Dr Richard Gipps ~ Neurotic Theories of Neurosis
This week, the IMH Blog is pleased to introduce blogger Dr Richard Gipps, Charted Clinical Psychologist.  Richard's blog, Philosophical Perspectives in Clinical Psychology, covers a range of topics including philosophical issues in psychology, psychotherapy and psychopathology, and engaging clients 'with genuine and fruitful solicitude'.  We encour
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A manifesto for social science research in the field of mental health - Nick Manning
Today we have a blog post from IMH Director Professor Nick Manning, with, as an introduction, some questions to think about and a link to a lecture by Professor Nikolas Rose.  Together, this post and lecture provide a 'sociological' view of mental health, and hopefully will provide some food for thought over the Christmas break.Visiting this link w
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Dr Rex Haigh ~ TCTC: born 22/10/12, Windsor, England
The following post is written by Dr Rex Haigh, blogger for Struggling to Be Human: what we're up against, originally posted on 24 October 2012.'The Windsor Conference' started in the 1970s, set in the right royal setting of Cumberland Lodge, in the gated community of extreme privilege of Windsor Great Park. Every autumn, the grand old founding fath
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Dr Hugh Middleton ~ Some thoughts on the origins of mental illnesses...
Some thoughts on the origins of mental illnesses...One of the things debated and discussed in blogs such as this, and in a lot of other places, is the nature of “mental illness”. Is it biochemistry? Is it genes? Is it the result of stress? Does it exist at all? Is it a construction arising from oppressive political influences? Take your pick and fo
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Prof. Paul Crawford ~ The NHS & Compassion
Prof. Paul Crawford ~ The NHS & Compassion An interesting post-Francis Report publication … Prof. Paul Crawford debates:NHS Leadership; Health & Social Care Reform;The NHS and the true meaning of compassion. Published Friday the 8th of February, 2013:http://www.hscreformseries.co.uk/leadership/14747-the-nhs-and-the-true-meaning-of-compassio
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Debbie Butler ~ Work, mental health, and general health
Ever had a re-occurring health problem making time off work an ever increasing problem? Add on top of that a mental health difficulty, and what do you get? In my case very anxious and an enormous feeling of guilt: ‘If I don’t go to work they will think I am pulling a fast one’.My physical health has been poor these last four years with numerous leg
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Charley Baker ~ A new collection of narrative around self harm
Myself and Claire Shortland were on Radio Derby on Monday 22nd January talking, amongst other things, about a new collection of narrative around self harm that is being co-edited by myself, Clare Shaw and the late Francis Biley. The link is below and can be listed to for a few more days. We are on at 2 hours 14 minutes into the show, and there's Da
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Sasha Scambler ~ "Loneliness, conflation and ideology" (from the Cost Of Living blog)
Sasha Scambler ~ "Loneliness, conflation and ideology" (from the Cost Of Living blog)Sasha Scambler is a medical sociologist based at King’s College London. Her main research interests are disability and long term conditions, inequality, social theory and old age.These excerpts are re-posted from the Cost Of Living blog. Please access and read the
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Chloe Hill ~ An internship at the Institute of Mental Health
Chloe Hill ~ An internship at the Institute of Mental HealthI wrote a post for this blog a couple of weeks ago based on ‘Society’s perception of “perfection”’, so as I’m now coming to the end of my Internship here at the Institute of Mental Health I thought I’d write a little bit about my experience here and how influential it has been on my decisi
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Helen Smith ~ Changing the approach to self-harm in young people
In 2006, The Mental Health Foundation reported that 1 in 12 young people self-harm. This year, YoungMinds, a mental health and emotional wellbeing charity dedicated to children and young people, have been working in conjunction with Cello PLC’s ‘Talking Taboos’ campaign to conduct extensive research into self-harm in young people. The published rep
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Jenelle Clarke ~ Change in Action at the TCTC Annual Conference
[caption id="attachment_638" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Cumberland Lodge (Windsor Great Park)The Consortium for Therapeutic Communities (TCTC) hosted its first annual conference last month, 22-24 October 2012.  Held at the beautiful and scenic Cumberland Lodge within Windsor Park, it was an opportunity for those interested and/or working in t
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Dr Hugh Middleton ~ Mental health care: working together to reach full potential
Dr Hugh Middleton (Consultant Psychiatrist Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham’s School of Sociology and Social Policy) writes on how research is identifying success stories and offering new strategies for collaboration:To précis, mental health professionals need to work together if they are to fulfil their potenti
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Dr Simon Clarke ~ Living in Glass-Walled Asylums: The Schizophrenia Commission Report
Last week the Schizophrenia Commission, headed by the mental health charity Rethink, released its report into the current state of care in the UK for people diagnosed with Schizophrenia. It made predictably depressing reading. Amongst other things, employment rates for people diagnosed with schizophrenia are less than 7%. The life expectancy rates
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Professor Ruth McDonald ~ Paying for Performance in the NHS – is it good for our health?
In the olden days, we used to trust public servants to do their best for the people they served. Nowadays things are a little different, especially in the NHS. Policy makers are increasingly resorting to ‘Pay for Performance’ (PfP) in an effort to drive up the quality of care delivered to patients. The Commissioning for Quality and Innovation Payme
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Bree Hernandez ~ An Alarming Trend on College Campuses Around the Nation
Understanding teen stress, anxiety, and depression has been a major focus at the Institute of Mental Health blog this year. Today’s article, by American higher education expert Bree Hernandez, takes a closer look at how university students -- particularly those studying at the graduate level -- are impacted. Bree has made a career out of discussing
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Sean Duggan ~ A decade of austerity should spur on fundamental care reform
Originally posted in the HSJ blog Leadership in Mental Health, 17 December 2012 and re-posted in the Centre for Mental Health blog on 3 January 2013.[caption id="attachment_755" align="alignleft" width="105"] From Leadership in Mental Health.Sean Duggan is chief executive at the Centre for Mental Health.This month the NHS has been reminded from all
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Charley Baker ~ Celebrating Positive Experiences of Health and Healthcare
Originally posted in the International Health Humanities Network blog on 10 January 2013.Forgive me for the personal preamble to this blog post - but I want to contextualise what will follow. I was recently admitted to hospital for planned surgery, at the Queen Elizabeth Woolwich which comes under South London NHS Trust in the UK. I have a chronic
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Paul Glasziou: Most innovations are not advances: innovation + evaluation = progress
Editor's note: this blog was originally posted here on the BMJ's blogsite. Innovation is currently fashionable. But new is not necessarily better [1]. Progress rests in sifting out the effective innovations. Edison clearly understood this process: when he developed the light bulb, he tried and discarded thousands of possible filaments. Without test
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Upcoming local event regarding anti-psychiatry legacies
Anti-Psychiatry and Its Legacies @ Nottingham Contemporary Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th February 6-9pm Programme of screenings and discussions in the context of the exhibition Piero Gilardi, Collaborative Effects. Piero Gilardi’s work with marginalized communities, including those confined to mental hospitals, was influenced by Italian psychiatr
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Dr Rex Haigh ~ Has CBT killed the human spirit?
The following post is written by Dr Rex Haigh, blogger for Struggling to Be Human: what we're up against, originally posted on 17 June 2012 entitled 'Has CBT killed the human spirit?'. Much as psychoanalysis set the cultural tone for our understanding and conduct of relationships for most of the twentieth century, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT
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