On 26^th January the BMJ reported on the new £18 million Time to Change campaign  " ... to tackle the discrimination and stigma that surrounds mental health ... The Time to Change initiative is funded by Comic Relief and the National Lottery. Its aim is to tell the public that it is no longer acceptable to discriminate against people with a mental illness ... The campaign's website gives details of what can be done to help people with a mental illness and how to run a local campaign to support national initiatives ... The campaign says that mental illness is one of the last taboos and that shame and stigma can stop people seeking help. It highlights the fact that mental illness is far more common than people realise with one in four people experiencing a mental health problem at some time in their life. And it promotes the message that it is possible to help people with a mental heath problem by being there for them and not cutting them out of your life ... The campaign is based on similar national initiatives in New Zealand and Scotland.

Here are a couple of studies on smoking, a couple on B vitamins, a couple on vitamin D, and an intriguing study on iron.  The smoking papers underline the varieties of damage this habit produces.  So the Pasco et al study shows that, for women, being a smoker is associated with double the risk of developing subsequent major depression.  The Strandberg research challenges any notion of "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die".  This study of 1658 men reports that "During the 26-year follow-up of this socioeconomically homogeneous male cohort, HRQoL (quality of life) deteriorated with an increase in daily cigarettes smoked in a dose-dependent manner.

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We camouflage our true being before others to protect ourselves against criticism or rejection.  This protection comes at a steep price.  When we are not truly known by the other people in our lives, we are misunderstood.  When we are misunderstood, especially by family and friends, we join the "lonely crowd."  Worse, when we succeed in hiding our being from others, we tend to lose touch with our real selves.  This loss of self contributes to illness in its myriad forms.

” - Sidney Jourard

This section contains information about schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.  This isn't an area I work in much, so the section is fairly limited.

The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is "the independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on the promotion of good health and the prevention and tr

“ A bird will drop frozen from a bough without once having felt sorry for itself. ” - D.H. Lawrence

Making a formal psychological diagnosis can be a mixed blessing. It has several potential advantages. If many of my symptoms can be accurately grouped under a specific psychological diagnosis, it may well help to understand what is happening, to clarify the likely time course of my symptoms, and to choose treatments that have the best chance of being effective. It's worth noting that often people suffer from more than one psychological disorder at the same time - this is called comorbidity and it is common.

The young man sitting in front of me thought he was going mad.

Here are details and links for a couple of dozen January articles that I found interesting.