EXCLUSIVE:
April 17: Inquiry to investigate how schizophrenia 'label' is dehumanising - initiative is alternative to "medical" Schizophrenia Commission, says Dr Suman Fernando

April 6: CBT not anti-psychotics should be first-line treatment for people at risk of psychosis, urge researchers - study also finds just 8% of people judged to be “at high risk” of developing psychosis went on to be diagnosed with the condition.

March 8: We need cabinet minister for mental health, urges influential former Labour adviser - Lord Richard Layard says mental health is a "sixth pillar" of the welfare state and is overlooked by policy makers.

 

Feb 10: DSM-5 is "unscientific" and "dangerous" - UK mental health professionals criticise new planned diagnosis manual, produced by American Psychiatric Association.


Comment:
Jan 31, 2012: Self strength - The greater the loss of selfhood, the more likely we are to have a major mental health problem, argues author Dr Terry Lynch

Nov 24: Psychiatrists should have less influence over psychiatric patients, says report - more emphasis instead on peer support states Mind charity after inquiry into crisis mental health care in England and Wales.

EXCLUSIVE
Oct 18: Landmark Broadmoor patient loses appeal to be released from detention - Albert Haines, who refuses to have psychiatric treatment, should not be discharged from his mental health section, tribunal panel decides

Oct 14: 'Scrap NHS reforms' psychiatrists tell government - just one in 10 psychiatrists think planned NHS reforms will lead to better patient care - and eight in ten want plans ditched entirely.

Sept 29: Landmark Broadmoor patient "dreams" of discharge from detention - but insists he will not have therapy - Albert Haines, the first psychiatric patient in public appeal against detention says he does not want to engage with professionals

Sept 23: Broadmoor patient “determined to get heard” in landmark case - "I do not have a mental illness and I'm not a danger to anyone," says Albert Haines, due to be the first psychiatric patient to have appeal against 25 years of detention heard in public.

Comment
Aug 29: Want to end mental health stigma? Stop medicalising distress - psychiatric diagnoses lie at heart of negative attitudes towards people with mental health problems, says Terry Simpson

July 26: Measuring wellbeing not a "gimmick" but can tackle inequalities in society - says Simon Lawton-Smith, head of policy at the Mental Health Foundation in response to government plans

EXCLUSIVE
July 11: Man who "threatened" NHS psychological therapist wins £5k in out-of-court libel settlement - charity worker said decision shows that mental health professionals who make defamatory accusations against patients or their relatives in written correspondence are “not above the law”. By Adam James.

June 23: Psychiatrists are the least effective of mental health professionals, says consultant psychologist - Dr Henck van Bilsen, left, makes stinging criticism of psychiatry.

June 17: Get to know your voices over cup of tea or cake, psychologist advises people with psychosis - new online advise by Rufus May, left, on “changing the power relationship” with voices.

June 15: Ritalin for children is “quick fix” and should be reviewed, demand psychologists - The Association of Educational Psychologists fears there is insufficient data on the effects psychotropic drugs have on child development.

May 29: British Psychological Society "out of step" with public opinion over government cuts - BPS is afraid of “putting its head above parapet”, say psychologists

Comment:
April 29, 2011: Peer support - cheaper and just as effective as CBT - Train ordinary people to be compassionate and psychologically helpful. They could do as well as as cognitive therapists, argues Nicky Forsythe

April 6, 2011: Psychiatrists should “pay attention” to criticisms from people who have experienced psychosis - Prof Tim Kendall (left) urges change after experiences of people who hear, or have heard voices, are documented online

March 11: Mental health tribunal of Broadmoor patient to be heard in public - European law requires person with mental health problems to have same right of access to public hearing as non-disabled person, say judges

EXCLUSIVE
March 2, 2011: I can't have schizophrenia - I'm a psychology student! Emma Harding became psychotic while studying for a degree in psychology. Now recovered she is a clinical psychologist for the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works with people with psychosis.

Comment:
Feb 16: Crisis of masculinity? Time for psychologists to study men - Martin Seager explains why in a society where almost all prisoners are men psychologists should focus more on male psychology.

Comment
Feb 9: The rise in bipolar disorder is a myth - The apparent increase in the condition is largely due to a broadening of diagnostic criteria, say Phil Barker and Poppy Buchanan-Barker

Feb 2: Government extends psychological therapies programme - four-year action plan launched by care minister Paul Burstow

Jan 21: Psychotherapist's cafe to open up psychology to public - former head of psychological therapies aims to make psychotherapy, psychology and mental health more accountable

Jan 4: Sacked psychotherapist wins 'justice' and £80k in settlement

Dec 3: Peer support reduces NHS mental health costs but improves outcomes - new report highlights possible increased role of service users

Nov 16: NHS psychological therapists enable four in 10 people to recover - study on Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme states 44% of 12,388 people who completed their cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-based intervention benefited significantly.

Oct 29: PR agency guarantees media coverage to mental health groups - Springup PR has unique offer to help raise profile of mental health clients

EXCLUSIVE
Oct 22: People prefer living with moods of bipolar disorder, say psychologists in report

Oct 14: Mental health groups praise government - Future Vision Coalition releases report supportive of government's achievements during first 100 days, despite looming deep public-sector cuts

Sept 30: Probe into two deaths within two days of restrained black mental health patients - deaths come eight months since the end of government’s five-year plan to tackle racism in mental health services.

Sept 30: Schizophrenia patient, 69, forced to have hysterectomy - High Court rules against pensioner said to believe life-threatening condition is normal and does not require treatment.

Sept 28: More than 17,000 prison officers trained in mental health in three years - figure revealed by former mental health 'tsar' Professor Louis Appleby in new report

Aug 30: Government repeats Labour promise to end mixed-sex mental health wards - Health Secretary Andrew Lansley (left) says failing trusts would be fined from next year.

August 30: Clinical psychologist 'deluded' for having patient relationship

Aug 2: Psychiatrists and psychologists could diagnose children with five new mental disorders - American Psychiatric Association proposes additional psychiatric conditions for DSM

July 22: Rate mental health services on recovery 'star', charity urges. - Rethink says it has piloted evidence-based measure which assesses how services's improve people’s recovery

EXCLUSIVE: July 7: Anti-psychotics likely to cause brain damage, new study claims - results challenge view that schizophrenia itself causes brain structural changes

May 14: Asylum life to be featured in BBC documentary - programme focuses on former High Royds hospital, (left), near Leeds

April 5: "Want user-led mental health services? We've done it for a decade - Adam James examines why Leeds Survivor-Led Crisis Service has made its mark in mental health history.

Comment:
March 15: Compulsory ECT is wrong - Psychiatry has a history of using damaging interventions, so it's time to end the magical faith in electroconvulsive therapy, argues psychiatrist Pat Bracken.

March 5: BBC documentary was 'anti-loony pornography' - service users attack broadcast on killings committed by people diagnosed with mental illness

Feb 22: Children on mental health wards at five-year high - figures released in response to parliamentary question from MP Natasha Engel, left

Feb 2: Charity admits failing to protect killed psychology graduate - Newcastle's Mental Health Matters broke health and safety law

Feb 2 : Ruby Wax to perform at private psychiatric unit - outpatients and staff are among audience for dates at Birmingham clinic

Jan 22: Psychiatric unit defends seclusion after complaint - Nottinghamshire NHS trust publicly states isolation used "as last resort" after patient kept in one room for past eight weeks.

Jan 22: Her own way - Judi Chamberlin's book On Our Own was held up as a rallying cry for the mental health service-user movement when it was published in 1977. Louise Pembroke remembers the American activist who died on January 16.

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