By Joanna Moncrieff. Long-term antipsychotic treatment remains the standard recommended treatment for people who have psychotic episodes or a diagnosis of schizophrenia. People who have had just one episode may be supported to try and discontinue treatment, but most people with recurrent episodes are recommended to stay on antipsychotic medication for the rest of their

By Pino Pini. A summary from the SE&LMHS project presentation at the HPFT Recovery Conference, Watford 8/10/2019. The SE&LMHS project is based on the assumption that mental health is not only a matter for special services, but should include the whole local community. Several activities beneficial for mental health can be created by working together

By Joanna Moncrieff. This blog was inspired by a talk I gave at the conference of the American Association for Philosophy and Psychiatry in May 2017. The title of this talk was: Many ways of being human: challenging the medical view of mental disorders and the implications for psychiatry. The title is taken from a book by British

CPN co-chairs, Hugh Middleton and Joanna Moncrieff, went to meet Luciana Berger MP (the shadow minister for Mental Health) to convey the importance of a Critical Psychiatry perspective in developing the Labour Party’s mental health policy. After his victory in the Labour Party leadership last year, one of Jeremy Corbyn’s early moves was to appoint

A recent meta-analysis of antipsychotic drug treatment for people with ‘treatment refractory schizophrenia’ suggests clozapine may not be better than other antipsychotics. Clozapine has been the mainstay of treatment for this group since a landmark study by American psychiatrist, John Kane, in 1988 found it to be substantially superior to the old antipsychotic chlorpromazine. Subsequent

Suicides in the Unites States have reached a 30-year high. The steepest rise is in the middle-aged. The rate of suicide in women rose more than in men, but male suicides are still more than three times as common as female suicides. Suicide by firearms was still the most common cause. The Guardian 22/04/16

A recent spot check by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found that Southern Health NHS Mental Health Trust, previously criticised for its inadequate investigations of serious incidents and deaths in care, still lacks robust safety procedures and procedures for managing complaints. The Health Trust’s chairman resigned just before the CQC report was published. The Guardian

On Saturday May 16, there will be demonstrations against shock treatment in many cities around the world, currently including 21 in 16 American states, plus 2 each in England and Canada. There will also be demos in Ireland, New Zealand, and Uruguay (yes, Uruguay!). And new people are still signing up to lead a protest.

Since the 1st January 2015 drug companies in the United Kingdom have begun recording any payments they make to doctors for a range of services such as lectures or chairing meetings. The first 12 months of data will be made public in July 2016. This follows a new disclosure code agreed by the European Federation

The BMJ has been told that Committees of NICE are being encouraged to be more favourable to the drug and device industries. BMJ 2014: 349:g6387