I've been looking at this often (if you sign up you get a regular email update/link);  http://www.disabilityscoop.com/ .  This is a US site and seems mainly geared towards learning disability, autism... which I suppose again just raises how we are working to inherited late nineteenth.early twentieth century nosology/taxonomy.  I would argue that there is so much in shared experience, and in being psychologically othered (which is…

This is a film about memory loss in old age. The title of the film ‘Primum non forgetful’ explores part of the Hippocratic Oath when it comes to the medical approach to memory loss. Primum non nocere, as stated by Hippocrates, translates as: first, above all, do no harm. This film, Primum non forgetful, argues that we have lost sight of the range of reasons behind forgetfulness in age.

This film is presented in two parts: the first part explores the current drive and…

See here for an updated version of mhhe's annotated reading list.

This group is for all who are passionate about sustaining critical and creative approaches to mental health practice, in situations which can feel constraining. Open to mental health practitioners, students, educators, service users and carers and others with an interest in engaging in discussion and debate, reciprocal learning and support. We meet on the last Monday of the month from 6-8pm at the Friends Meeting House in Lancaster. 

Further details:…

The Mental Health Foundation has launched a major inquiry into the Future of Mental Health Services in the UK.  They want to explore what mental health services might look like in 20 – 30 years’ time. This will involve looking ahead to assess the challenges mental health services may face in the future, and thinking creatively about the ways services can meet these challenges. It is hoped that the findings will help ensure that all mental health services are fit for purpose in the 21st…

Useful materials for generating debate in teaching:

My daughter the schizophrenic - Guardian article

Response by Gordon Milson and Sarah Brennan (Young Minds)…

Historically young people experiencing a first episode of psychosis found it difficult to obtain effective treatment. The film invites to viewer to see the world through the eyes of Karl, a 20 year old student suffering with psychosis.  The film was made to raise awareness of psychosis, reduce the stigma and reduce the delay in getting treatment.  It was made in conjunction with North Staffordshire Early Intervention in Psychosis Team.…

At the age of 19 Aidan Shingler was diagnosed as having paranoid schizophrenia.  In this film he talks about his attitude towards this diagnosis and uses animation to parody and satirise psychiastrists and psychiatry.

View film here.

This guideline covers the assessment and management of adults and young people (aged 14 years and older) who have a clinical diagnosis of psychosis with coexisting substance misuse.

Summary from the Mental Elf and download link 

This group meets from 6-8 pm on the last Monday of each month at the Friends Meeting House in Lancaster and is for all who are passionate about sustaining creative and critical practice in mental health.

Open to mental health practitioners, students, educators, service users and carers and others with an interest in engaging in discussion and debate, reciprocal learning and support.

• Share critical and creative ideas and develop strategies for putting them into…

The Ragged University project, underpinned by the concept of free education and self learning, delivers free and informal public talks in social spaces, such as pubs, cafes and libraries, around the UK, as well as uses available technology for open access learning http://www.ragged-online.com/about/ . There is a Ragged University Event (public talks) in Manchester on 19th February 2013. See…

Critical Pedagogies: Equality and Diversity in a Changing Institution

Interdisciplinary Symposium at the University of Edinburgh, 6th Sept 2013

Website

Keynote speaker: Professor Heidi Mirza (University of London)

Critical pedagogies challenge the notion that knowledge and teaching methods can be value-neutral. Our relationships within…

Janet Frame was New Zealand's best known but least public author. The author of twelve novels, four story collections, one book of poetry and three volumes of autobiography, even at the height of her success Frame shunned publicity, which had the effect of making the media and her readership even more intrusively interested.

Frame's story is extraordinary. As her biographer Michael King said, "her family was an anvil on which disasters fell". But it was the issue of Frame's mental…