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Every year, over 800,000 people die from suicide; this roughly corresponds to one death every 40 seconds. This is shockingly high and something which we can all help to change. Three words lie at the heart of suicide prevention : connect, communicate and care; find out more about this and world suicide prevention day  by clicking here.  

When people ask me about my job, I tell them that I use my lived experience of mental health to help other people recover. They smile and nod, but I wonder, should I give them a flavour of what that really means? They see me with my name badge on and I get a sense they assume I'm 'cured' or 'better' or 'recovered'; so I think it's important for me

This year the blog has had over 6,830 views from 47 countries and we have you to thank! We would also like to thank our wonderful contributors who have allowed us to cover diverse topics such as prejudice in mental health, brain stimulation,  academic/creative writing, peer support, schizophrenia and the media , creative practise and many others.We

Typically, my point of view on the matter of alternative medicine or treatments, is pretty simple. If it has a prefix before medicine, it is not medicine. Medicine, is a science, and as a science it should be susceptible to intense scrutiny and review, open to change, and open for criticism. Many of the prefixed ‘Medicines’ do not pass this standar

'The challenge facing individuals with experiences of mental ill-health is to retain, or rebuild, a meaningful and valued life and like everyone else, to grow and develop within and beyond the limits imposed by their cognitive and emotional difficulties' [1]. My passion to Raise Awareness of Mental Health in Higher Education began from my interacti

Dear reader, Do you have something to say about mental health, integrated health care or wellbeing? Are there any issues that you feel passionately about and would like to communicate to a wider audience? Well good news….we are looking for content and would love your input! We would welcome any content broadly related to mental health and health ca

Recent research I carried out has brought home to me how difficult it is for students to be honest about their mental health. I am a mental health nurse currently doing a PhD in mental health and wellbeing. A couple of months ago, I decided to conduct participatory action research on mental health, to give students a voice and opportunity to partic

Eliminating eating disorders and investigating the roots of these issues is a passion of mine. While I have never struggled with an eating disorder myself, I have personally experienced dear friends both die from and overcome these disorders.  It is a serious issue that impacts many.  As a scientist investigating eating disorders, I hesitate to sha

 [gallery ids="2078,2079,2032" type="rectangular"] The 16-22th May 2016 has not been like any other week. It has been Mental Health Awareness Week; a much needed occasion designed to raise awareness and tackle the stigma still attached to mental health. This is something I’ve always been passionate about, but in all honesty I am not always as

  This week is Mental Health Awareness Week.  Find out more here:

Recently this wonderful blog was nominated for a Knowledge Exchange and Impact Award 2016, in the media category. Sadly we didn’t win, but we did have the opportunity to attend the awards night, and what a fantastic night it was. The awards celebrate some of the University's biggest achievements across all departments and campuses, including China

‘Improving Lives’ (IL) (formerly Integritas) is a small, independent charity that delivers both one to one case support and advocacy services to adults with complex health and social needs within the city of Nottingham. The service was formed as a community interest company in November 2006 and became a registered charity in February 2012.  IL is l

Having found hope in dark places, having experienced the power of Peer-support for myself, I have returned to the world of employment. Can I ask you to let that sentence just sink in? I felt I had lost everything and would never work again. Here I am, fully employed as a Peer-support worker. So my recovery journey has taken an unexpected path. I wo

This article was co-written by Emma Nielsen, a researcher in the Self-Harm Research Group at the University of Nottingham and Sophie, a mental health worker with lived experience of bereavement by suicide.  Sophie’s words are quoted throughout.  …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Sometimes it feels like the world is full of a lot of rules

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological condition which affects approximately 1% of the school age population. To put that into perspective, if Wembley stadium were full that would be 900 people, which makes TS far more common than most people believe.People with Tourette’s syndrome have ‘tics’, which are involuntary and difficult to

After reading her IMH Blog Mind your 'C' and 'S's, the charity Rethink got in touch with our editor Emma Nielsen and asked her to write a contribution for their blog to mark Self Injury Awareness Day 2016 (#SIAD). We are delighted that Emma took up the invite - check out her piece for Rethink here. Emma Nielsen (@EmmaLNielsen) is an Associate Fello

Self Injury Awareness Day, 1st March 2016For most people reading this blog, the notion that mental illness is stigmatised will not be new. You may be one of many who are fighting to end the stigma – particularly if you have lived experience of mental illness, work in a sensitive field, or both. Yet stigma continues to be a pressing issue for those

Eating Disorders Awareness Week, 22-28 February 2016At work I found a copy of the book Naturally Thin on a shelf of what I assumed to be donations. I skimmed through the pages expecting to get a few giggles, but was sorely disappointed. The only thing about the experience that evoked anything reminiscent of enjoyment was the fact that someone decid

There is a growing concern among professionals in regards to increased use of ADHD prescription drugs. In this case I will not discuss the recreational use of such stimulants, rather discuss the increase rate of prescription for children and adolescents diagnosed with Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a neurodevelopmental dis

In March 2003 I attended an event on novelists in conversation with psychologists for trainees and supervisors from the Leicester University DClinPSy training course in which the writers AS Byatt, Nick Hornby and Pat Barker were interviewed by psychologists Steven Frosch, Simon Thomas and Caroline Garland about their work. I was keen to attend, not