Royal College of Psychiatrists says impact on mental health often overlooked and calls for improvements in care
Nearly three-quarters of UK women do not know menopause can trigger a new mental illness, polling shows.
This lack of understanding is so acute that the Royal College of Psychiatrists has launched its first targeted “position statement” to raise awareness about menopause and mental health.
Continue reading...Move comes after 35% of sector workers surveyed described their mental health as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’
The Film and TV charity has unveiled a landmark set of principles for safeguarding mental health in what’s been called a “watershed moment” for the UK creative sector’s duty of care to its production community.
The principles are the result of a collaboration between the charity and more than 45 industry organisations, including all the public service broadcasters, studios, leading streamers, production companies and trade unions.
Continue reading...Resembling cigarette packet warnings, the ads highlight dangers and urge people to email MPs
Mumsnet has launched a campaign to introduce a ban on social media for under-16s featuring health warnings in the style of those on cigarette packets.
The deliberately provocative national advertising campaign calls for all social media to be banned for children under the age of 16. The images on billboards and social media make a number of stark statements related to health.
Continue reading...Man, 32, shot dead by deputy after stabbing attack was the subject of domestic violence protection orders
A man shot dead by a sheriff’s deputy after he fatally stabbed four people outside his mother’s home near Gig Harbor, Washington, on Tuesday morning was the subject of domestic violence protection orders recording mental health and substance abuse issues stretching back at least five years.
Records reviewed by Associated Press show that the woman living at the address had obtained a 12-month protection order against her 32-year-old son in May. The order noted that he struggled from substance abuse, and had threatened his mother saying that her “grave has been already dug up”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Separate research also shows number of young children having suicidal thoughts has risen at ‘alarming’ rate
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Young Australians aged 16 to 25 are attempting to kill themselves, self-harming and experiencing suicidal thoughts in greater numbers and at earlier ages than previous generations, a landmark study has found.
It comes as Kids Helpline data provided exclusively to Guardian Australia shows the proportion of young children experiencing suicidality is increasing at “alarming” rates and being expressed by children as young as six.
Continue reading...Venues promoting destruction as stress relief are appearing around the UK but experts – and our correspondent – are unsure
If you find it hard to count to 10 when anger bubbles up, a new trend offers a more hands-on approach. Rage rooms are cropping up across the UK, allowing punters to smash seven bells out of old TVs, plates and furniture.
Such pay-to-destroy ventures are thought to have originated in Japan in 2008, but have since gone global. In the UK alone venues can be found in locations from Birmingham to Brighton, with many promoting destruction as a stress-relieving experience.
Continue reading...Forward Trust patron says ‘compassion and love’ is needed to end fear and shame felt by those affected
The Princess of Wales has called for an end to the “stigma” surrounding addictions, saying the experiences of those dependent on drugs, alcohol or gambling are “shaped by fear, shame and judgment”.
Catherine, who is a patron of the charity Forward Trust supporting recovering addicts, said more open conversations were needed to bring the issue “out of the shadows” and for society to show “compassion and love” to those affected.
Continue reading...Understaffing driving workers to ill health and discouraging them for taking leave, says Royal College of Nursing CEO
Nurses across the UK are working while unwell in understaffed hospitals, with stress as the leading cause of illness, according to research.
A survey by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) of more than 20,000 nursing staff found that 66% had worked when they should have been on sick leave, up from 49% in 2017.
Continue reading...Former health secretary Alan Milburn’s review is exploring reasons for rising inactivity among young people
The role of mental health issues and disability in youth unemployment will be examined by the former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn as part of a review looking into rising inactivity among Britain’s young people.
Nearly a million people aged 16 to 24 are not in education, employment or training, often described with the acronym Neets. Milburn will look at ways to avoid people becoming trapped as Neets and the findings will be published in the summer.
Continue reading...Prompts indicating suicidal ideation got alarming replies, which experts say shows ‘how easy it is to break the model’
An OpenAI statement released this week claimed the company had made its popular service ChatGPT better at supporting users experiencing mental health problems like suicidal ideation or delusions, but experts tell the Guardian they need to do more to truly ensure users are protected.
The Guardian tested several prompts indicating suicidal ideation with the ChatGPT GPT-5 updated model, which is now the default, and got alarming responses from the large language model (LLM) chatbot.
Continue reading...Number of procedures on men up by 26% as experts say cosmetic surgery has become normalised despite risks
Growing numbers of men and younger people are getting facelifts, a trend driven by social media, advances in surgical techniques and the rise of weight loss drugs.
Figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps) show facelifts are on the rise in the UK. In 2024 there were 1,882 procedures, up 8% from the previous year. Women accounted for the majority, with numbers rising by 7% to 1,742. But the steepest increase came from men: procedures grew by 26%, from 111 in 2023 to 140 in 2024.
Continue reading...Far right points to lax criminal justice system and racist narratives, not mental health system failures as experts say
The random and unprovoked killing of a young woman in North Carolina several weeks ago has become a viral video, a political football, and a powerful rightwing talking point – even as the horror and anger her death has provoked obscures what experts say is a vital story about the failures of the American mental health system.
The alleged perpetrator, Decarlos Brown Jr, 34, has a long history of problems with the law and mental health issues. He had been arrested 14 times and served a five-year stint for armed robbery. Brown had also come to believe that there was something alien and malevolent inside him – a “man-made material”, he told people, possibly a computer chip implanted by the government that was fighting him for control of his body.
Continue reading...Jamie Pearson killed himself in toilet at Blackpool Victoria hospital after being admitted over painkiller overdose
The death of a 27-year-old man who killed himself in a hospital toilet after waiting 22 hours to be seen by the mental health team was “contributed to by neglect”, a coroner has ruled.
Jamie Pearson was admitted to Blackpool Victoria hospital’s A&E department after taking an overdose of high-strength painkillers on 17 August 2024.
Continue reading...Loughborough University and ONS study of 1 million school-age children reveals risks increase with longer absence
School absences “significantly contribute” to children’s mental ill health, according to research backed by the Office for National Statistics that shows the risks increase the longer a child is absent.
“Our research shows that the more times a child is absent from school, the greater the probability that they will experience mental ill health,” the authors, from Loughborough University and the ONS, concluded.
Continue reading...Jury finds failings of worker before Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, took own life amount to gross negligence manslaughter
A vulnerable 14-year-old girl was unlawfully killed when an agency support worker failed to keep her under observation at a secure psychiatric unit, an inquest jury has concluded.
The worker, who used a false identity, left Ruth Szymankiewicz alone even though she had complex mental health issues and was judged to need constant watching because she was a suicide risk.
In the UK, the youth suicide prevention charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Academic Heather Scott has been told by Home Office that being ‘acutely ill’ is not an exceptional circumstance
The Home Office is threatening to ban a Canadian academic from the UK after she was unable to renew her visa in time during a mental health crisis.
Dr Heather Scott has lived in Britain since she came in 2011 on a study visa. The renowned academic, whose area of research relates to Victorian cemeteries including Highgate, Brompton and Abney Park, is required to be based in London.
Continue reading...Analysis suggests long-term damage to wellbeing can be worse than for children experiencing physical abuse
Parents who ridicule, threaten or humiliate their children risk leaving them with a 64% higher chance of having poor mental health as an adult, a study has found.
The research also found physical abuse experienced among the research participants reduced over time, while verbal abuse increased.
Continue reading...An inquest into the former England cricketer’s death last year has recorded a conclusion of suicide
There were “failings” in the provision of former England cricketer Graham Thorpe’s care in the months before he died, a coroner has said, as a conclusion of suicide was recorded at an inquest.
Thorpe, 55, died on 4 August 2024 after being struck by a train at a railway station in Surrey.
Continue reading...Patient safety measure is part of 10-year plan to tackle poor standards in mental health and maternity services
The NHS is to become the first health system in the world to use AI to analyse hospital databases and catch potential safety scandals early, the government has said.
The Department of Health and Social Care said the technology will provide an early warning system which could detect patterns or trends and trigger urgent inspections. The scheme is part of the 10-year plan for the NHS that is due to be published by Wes Streeting this week.
Continue reading...Rates are higher in young women as in young men and mental ill health up across age groups, study shows
Sharp rises in rates of anxiety, depression and other disorders have led to one in four young people in England having a common mental health condition, an NHS survey shows, with young women more likely to report them than young men.
The study found that rates of such conditions in 16- to 24-year-olds have risen by more than a third in a decade, from 18.9% in 2014 to 25.8% in 2024.
More than a fifth (22.6%) of adults aged 16 to 64 have a common mental health condition, up from 18.9% in 2014.
More than one in four adults (25.2%) reported having had suicidal thoughts during their lifetime, including about a third of 16- 24-year-olds (31.5%) and 25- to 34-year-olds (32.9%).
Self-harm rates have quadrupled since 2000 and risen from 6.4% in 2014 to 10.3% in 2024, with the highest rates among 16- to 24-year-olds at 24.6%, especially young women at 31.7%.
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