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The big news this week is the announcement in the King’s Speech that the government is finally to implement reform of the 1983 Mental Health Act, offering greater protection for people with severe mental health problems and giving them greater choice about their care. The reforms coincide with publication of new statistics showing that 20,897 people were subject to the Mental Health Act, including 15,349 people detained in hospital, at the end of April. There have been many stories about the adverse effect of social media on young people’s mental health, and now Meta is to allow researchers to study Instagram data to see how the platform might affect mental wellbeing. A small study suggests that brain stimulation can alleviate symptoms in women with postnatal depression.
Two new computer games focus on mental health
A new virtual escape game, designed by game developers, scientists and film-makers, aims to challenge prejudices about obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
King’s speech announces long-awaited reform of Mental Health Act, waiting times and prevention
The new government will reform the Mental Health Act so that it is “fit for the twenty-first century,” it was announced in the King’s Speech today.
New AI tools could speed up cancer diagnosis – and improve treatment
A new method of using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict cancer cell behaviour, potentially improving diagnosis and treatment, has been developed by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Instagram will let researchers use its data to study mental health
Instagram is to allow a group of researchers to have access to its data so that they can study how use of the social media platform affects the mental health of teenagers and young adults.
The pilot programme, which has been launched in partnership with the Center for Open Science (COS), offers researchers access to Instagram data for up to six months, which may include information on how many accounts a young person follows, how much they use Instagram and their account settings. Meta, which owns Instagram, has said it won’t provide researchers with access to a user’s demographic information, nor will it include the contents of their posts, comments, or messages.
COS will choose up to seven research proposals in different areas related to the mental health of teens. Researchers must also recruit the teen participants and obtain their parents’ permission.
Moving house increases risk of depression, study finds
Moving house a “significant” number of times before the age of 15 can increase the likelihood of being diagnosed depression, according to a new study by the University of Plymouth.
Researchers at the university, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Manchester and Aarhus University, analysed the residential locations of more than a million people born in Denmark between 1981 and 2001.
They found that children who move once between ages 10 to 15 are 41% more likely to be diagnosed with depression than those who do not move. If a child moved twice or more between the ages of 10 and 15, the risk rose to about 61%, they added.
Professor Clive Sabel, of the University of Plymouth, said: “During those formative years, children are building their social networks through school, sports groups or other activities. Each time they have to adapt to something new, it can be disruptive, so we potentially need to find new ways to help people overcome those challenges.”
Stimulation to the brain can help beat post-natal depression, research finds
A new treatment that involves stimulating the brain can ease symptoms for women with postnatal depression, according to a new study.
The Flow device uses a brain stimulation technique known as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), delivered through a headset, to target a region of the brain associated with depression.
Patients only need to use the device for 30 minutes of the day and it does not cause serious side effects.
Clinicians at Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust observed 13 female patients diagnosed with depression who used the Flow device for a minimum of five weeks. Twelve participants said they noticed improvements in their symptoms after using Flow consistently
Mental health training for managers ‘could save millions in lost sick days,’ study shows
Mental health training for line managers could save employers millions of pounds in lost sick days every year, a new study has suggested.
Organisations that offer mental wellness training to managers experienced better customer service and improved employee retention and recruitment. They also experienced reduced long-term sickness absence, according to the study by the University of Nottingham.
The researchers analysed anonymous survey data from thousands of firms in England collected between 2020 and 2023 by the Warwick Business School’s Enterprise Research Centre. The survey included questions about mental health and wellbeing practices followed by each company.
Professor Holly Blake, who led the study, said: “Mental ill health at work is costly to organisations in terms of sickness absence and lost productivity. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that training line managers in mental health is linked to better business outcomes.”
NHS charity launches living history mental health project
Heads On, the official charity for Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, is to launch an oral history project called Living Histories.
The aim of the project is to capture the life stories of service users and staff with experience of NHS mental health services in Sussex. Heads on is looking for volunteers to be trained as oral historians to collect stories across the county.
Living Histories will record and preserve the whole life stories of NHS mental health staff and service users in Sussex, from the closure of the old asylums in the 1980s, up to and including the Covid-19 pandemic.
Once the project is completed, it will be followed by live and online exhibitions, a podcast and a permanent archive at The Keep, part of the Mass Observation Archive at the University of Sussex.
Nearly two million people in contact with mental health services, NHS Digital figures show
New figures from NHS Digital show that 1.9m people were in contact with mental health services at the end of April, the majority of whom (1.36m) were in contact with adult mental health services.
The data also shows that 20,897 people were subject to the Mental Health Act, including 15,349 people detained in hospital, at the end of April.
Gemma Byrne, policy and campaigns manager at the mental health charity Mind, said: “About 20,000 people – the capacity of the 02 Arena in London – were held against their will for treatment under the Mental Health Act in April alone. These are people so unwell that they were at risk of harm to themselves or others. With huge gaps in community care and the cost-of-living continuing to bite, it’s clear more of us are reaching crisis point than ever before.
“These figures are the most up-to-date picture we have of the nation’s mental health – and we are a nation in crisis. Too many people are being sectioned under an outdated law which enables shameful, racist injustices; often in run-down, unsafe hospitals that aren’t fit for purpose.”