Sam Woodnutt and Jasmine Snowden blog a study which uses hospital data to explore rates of headbanging as a form of self-harm ...

Are hair-pulling and skin-picking disorders linked to deeper beliefs formed in childhood? This study found that early ...

This large-scale quality improvement project across 55 mental health wards tested Board Relay, Zonal Observations, and Life ...

Are hair-pulling and skin-picking disorders linked to deeper beliefs formed in childhood? This study found that early ...

Margaret is a Psychology student at Loughborough University. She is currently on placement with Child and Adolescent ...

Phil is a Mental Health Nurse Consultant on a male adult acute psychiatric admission ward in the North East of England. He ...

Inpatient mental health services are meant to provide safe places for people experiencing mental health difficulties to receive support and recover, but for many, the reality is far from this ideal.

Over the past decade there has been huge interest in the role of the microbiome-gut-brain axis in brain function and mental health (as covered in these previous Mental Elf blogs: Murray, 2024; Clarke, ...

In my clinical work some of the most challenging patients to manage are those with ‘treatment resistant depression‘ and unfortunately up to 30% of people with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder ...

The past 50 years has seen globalisation of psychiatric diagnostic (categorical) frameworks. Early versions were notoriously unreliable; when categories are unreliable they cannot be valid, meaning ...

Recent headlines have highlighted a troubling surge in racism and discrimination, as divisive behaviours fuel stereotypes and hostility toward ethnic and racial minorities. This is despite consistent ...