Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk - Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Electrical stimulation of the brain: the benefits of the short, sharp shock

3rd June 2012

ECT has had a bad press. But new techniques in electrical stimulation of the brain could soon be treating a range of conditions - and improving our cognitive skillsNeuroscientist Sven Bestmann is standing behind me holding a pretzel-shaped coil of metal encased in plastic and connected to a machine the size of a small fridge. We're in his lab at University College London. He tells me to hold my hand in front of my face and relax the muscles as he brings the metal coil up to my skull. With a click, the coil emits an electromagnetic pulse into my ...

UN calls for investigation of US school's shock treatments of autistic children

2nd June 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

Massachusetts special-needs facility is believed to be the only one in the world that uses 'aversive therapy' in treating childrenThe UN's special rapporteur on torture has made a formal approach to the US government over a special-needs school near Boston that inflicts electric shocks on autistic children as a form of behavioural control.Juan Mendez has told the Guardian that he has opened discussions with the US mission to the UN in Geneva as a first step towards investigating the school.The rapporteur plans to contact the US state department and has the option of reporting the matter to the UN human ...

A working life: the dementia consultant

1st June 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

For the past 10 years, Victoria Metcalfe has striven to change the way old age and dementia is perceived by societyIt is a cold, wet day when I interview dementia consultant Victoria Metcalfe. I therefore excuse myself professional tailoring and swaddle myself in wool and tweed, assuming I will blend in comfortably at the Westminster care home in which we are to meet. But Metcalfe towers over me in stiletto boots and black drainpipe jeans. Her hair is raven and her arm tattooed. At 48 she bears defiant traces of the punk style she embraced in her youth, and she ...

Letters: High self-esteem is key to women's mental health

30th May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

Platform 51 works with girls and women across the UK to build up their self-esteem and help them campaign on body image issues. We welcome yesterday's all-party parliamentary group report on body image and self-esteem (Girls of five fret over weight, 30 May). As a charity representing girls and women, we know through our work and research that self-esteem issues are the most prevalent low-level mental health problem among women, with more than 60% affected – the figure rises to a shocking 80% among 18- to 24-year-olds. But while body image is important, it is only one of the things ...

Welfare reforms see mental health teams taking on more advocacy roles

29th May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

Community mental health teams are having to spend an increasing amount of time helping service users claim benefitsProfessionals working in community mental health teams have ever increasing work pressures. The current changes to the NHS and local authorities mean mental health patients are "clustered" according to their symptoms as the means of obtaining funding for mental health trusts.This is alongside the freezing of vacant posts and plans to cut back up to 20% of the clinical workforce. All of this leaves less time available for face to face contact with service users.I am a social worker in a community mental ...

Prison is not always the answer, even for vile crimes | Catherine Bennett

27th May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

But why do some lenient judges appear to reserve their compassion only for male sex offenders?Hard as it is to credit, Leveson may have missed a trick. The justice minister, Kenneth Clarke, reveals that journalists, not content with hacking, stalking and suborning politicians, have engaged in yet another discreditable activity, compared with which even the suffering of Hugh Grant may one day look insignificant.Very much against Clarke's wishes, hacks have been getting people locked up. "The popular press, I think, are responsible for thousands of people being in prison. Not all of them need to be there," Clarke told MPs, ...

Janey Antoniou: 'She was a person, not a diagnosis'

26th May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

In 2010, the mental health campaigner Janey Antoniou died in hospital. Now, inspired by her legacy and the controversy surrounding the the hospital's investigation, her husband is campaigning to ensure that deaths in psychiatric detention are subject to public scrutinyJaney Antoniou was a musician, artist, writer, singer, award-winning poet and scientist. Exuberant and fun-loving, she left "a big footprint", said one friend. She also lived for much of her adult life hearing up to seven damning voices telling her she was evil, unclean and should cut or kill herself.At the age of 30, after treatment for depression, Janey was given ...

Campaign calls for open investigations into deaths of mental health patients

26th May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

Anger as hospital's internal inquiry into death of leading schizophrenia campaigner Janey Antoniou not made publicCampaigners are fighting for investigations into the deaths of mental health hospital patients – of which there are on average one a day in England and Wales – to be independent and open to scrutiny.The move follows an inquest into the death of Janey Antoniou, a leading mental health campaigner who had influenced many organisations including Mind, the Royal College of Psychiatry and Rethink Mental Illness.Janey, 53, was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 30. She campaigned tirelessly, acting as an advocate for those ...

Problem solved

26th May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

I don't get on well with my parents but my father is frail now and my mother is asking for support. Should I be honest about my feelings?I'm an only child in my early 40s, with two elderly parents in the UK. I have lived abroad for most of my life, albeit a short flight away. My father is increasingly frail and may be dying. The problem is my relationship with my parents. We never really got on, and my relationship with my father was especially bad even when I was a small child. By my early teens it was ...

There's no point shaming people about their body shape | Susan Ringwood

25th May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

The reporting of Georgia Davies's obesity shows how little compassion we show to those with eating disordersCoverage of "Britain's fattest teenager" has swamped the press – with pictures of the fire crews used to demolish the 19-year-old's house and winch her into a specially adapted obesity ambulance after she collapsed with breathing problems. Unsurprisingly, it has also spawned a slew of unhelpful commentary denigrating fat people for their laziness, gluttony and all-round uselessness.It's rare for someone not to think before making a remark that could cause offence about race, religion, sexual orientation or even age. Our thoughts are our own, ...

Sarah Mulvey coroner reaches verdict of suicide by opiate toxicity

23rd May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

Channel 4 executive suffered from 'depression and elements of post traumatic stress disorder'A verdict of suicide by opiate toxicity has been returned by the coroner investigating the death of Sarah Mulvey, the Channel 4 executive who died in January 2010.Delivering the verdict at St Pancras coroner's court, Dr Shirley Radcliffe said that the case of Mulvey was "extremely complex" and that she suffered from "depression and elements of post traumatic stress disorder characterised by flashbacks and elements of personality difficulties".This was combined with what the coroner called the "tragic element" of her "acute sensitivity to rejection or abandonment", which was ...

Father of C4's Sarah Mulvey claims treatment centre let her down

22nd May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

Ex-Causeway Retreat boss denies court allegations, citing 'clinical reasons' for expulsion of former C4 executive who later died of an overdoseThe father of Sarah Mulvey, the Channel 4 executive who died of an opiates overdose in January 2010, has told a coroner's hearing that his daughter was let down by a treatment centre which has since been closed down.Mulvey died at her home in Hampstead following a spell at the Causeway Retreat on Osea Island in Essex.Her father, Christopher Mulvey, told St Pancras coroner's court on Tuesday that his daughter was thrown out of the hospital with only 20 minutes' ...

Inside justice: Thames Magistrates Court, Bow, east London

22nd May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

Two women charged with theft and assault appear before a district judgeA few miles up the road, Lord Coe and his team are busy putting the finishing touches to the London 2012 Olympic park in the hope that it will transform east London. But at Thames magistrates' court in Bow, there's no talk of the Olympics, nor much sense of optimism.With eight courtrooms, Thames Magistrates is a large building which serves four of the most deprived boroughs in the country – Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. As in any court, the bulk of the defendants are men but ...

App shines light on mental health patients' moods

22nd May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

A digital tool that prompts users to share their daily thoughts is helping to strengthen links between therapists and clientsSarah's depression had been going for several months before she started therapy with a clinical psychologist at the local community mental health trust. She found the sessions useful, but explaining how she felt in the periods between appointments was difficult and was taking up valuable time during the meetings. Then her therapist introduced her to a new digital tool, Buddy, to help with her treatment.Using simple text messaging, the tool allows service users to keep a daily diary of what they are doing ...

If you know someone with dementia, make time for them | Nicola Clark

22nd May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

People with dementia can benefit hugely from regular contact with loved ones, as my mum's experience showed meAlthough some may greet awareness-raising cynically, dementia awareness week, launched by the Alzheimer's society, causes me, as always, to think about my mum.When you lose someone you love to dementia, the loss can sometimes be viewed as a blessed relief. That wasn't my experience. However long or painful the goodbye is to witness, the pain of your loss stops your own heart for a while. I don't personally subscribe to the notion of a league table of grief or loss, but I do ...

The Paralympics show sport has woken up to disability, but not the politicians | Peter Beresford

21st May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

It's as if some of our politicians want us to believe there are two disabled populations: one competitive, the other dependentThis year looks set to highlight the contradictions facing disabled people in our society. On the one hand, they are facing increasing marginalisation and discrimination under "welfare reform" policy and public expenditure cuts. On the other, the official rhetoric presents them as the heroes of the forthcoming London Paralympics. This enormous inconsistency is highlighted by paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson's latest warning that disability cuts may well damage our chances in future paralympics, as well as damaging the lives of thousands ...

A day in the life of a Mind Infoline adviser

21st May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

The mental health charity Mind has seen a surge in calls to its advice lines. Here, one of its advisers describes a typical dayMy day normally starts around 8.30, although the line opens from 9am. I like to go through briefings and look at recent news events, so I have a good idea of any issues or news stories in the media that might be bought up during calls.Working on the infoline can be quite unpredictable as we take calls covering a variety of mental health issues. I enjoy this as it means I am constantly learning and developing my ...

Musical therapy

20th May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

A song-and-dance show about obesity and mental illness? Epidemic could pull in big audiences – and improve their healthIn a chilly, high-windowed room, a young man is being pursued by four black dogs. They circle him, ready to pounce; he runs among them, attaching leads to them and strains to pull them to heel. Eventually, the dogs manage to get away; the man watches them go, stumbling, exhausted. The room echoes with the sound of applause.Welcome to the world of Epidemic – a community musical produced by Old Vic New Voices, the education and outreach arm of London's Old Vic ...

Problem solved

19th May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

My six-year-old daughter used to obsessively sniff everything she ate, now she has started to rub her wrist against everything. What's going on?I am concerned about my middle child, a girl aged six. I also have a boy of eight and a daughter of three. All three are healthy and generally confident, enthusiastic, and well balanced. My second child was born during a particularly turbulent time in my marriage, and while we have stayed together, there have always been plenty of downs as well as some ups, and I'm aware that this must have an effect on the children. Although ...

Problem solved

19th May 2012

Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk

My six-year-old daughter used to obsessively sniff everything she ate, now she has started to rub her wrist against everything. What's going on?I am concerned about my middle child, a girl aged six. I also have a boy of eight and a daughter of three. All three are healthy and generally confident, enthusiastic, and well balanced. My second child was born during a particularly turbulent time in my marriage, and while we have stayed together, there have always been plenty of downs as well as some ups, and I'm aware that this must have an effect on the children. Although ...