The DSM debate continues

On Friday I was listening to Radio 5 live in the morning and happened upon an interesting show concerning the diagnoses of mental disorders. The 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5) has thrown into sharp relief the problematic nature of diagnosing mental illness.

The show featured psychologists, patients and psychiatrists and centred on the power relationship between the 'diagnoser' and the 'diagnosee'. It also talked about how it is for social workers to walk the line between protecting the public and protecting the individual who may have a serious diagnosis.

Whilst the show does feature other items besides mental health and diagnosis, I really do think it's worth a listen.

It'll be available until May 23rd and the show is here.

'Rethink Mental Illness' report criticises schizophrenia care in the UK

You may have already heard about the new schizophrenia report, The Abandoned Illness which is published today. Still, I think this is too big an issue to not publicise it further. Although I know you're probably not studying straight psychology, serious mental illness is an issue that informs so many other areas of the social sciences. That's what makes the report and debate well worth an in depth look.

Rethink Mental Illness (RMI) is a charity launched to support people with and change attitudes to mental illness in the UK. They commissioned the report and the Schizophrenia Commission gathered the data and wrote it. It broadly covers within its 88 pages what is going wrong, what needs fixing and how it can be paid for.
There's a lot in there, but it's extremely readable.

If you'd like some more background details I'd have a look here for a BBC interview with a spokesman from  the RMI or you can find the Guardian's reporting of the issue here.

The full report on the current state of schizophrenia provision in the UK is available in full from here.

Evidence based health website examining inequality and race.

I owe this website recommendation to Janine Bhandol, the academic librarian responsible for nursing, so if you find anything useful you should be thanking her. The website is called Better Health and it publishes research which addresses inequalities in health between races living in the UK.

There's some terrific reports on here covering subjects such as the health of travellers, ethnic minority women and domestic abuse and BME and mental health issues. Some reports are unpublished (these are known as 'grey literature') and some are evidence based. If you need help with evaluating what you find then I'm happy to share my opinion.

Any student at any level who is studying an issue relating to health and race could find something of use on this website and it's available by clicking here.

Call for reform of women's prisons

Clive Chatterton, former governor of Styal women's prison, has been damning of the use of short term prison sentences for women. This morning (Friday 17th February) he was interviewed on Women's Hour. Luckily he was the first item on so if you listen from the start you won't have long to wait. Anyway, the show is here and it's a very interesting listen. Do remember that the link will probably only work for a week.

In addition, The Guardian reported his concerns too and the link to their piece is here.

This is a difficult topic, however listening this morning it seemed to me that it touches on many issues you may discuss in class and which I've mentioned on the blog previously; mental health, children in care and the length of sentences fitting the seriousness of the crime. Although the Corston report was published 5 years ago to look at these very issues, it would appear that little progress has been made.

If you'd like more information on any of the background studies mentioned you know what to do.