Stephen Fry’s programme ‘The Not So Secret Life of a Manic-Depressive: 10 Years On’ has aggravated a group of senior academic clinical psychologists. Professor Richard Bentall has received a lot of support on Twitter for blogging an open letter to Stephen Fry, which you can read here. Essentially, Bentall feels that Stephen Fry, who is […]
Archive | Mental Health
Walls come tumbling down
A long time ago, I was a militant junior doctor. I qualified too late to have anything to do with the 1975 junior doctors’ strike, but for several years I was involved in representing junior doctors in various ways. We campaigned to reduce onerous hours-of-work throughout my time in medical politics. One weekend, we arranged […]
If you stand up to a bully, they are very likely to hit you
Bullying is in the news a lot these days. Two recent examples: A few weeks ago, Labour MPs who voted for the bombing of Syria complained that constituency party members had threatened to deselect them, that they had received abusive messages and that they were being bullied. There is an appalling allegation of Conservative Party […]
Bandipur blues again
We have been in Karnataka for more than three weeks now, and we fly home after the weekend. Dr Tony Ryan has joined us, bringing his usual energy and drive. We are struggling to find time to hold all of the meetings and visits that we need, which seems ridiculous in the context of such […]
A tiger growls
We are halfway through our month-long visit to Mysuru, the first phase of a Tropical Health Education Trust funded project to prevent suicide amongst survivors of deliberate self-harm in South India. Four weeks away from the office is a long time, and it was difficult to find dates that worked for both Indian and UK […]
Like an old train rolling
Professor Catherine Robinson, Dr Anne Krayer and I have been in Mysuru for a week now. It has been hard work. We have helped to organise a ‘master trainer’ event over two days, the first element in our project funded by the Tropical Health Education Trust. The attendance was larger than we expected, about 25 […]
Slow rain, long time coming
I am a reluctant traveller, but I enjoy coming to India. I dislike being away from my own bed, my guitars and my wife. Sightseeing holidays hold no appeal. Nonetheless, it would be grossly misleading to suggest that visiting Karnataka is an ordeal in any way. This is my fifth trip, and the thing that […]
Dr Kevin White
On Saturday morning, a sad Dr Sue Ruben phoned to let me know that our old friend and mentor Kevin White had died. He was 77 years old. Kevin retired from full time practice in 1993, but I have yet to come across anyone who could match his clinical skills. Contrary to popular opinion, there […]
The Psychiatrist’s Bible
The thing about being a doctor is that it is more than just a job title. The day you qualify, there is an ontological shift. You feel different to how you did before and people treat you differently. You can never stop being a doctor: look at Dr David Owen, Dr Graham Garden and Dr […]
The wrong life
Sir Simon Wessely is President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Together with Greg Smith, who works for the College, he wrote this excellent article about proposals to eliminate the payment of welfare benefits to fat people and people with alcohol problems. It is suggested that they will have their benefits withdrawn if they don’t […]