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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.
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:
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:
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: 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: 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… 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 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! Thanks Lorna for summarising my earlier post into a pithy one liner.
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? 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. Two cool things my CMHT are doing.
(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… Hello. This is my first ever blog roundup and go at TWIM. How hard can it be?
I thought it’d take some time, time that I have free at the moment, but Mental told me it would take longer. Well, maybe it would if I do it properly. I’ve just looked at the way Zed does it, and mine is different. I hope you all can cope, cause it would take ages for me to change it now, and I’ve already managed to lose 2 links that I had to find again, making me swear a little bit (a lot). Edited to include THIS WEEKS posts. Oops. At Mental Nurse we’ve repeatedly cited the Derek Gale case as evidence of the damage that can be caused by the unregulated nature of psychotherapy in Britain. Without proper accountability to a statutory regulator, abusive therapists can cause enormous harm to vulnerable people.
We are therefore deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Gena Dry, one of the complainants against Derek Gale in the Health Professions Council hearings that led to him being struck off. Although her death is currently described as “unexplained”, media reports suggest she may have committed suicide.
We at Mental Nurse did not know Gena Dry, but in the news reports she has been described as a gifted musician and songwriter. Our deepest and most heartfelt condolences go out to Ms Dry’s family and friends. |
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