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By zarathustra, on March 14th, 2010
I’ve previously blogged about the market-fundamentalist astroturf lobbying group “Nurses” for Reform – I’ve put the word “nurses” in quotation marks because ( as pointed out on Liberal Conspiracy) their advisory board contains surprisingly few nurses and a surprisingly large amount of policy wonks from libertarian and conservative think tanks.
Okay, maybe “surprisingly” isn’t the word to use.
Since then I’ve maintained a “do not feed the troll” attitude to their rantings. Their comparisons of the NHS and Nazism reek of batshittery, and I’ve been getting wary of giving them too much free publicity. But now the Daily Telegraph has decided to give them a platform.
Oh dear…. Continue reading “Nurses” for Reform in the Daily Telegraph
By Azulinebloo, on March 13th, 2010
Happy Saturday to you today. I write this as I am distracted by the Six Nations Rugby. The home countries are all playing today.
I have been allowed to do this again, more out of necessity than the fact I was any good, but I will attempt to do it properly this time.
This week I am eating Cadburys Caramel Nibbles. They are like buttons with caramel in them. WIN!
Continue reading This Week in Mentalists (122)
By zarathustra, on March 10th, 2010
Thanks to Howard for pointing out that the BBC has a news segment on the need for greater regulation in psychotherapy. Good to see this issue getting an airing in the mainstream media.
By DeeDee Ramona, on March 7th, 2010
As I currently have a cat preventing me from getting at the keyboard, let’s start off this week’s edition of TWIM with a cheery, mood-enhancing lolcat from I Can Has Cheezburger:
Continue reading This Week in Mentalists (121)
By zarathustra, on March 6th, 2010
I may be the wrong person to write this edition of Slapheads. Saying this is about as fashionable as tweed dungarees, but I’ve actually got quite a bit of time for social workers. They have a thankless task, they’re often shackled by bureaucracy, and all too often they’re the ones who have be the bearers of bad news (telling mental health patients they’re going onto a section, telling kids that the court has placed them on a care order, and so on.) And as we know, the media loves to tar them either as the fascists who kidnap children or as the incompetents who didn’t take the kids away from their abuser, without ever considering that health services, police and the courts might be involved in all this as well, or that social workers often have to walk a very fine line with a fraction of the resources they actually need.
Even so, Slapheads is a multi-disciplinary team, and it would be wrong to deny social workers their place at the table.
Continue reading Slapheads: Social Workers
By zarathustra, on March 5th, 2010
As well as the bipolar disorder research project mentioned by DeeDee Ramona, there’s also another one run by the University of Lancaster. They’ve sent me the following e-mail about it:
I am contacting you to ask if I can publicise a study myself and a number
of researchers are conducting through your website: a web based self
management intervention for people experiencing Bipolar Disorder. We are
looking for participants to help develop and test the intervention.
This study has the potential to improve the lives of many people with
Bipolar Disorder. We know that many people want access to psychological
therapy and that it works well. However, many people never get this kind of
support due to therapist availability. This project aims to improve access
to psychological therapy through a free to access and web based interface.
We have been funded by Mersey Care NHS trust to carry out this project for
3 years. The project has received full ethical clearance from the Division
of Health Research Ethics Committee at Lancaster University.
More information on the study can be found on our website:
By DeeDee Ramona, on March 2nd, 2010
A researcher from the University of Cardiff came to see me today as I had volunteered to take part in their study on bipolar disorder. You can find out more about the study here in a press release from Cardiff Uni here: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/articles/understanding-bipolar-disorder.html. The study website is here: http://bdrn.org/
They have 3000 participants already but need 3000 more, so if you are reading this, live in the UK and have bipolar disorder I’d suggest you get in touch with them. You do not have to be British.
They are researching the effect of DNA and stressful life events and their interplay on the onset and development of bipolar disorder in adults.
Here’s what happened:
Continue reading University of Cardiff Bipolar Study
By zarathustra, on February 28th, 2010
In the comments thread The Shrink is demanding a Slapheads: Occupational Therapists post. I’ll broaden it slightly into Slapheads: Professions Allied to Medicine so we can also include physiotherapists, radiographers, clinical psychologists, pharmacists etc. A post on Slapheads: Social Workers will also come soon.
I’ll start by re-posting The Shrinks slaphead OT suggestions from the comments thread:
Continue reading Slapheads: Professions Allied to Medicine
By zarathustra, on February 27th, 2010
Lake Cocytus has an excellent post about the Mid-Staffordshire hospitals scandal. I couldn’t help noticing a slight difference in emphasis between the closing submission of the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry and the way it was reported by the BBC.
See if you can spot the differences…
Continue reading Mid Staffordshire: Uncaring or Overwhelmed?
By DeeDee Ramona, on February 27th, 2010
Occupational Therapists (OTs) are one of the great unsung heroes of the medical system. They play a key role in the rehabilitation and recovery of patients suffering from a variety of long term conditions. Unfortunately, they rarely get any credit for this, mainly because only people who have availed of their services or who work for the NHS actually know they exist. Everyone else thinks an OT is some sort of physio, or, alternatively, the person who sorts out a suitable chair and mouse mat for you at work. Here, I’m going to explain, using examples from my own experiences as a mental health patient, what it is that OTs actually do and why I think they are just fantastic.
Continue reading Occupational Therapy is the Mutt’s Nuts
By Mental Nurse, on February 27th, 2010
My turn to delve into the delights of world of blogs. As part of my continuing attempt to be awesomely Cool for Cats ™ I intend to make little Tweet like comments describing the minutiae of my life as I compile That Was The Week That Was This Week In Mentalists. ( TWTWTWTWIM).
I am listening to Hazey Jane II by Nick Drake.
This song contains the lyrics;
And what will happen in the morning when the world it gets so crowded that you can’t look out the
window in the morning?
Answers at the bottom please. Right now to the Blogs of Wrath! Ho!
Continue reading This Week In Mentalists (120): The Made With Extra Special Sauce Edition
By Mental Nurse, on February 26th, 2010
Thanks Lorna for summarising my earlier post into a pithy one liner.
“… failure to recognise that correctly identifying the problem does not make it magically go away …”
It is just this kind of thing that really annoys nurses you know! You take something we have lovingly created, slaved over, researched thoroughly *cough* cast your eyes over it then summarise and improve (improvarise?) in one fell swoop.
Now I intend to waffle a bit more about intelligence, some of my pet hates, bizzarophobias, delusions I have held and maybe put in a picture of a cat doing something amusing at the end.
With me?
Continue reading Mental Nurse vs Intelligence vs Unreason
By zarathustra, on February 23rd, 2010
One in Four is an excellent magazine – a fun, glossy lifestyle magazine that presents information about mental health issues in an accessible way. In the past they’ve features us, as well as regular contribution from chums of ours such as Seaneen. Therefore we’re sorry to hear that it’s having financial trouble.
Please read this campaign to save One in Four. If you want to help it keep running, please take out a subscription. Not only will you be helping to support a valuable service, but you’ll also get a bloody good read into the bargain.
By DeeDee Ramona, on February 22nd, 2010
By zarathustra, on February 21st, 2010
(Guest post by Bristol Michael)
The point of entry for most users to the mental health services, or so we are told, is the common or garden general practitioner. Now the good Dr Finlay of Tannochbrae, forever pestering Janet for his tea, is long dead and gone, giving way to a figure like, what, well, who, Father Ted? No, surely not! Dr Shipman then? Scarcely! In fact, I’d have to say that the available supply of up and coming GPs seems to this wry observer to be improving. Friendly, not up themselves, thorough, competent, they could almost be nurses. However, let us together turn the pages of the Book of Doctoring. Look! Here’s a picture of the surgery garden. Let’s see what lurks beneath the stones along the path…
Continue reading Slapheads: GPs
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