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 […]
Archive | Mental Health
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 It is suggested that they will have their benefits withdrawn if they don’t […]
Several interesting things to do in Birmingham on a Wednesday
I go to a lot of conferences these days, most often as a speaker. This is a function of age and job description. It is unfortunate that I hate travelling. It might have been wise to take this into account before I changed from a relatively static NHS role to more mobile academic one, about […]
No College for Social Workers
Parenthood is an unending succession of anxiety provoking situations. Once, one of my offspring expressed an interest in becoming a social worker. I immediately had a pang of apprehension. Don’t get me wrong. Some of my best friends are social workers. I don’t mean that figuratively, they really are. I have social work colleagues who […]
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 […]