News

NHS Employers launches campaign to improve mental health and tackle stigma about mental ill health among NHS staff

Posted: 9th March 2010

Open Your Mind The Open Your Mind campaign has been developed to support employers to create a better working environment for staff and improve employment rates for people with mild, moderate and severe mental health conditions. It aims to raise awareness throughout the NHS of the recognised benefits to patients,...

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Psychiatrists identify new phenomenon: ‘I want to be bipolar…’

Posted: 2nd March 2010

  Writing in the March 2010 edition of The Psychiatrist, London based psychiatrists Dr Diana Chan and Dr Lester Sireling have identified a new and unusual phenomenon – people diagnosing themselves with bipolar disorder. Download the article here. They believe the trend is linked to increased public awareness of the disorder,...

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Study finds fish oil can reduce onset of psychotic illness

Posted: 12th February 2010

Researchers from Switzerland, Austria and Australia have found that fish oil supplements can reduce the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. The new study included 81 high-risk patients with either mild psychotic symptoms, transient psychosis or a family history of psychotic disorders, plus a decrease in daily...

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Britain's dementia crisis is being ignored, a new study claims, as sufferers top 820,000

Posted: 3rd February 2010

A major new Alzheimer’s Research Trust commissioned University of Oxford report, Dementia 2010, reveals that the impact of dementia on the UK’s society and economy is higher than ever. It also shows that dementia research remains severely underfunded compared to other conditions like cancer and heart disease.  We now...

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Major new survey in NW highlights importance of mental wellbeing in improving people's lives

Posted: 28th January 2010

  A major new survey of 18,500 residents of the North West highlights the crucial role of mental wellbeing in improving people's lives, and reveals significant differences in people’s levels of mental wellbeing. Download a summary here. According to the North West Mental Wellbeing Survey, (the largest, most significant...

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Rethink launches campaign against mental health jury ban

Posted: 19th January 2010

Rethink has launched a campaign to put pressure on the government to keep its promise and reconsider the 1974 Juries Act which states that a person who is receiving medical treatment for a mental health illness cannot serve on a jury.

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Official launch of Patient Opinion's service to NHS mental health trusts

Posted: 8th January 2010

  January 7th saw the official joint launch with NHS Choices of Patient Opinion's service to NHS mental health trusts. Since April 2009, all 61 mental health trusts across the UK have been able to subscribe to Patient Opinion, with NHS Choices paying the social enterprise to train and support...

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New guide for mental health commissioners published

Posted: 7th December 2009

‘The Commissioning Friend for Mental Health Services' is designed to support primary care trusts and local authorities and assist them in developing their mental health commissioning practice

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New Horizons Launch 7th December 2009

Posted: 7th December 2009

Press release of launch of Department of Health's New Horizons Mental Health strategy

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Revision of Preventing Suicide: A toolkit for mental health services

Posted: 26th November 2009

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), at its second annual conference in Birmingham, launched a revision of Preventing Suicide: A toolkit for mental health service. The toolkit, originally published in 2003, has been amended to reflect recent policy changes and has had input from key stakeholders, service users, carers and...

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