Mental Health https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk CMVM Psychiatry at work Tue, 31 May 2016 07:51:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.38 Why is mental illness so controversial? Part 2 – Media coverage https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2016/05/why-is-mental-illness-so-controversial-part-2-media-coverage/ https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2016/05/why-is-mental-illness-so-controversial-part-2-media-coverage/#comments Tue, 31 May 2016 07:45:45 +0000 http://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/?p=96 Media coverage of mental illness is biased and melodramatic. There are far fewer articles in the press about mental than physical illness, and they are much more likely to be negative.[1,2] Things are just as bad on social media like You Tube, but may be slightly better on Twitter.[3,4]  Whilst … Continue reading →

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]]> https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2016/05/why-is-mental-illness-so-controversial-part-2-media-coverage/feed/ 0 Why is mental illness so controversial? Part 1 – Recent examples https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/11/why-is-mental-illness-so-controversial-part-1-recent-examples/ https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/11/why-is-mental-illness-so-controversial-part-1-recent-examples/#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2015 18:17:06 +0000 http://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/?p=92 Media coverage of medicine is usually positive, often about advances in understanding or therapeutic breakthroughs. In contrast, psychiatry reportage tends to be negative. Some of this can be attributed to the stigmatisation of people with mental illness, but much of the criticism is aimed at psychiatrists and indeed the whole … Continue reading →

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]]> https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/11/why-is-mental-illness-so-controversial-part-1-recent-examples/feed/ 0 Youth mental health https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/10/youth-mental-health/ https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/10/youth-mental-health/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2015 11:51:57 +0000 http://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/?p=89 About 13% of children and adolescents have a mental illness

The mental health, or more precisely ill-health, of children and young adults has been in the news this year. The (London) Times ran a mental health campaign in which youth mental health figured prominently.[1] But arguably the most important … Continue reading →

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]]> https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/10/youth-mental-health/feed/ 0 Should we decriminalise or legalise illicit drugs? https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/09/should-we-decriminalise-or-legalise-illicit-drugs/ https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/09/should-we-decriminalise-or-legalise-illicit-drugs/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2015 16:36:52 +0000 http://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/?p=86 We should legalise cannabis, and decriminalise harder drugs

Psychoactive drugs have been grown and used throughout human history. Opium and ‘laudanum’ (opium and alcohol), cocaine and ‘cocaine wine’ were popular in the UK and the USA in the 1800s but increasing use and adverse social effects raised concerns. The US … Continue reading →

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]]> https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/09/should-we-decriminalise-or-legalise-illicit-drugs/feed/ 0 The War on Drugs is Harmful https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/08/the-war-on-drugs-is-harmful/ https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/08/the-war-on-drugs-is-harmful/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2015 16:05:57 +0000 http://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/?p=83 It is almost 50 years since President Robert Nixon declared the War on Drugs – against ‘public enemy number one’. Since then, the costs have soared to about $50 billion dollars a year for the USA alone and no good has come of it. About 500,000 US citizens are incarcerated … Continue reading →

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]]> https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/08/the-war-on-drugs-is-harmful/feed/ 0 What causes stigma and what can we do about it? https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/08/what-causes-stigma-and-what-can-we-do-about-it/ https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/08/what-causes-stigma-and-what-can-we-do-about-it/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2015 15:13:59 +0000 http://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/?p=79 If we had a clear idea about the causes of people stigmatising mental illness then it would probably help us to do something about it, and perhaps reduce prejudice and discrimination. Unfortunately, it is not that simple.

The many causes of stigma

Notions that people with mental illness are sometimes … Continue reading →

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]]> https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/08/what-causes-stigma-and-what-can-we-do-about-it/feed/ 0 Deadly stigma? Does the stigma of mental illness kill people? https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/07/deadly-stigma-does-the-stigma-of-mental-illness-kill-people/ https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/07/deadly-stigma-does-the-stigma-of-mental-illness-kill-people/#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2015 16:11:15 +0000 http://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/?p=76 People with a mental illness die on average about 10-15 years earlier than people without one. The evidence is probably strongest, as it often is, for schizophrenia – because that condition tends to get the most research funding. Ten years ago, Hennekens and colleagues showed that people with schizophrenia had … Continue reading →

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]]> https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/07/deadly-stigma-does-the-stigma-of-mental-illness-kill-people/feed/ 0 Clinical trials for mental illness – to see if treatments work https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/05/clinical-trials-for-mental-illness-to-see-if-treatments-work/ https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/05/clinical-trials-for-mental-illness-to-see-if-treatments-work/#comments Wed, 20 May 2015 18:17:44 +0000 http://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/?p=70 How do we know that any treatment for mental illness works?

The same as in the rest of Medicine – from the results of randomised controlled trials.

Uncontrolled trials

The simplest way to see if a treatment works is just to give it to some patients. An uncontrolled trial can … Continue reading →

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]]> https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/05/clinical-trials-for-mental-illness-to-see-if-treatments-work/feed/ 0 ECT is one of the most effective treatments in medicine but has adverse effects https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/05/ect-is-one-of-the-most-effective-treatments-in-medicine-but-has-adverse-effects/ https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/05/ect-is-one-of-the-most-effective-treatments-in-medicine-but-has-adverse-effects/#comments Fri, 15 May 2015 15:25:30 +0000 http://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/?p=62  

It is World ECT protest day on Sat 16th May 2015 and no doubt the usual hoary old myths about ECT being ineffective and causing brain damage will abound. Electro-convulsive treatment, or therapy, is abbreviated to ECT either way. Even though some call it Electro-Shock Treatment, they still call … Continue reading →

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]]> https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/05/ect-is-one-of-the-most-effective-treatments-in-medicine-but-has-adverse-effects/feed/ 0 The stigma of mental illness https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/04/the-stigma-of-mental-illness/ https://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/2015/04/the-stigma-of-mental-illness/#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2015 08:55:23 +0000 http://mentalhealth.mvm.ed.ac.uk/?p=46 Mental illness and those who suffer from it and even those that treat it are stigmatised.

The ideas challenged in previous blogs – that mental illness does not exist [1], is trivial [2], that treatments don’t work [3], that people with mental illness are somehow to blame for their problems … Continue reading →

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