illness?
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
This is a reblog from the blog of the Menninger Clinic, and the complete post can be found here - the below is just a taster! "I deliberately chose a tendentious title for this essay – misleadingly metaphorical rather than literal – to highlight, as one of my recent posts outlines, my alarm stemming from reading research on stigma. With many others
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Dr Arun Chopra ~ ‘Time to Change’: is it time to change?
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
All of us who work within or who use mental health services are well-aware of the stigma that continues to surround mental health conditions and how it affects patients and their carers, preventing them from accessing support, making it difficult for them to enter or re-enter the workforce and how it saps at quality of life in a way that can make t
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Rodney Yates ~ Open Dialogue: Why does the Open Dialogue approach work so well?
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams W.B. Yeats Schizophrenia is never being able to trust your senses: we see things which ‘are not there’; we hear what no one else does. We therefore live precariously, with a terrific amount of uncertainty and confusion for long periods of time. This is also an experience particular to individuals. The Ope
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Emma Watson ~ Exciting Times for Peer Support
The Institute of Mental Health
The Institute of Mental Health
Over the past decade, the employment of peer support workers (PSWs) within mental health services has taken off. The distinctive element of peer support is that it draws on personal lived experience of emotional distress to support others going through similar experience.  However, peer support is not just about sharing lived experience of mental h
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