The Time to Change campaign is the biggest mental health stigma busting campaign in the UK, receiving an estimated £21 million between 2007 and 2011. Given this level of investment I […]
What we’ve been reading: Zombies, medication, social construction and lots of feminism
‘I’m so glad’, says our head of Salomons Centre Prof Margie Callanan, ‘that I am reading something a little edifying when you ask this’. Clearly, it’s a relief to seem […]
Is shaming the ‘pill-shamers’ shutting down debate?
‘Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.’ – Benjamin Franklin Over the past year I’ve immersed myself in Twitter. Like many I started tentatively, following the usual parade of […]
Is Life a Disease?
As regular readers of this blog know, we are very interested in the pros and cons of psychiatric diagnosis. We try to discuss this issue in an accessible way and […]
Guest blog: I believe in diagnosis but the DSM is just a door-stop
Over the last few months we’ve regularly featured pieces taking a critical line on the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and on psychiatric diagnosis more generally. […]
When the Ads Don’t Work
It’s a sobering thought that, for many people who use mental health services, other people’s reactions cause more distress than their original problems. And attitudes may even be getting worse. […]
The DSM dust-up: Whingeing cranks, turf wars and epistemological disputes
On Sunday the12th of May, The UK Observer ran a front-page article stating that the Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP), a subdivision of the British Psychological Society (BPS), was releasing […]
Silver Linings: Is Sickness a Shield Against Stigma?
I’d been avoiding Silver Linings Playbook. Nothing against it particularly, it’s just that Very Serious films about mental health always feel like a busman’s holiday. I got corralled into seeing […]
Gazza, Lance and the difficulties of psychiatric diagnosis
What do you call someone who tells lies persistently? In recent weeks the answer is probably Chris Huhne, the latest in a line of hubristic politicians who have told a […]