Our Latest Articles

Any parent can experience mental health difficulties in the perinatal period (from conception to one year following birth), regardless of gender or biological connection to the child. This is common in men with around 1 in 10 fathers experiencing depression and anxiety in the perinatal period. Awareness is growing in relation to the effects that traumatic birth experiences have on fathers, too. But which fathers does this evidence refer to? I am a Reader at the University of

I’m Michael and I’m married to Wes. We met by complete chance in June 2012 at Birmingham Pride no less, both single and not looking for a relationship, and pretty much from our first meeting I knew I’d met someone that was going to take my life in a direction that I’d been waiting for. Four months later we were engaged and in August 2014 we married in front of all our friends and family. We’re Dads to our two children; Talulah is 5, and Duke is 2. Wes also has a 17-year-old d

Disclaimer In this blog, addiction psychiatrist Dr. Rebecca Lawrence discusses the topic of substance abuse and addiction, which may be...

The Importance of Physical Activity on Your Mental Health: An interview with Michael Watson, MBE In my life, I have battled a gambling addiction and a brain tumour — and alongside these I experienced depression. Exercising through those tough times has helped me focus and keeps me moving forward. The British ex-boxer Michael Watson, who uses exercise as a tool to manage his mental health, was a hero of mine as a youngster. Seeing how he has dealt with adversity encouraged me

“I was so anxious and couldn’t enjoy being pregnant, because I was so worried to attend every scan in case it was bad news; I couldn’t bear to think about history repeating itself and us losing another baby”. Photo source: nct.org.uk As a researcher working in the field of Perinatal Psychiatry, with mothers who have experienced mental health problems during pregnancy or postnatally (the period after childbirth), this is, unfortunately, a sentiment I have heard more than once.

Learning to live with trauma Photo taken by Jamie Cowen, in his Mother-in-Law’s garden where he and his wife stayed for a while after the loss of their son Hi. I’m Jamie. At the time of writing this, I’m 43 years old, living in north London with Kath, my wife, and our two kids Jacob, nearly 12, and Ella, 8. I work in book publishing, enjoy reading, playing music, a good game of footie and a natter down the pub. So far, so unremarkable. Another unremarkable thing, given that i

Mental Health of Women and Children in conflict zones: Their Bodies and Health are the Battlefields of War. Over the last two months, the...

We Can All Learn From Each Other: How opening the doors for exchange can benefit us working in Arts and Health A few weeks ago, I...

Barriers to NHS Healthcare Faced by Transgender and Non-Binary Patients: The example of cervical screening I am an academic foundation...

‘With the elation came a significant adjustment to the novel, demanding and various roles that accompanied the arrival of Olive’. In Joe’s blog published yesterday, he shares his experience of becoming a new dad. Photo by Cottonbro on Pexels I am a Lecturer in Psychiatry and Mental Health (Education) at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London (KCL). My academic career in the early life course, involves looking at the interconnections be

Becoming a Father during lock-down and Postnatal Depression Photo by Juan Pablo on Pexels Ever since around 17-years of age I’ve suffered from some form of mental health issue at various stages of becoming a man, mainly anxiety, which I am certain was linked to quite a troubled upbringing in the North East of England. An aggressive, adulterating father, who worked away most of the time, resulted in my parents divorcing when I was 7. My brother and I were then brought up singl

One More Reason for a Healthy Lifestyle: Exercise might increase vaccines' effectiveness The COVID-19 vaccine holds great promise for...

Could the COVID-19 Pandemic Have Led to Increased Rates of Psychosis? Earlier this week, the Guardian reported that the number of people...

“How exciting!” “Aren’t they gorgeous!” “How’s your sleep?!” Just a few of the typical responses new parents are greeted with after welcoming a new baby into the world. But what if, as a new parent, you don’t feel that your experience of having a baby is anywhere near the ‘typical’ experience that you had expected, or perhaps the media has led us to believe is the ‘norm’? For many new parents, having a baby is indeed a wonderful experience, filled with many highs and an abund

I want to start this with a huge thank you. To our friends and family who have been there with us, to the amazing NHS staff who helped bring our two children into the world, to the two children I am proud to call my daughters and to my partner, who gave me the ultimate reward in life, twice. Growing up I decided that I was going to be a dad at some point. And, when that happens, I will give my children my everything. At age 24, my partner (aged 25) brought Sakura into the wor

Metabolites derived from omega-3 fatty acids could help reduce depression: dream or reality? I am a senior postdoctoral neuroscientist at...

The Biology of Depression, and Being on the Path to Discovery I am a scientist and I work with a team of researchers who spend their...

An interview with Elliott Rae, founder of "Music.Football.Fatherhood." “It was 2015 and mental health wasn’t really a thing at that time”. These are the first words that Elliott says to me, immediately showing why his contribution to the mental health conversation in the last few years has been so crucial. It is not that mental health wasn’t a thing in 2015. It wasn’t a thing that men talked about. Elliott Rae is the founder of Music.Football.Fatherhood (MFF), a successful bl

Imparting a Love of Music — But Does it Go Beyond Enjoyment? I remember the feeling of euphoria the first time I played the drums. At...

Reflections from the President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists: Party Conference season I was pleased to be invited to write this...

Chasing Happiness After the week-long hustle in the office, sitting with a cup of masala tea on a Sunday morning always feels delightful...

The Immune Factor: A potential contributor to autism spectrum conditions? After almost two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, I bet we’ve...

When Anxiety Gets Physical I’m Alice. I’m a freelance writer and editor with anxiety and depression, fibromyalgia and functional...

Recognising empathy as a cornerstone for making a meaningful impact in a post-COVID world: The Shepley Parkin Empathy Award Emerging from...