I was never entirely sure about my mother’s attitude to religion, as she often criticised my father for being too dogmatic in his atheism. When she was dying, I asked her if she wanted any religious element in her funeral. “Of course I don’t!” she snapped back, “what would I want that for?” Then she […]
Archive | Stigma
Dancing about psychiatry
No one knows who first said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, but dancing about psychiatry certainly does not seem to work. Stigma can be conveyed without the use of words. On Friday, I attended a really enjoyable party in honour of Vanessa Cameron, who leaves the Royal College of Psychiatrist at […]
A change is going to come
British society is in a peculiar place in its attitudes to diversity. This apparent confusion does not just involve multiculturalism and migrants. It is evident with respect to all types of difference. There are certainly signs of real progress. The Last Leg, long one of the funniest programmes on TV, is now also one of […]
Radicalisation and mental health
Dr Philip McGarry is a psychiatrist from Belfast. He is an old friend, a little younger than me. He is former Chair of the non-sectarian Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. He knows a lot more than most people about political violence and its relationship with mental disorder. Philip sent me an email on Sunday, concerned […]
Lost struggles
Last week, Sally Brampton walked into the sea and died. Her editorial and authorial skills were widely admired, and her death caused a lot of sadness. For a few days, mental illness amongst the famous was back in the news. I thought that the media coverage of her death was pretty appropriate in tone, but […]
What’s the frequency, Kenneth?
Ken Livingstone has long enlivened our national life, with his engaging television manner and his love of newts. He has run rings around successive leaders of the Labour Party. It is arguable that for a time he was the most effective adversary of Margaret Thatcher’s regime. He has shrugged off concerted efforts to smear him, […]
Charles Kennedy is dead
Charles Kennedy’s funeral has passed and so has the intensive press coverage. The sheer volume of comment about him was astonishing. Much of it was repetitive, and it has left me feeling uncomfortable. Even for those of us who didn’t like Charles Kennedy’s politics, he always seemed personable and decent. He was once the youngest […]