In a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, Wera Hobhouse outlined how sufferers of eating disorders are being failed by health and support services. Lack of training can mean that doctors make things worse. She told the story of a young woman in her constituency who suffered for three years and never received the help that she […]
mental health
Every day should be Mental Health Awareness Day
We all have mental health, as we all have physical health. That is established. I welcome World Mental Health Awareness Day – it is great that we can celebrate and work together on better mental health for all. However, we need to recognise that fighting for good mental health provision and raising awareness is a […]
World Mental Health Day
It is World Mental Health Day. It is a time to celebrate how far we have come in the UK when it comes to talking about mental health. It is also the time to recognise the ongoing crisis and redouble our efforts. We have all seen the headlines – 1 in 4 of us will […]
My view on our conference motion to end discrimination in mental health care
The problem with conference is that it is impossible to get to everything! I was hoping to speak on Sunday morning in our debate on the policy motion entitled, “Ending Discrimination In Mental Health Provision”. Regular readers of LDV know that mental health policy is an area I feel strongly about, so I am gutted […]
Inequality in society harms our mental health – how can we fix it?
“Wealth is not a measure of worth. But low income is related to feelings of inferiority.” Across a range of countries, studies have shown, the experience of poverty leads to people believing they have failed themselves for being poor, and accepting that others feel like that about them. This is part of the remarkable findings […]
Scottish Liberal Democrats highlight perinatal mental health
As Mental Health Awareness Week draws to a close, Willie Rennie again used his questions to the First Minister to highlight the crisis in Scotland’s mental health provision: Post-natal depression and depression during pregnancy affect up to one in five women. Half the women who experience it will go undetected and untreated. During an FMQs […]
Mental Health Awareness Week 2018
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. The theme is this year is stress. Stress can pervade our lives, but one aspect is stress at work. Keeping a mentally-healthy workforce is best for everyone: the employees, the business and the customers. Being self-employed as a musician, workplace stress has a slightly different connotation. I’m preparing […]
Vince Cable talks about his mother’s mental illness, his father’s racism and overcoming prejudice in a moving and candid interview
You probably don’t know that Vince Cable was on Radio 5 Live as the birthday guest on Sunday night because it’s not really been reported anywhere. It’s worth catching up on it though because it’s one of the most open, personal and moving interviews I’ve heard him give. He’s mentioned the racism he and his […]
How do benefit sanctions affect mental health?
There are few things more obvious than if you are deprived of the means to feed yourself, it’s going to be stressful and more than likely affect your mental health and not in a good way. This Mental Health Awareness Week, the excellent Scottish Association for Mental Health is collecting evidence to present to the […]
Children’s mental health – the Government is not getting it right
I’m following up my post from February on children’s mental health and the Government’s Green Paper on the issue. Yesterday, the Education Committee and Health & Social Care Committee issued a joint statement saying that The Government’s proposed Green Paper on Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health lacks ambition and will provide no help to […]