People with mental health problems are not ‘the other’. They can be you or I, our children, friends, colleagues. Every family is affected directly or indirectly as between 1 in 4 or 1 in 6 of us will develop psychiatric illness in our adulthood. They have a wide range of diagnoses from phobias to personality […]
Bedlam: The Asylum and Beyond at the Wellcome Collection Rebecca Wallersteiner explores ‘Bedlam’ and the rise and fall of the asylum, a new exhibition opening at the Wellcome Collection on 15th September From 15th September, the Wellcome Collection, in London, will open its doors to Bedlam: the asylum and beyond an exhibition tracing the rise […]
Kleptomania is a recognised mental health problem which compels people to steal trivial items. However, only one per cent of people with the condition are diagnosed. Kleptomaniacs steal to satisfy an emotional need – to gain a sense of control in their chaotic and unhappy lives. Nadine Field, a consultant psychologist who specialises in treating people with kleptomania and […]
Many people in prison suffer from mental illness and the Prison Service in the UK has under its care one of the most vulnerable and mentally unhealthy populations anywhere. Epidemiological studies agree that the prevalence of serious personality disorders, drug and alcohol dependence, suicidal and self-harming behaviour, and all forms of mental illness (both psychotic […]
Antidepressant prescribing rates have increased year on year over the past 25 years with now more than 60 million prescriptions for the medication being issued in England per year. Patients are being kept on these medications for longer, on average around two years, but around a third to a half of patients have no evidence-based […]
The Youth Health Parliament is a group of young professionals who have been selected to debate and formulate new ideas within 5 health related categories. The mental health subgroup is known as the Mental Wealth Initiative. We are a group of 7 individuals from a variety of professional backgrounds who first met in March 2016. […]
This is a form of psychosis, triggered by a traumatic event or stressor, that lasts a short time only. Brief psychotic disorder is classed as an illness lasting from 1 day to 1 month, with an eventual return to normal level of functioning. People suffering with the condition are more at risk of harming themselves or others. It tends to […]
Alzheimer’s is a disease that physically affects the brain, causing the cells to die off. It is named after a German neurologist, Alois Alzheimer who first described it in 1906. Two abnormal structures are prime suspects in damaging and killing off nerve cells. They are plaques and tangles. Plaques build up between nerve cells, and contain deposits of a […]
This is a rare type of personality disorder, and diagnosis is controversial. However, symptoms include the fact that sufferers seek constant attention and exaggerated show of emotion. It tends to occur more in women than men. Women with HPD are described as self-centered, self-indulgent, and intensely dependent on others. They may engage in manipulative suicide […]
Sometimes very distressed doctors in the NHS do make the news – as with Daksha Emerson, a young psychiatrist who killed herself and her baby whilst suffering from post natal psychosis, and also more recently, junior doctor Rose Polge, whose body was found in the sea off Devon in April. In my experience, the vast […]