The Mental Elf

23/07/2025

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23/07/2025

Are standardised diagnostic questionnaires the answer to long CAMHS waiting lists and patchy diagnoses?

This new Mental Elf blog looks at a large UK trial testing the DAWBA (Development and Wellbeing Assessment) tool in children and young people’s mental health services. The tool was widely completed by families, but it didn’t lead to more diagnoses, better outcomes, or lower costs.

So what’s going on? Did clinicians not use the reports? Are diagnoses being avoided? Or are digital tools being oversold?

Read the blog and decide for yourself 👉 https://buff.ly/7g4CGlI

22/07/2025

“Behaviour is the language of trauma.” – Gross, 2022
A new Mental Elf blog explores the link between childhood adversity and psychosis, based on a huge new review of 204 studies.

🧠 The review shows that people who experienced trauma as children – especially emotional abuse or neglect – are nearly three times more likely to develop psychosis later in life.

It also found that psychosis symptoms emerge nearly 10 months earlier in those exposed to early adversity. Importantly, these patterns were seen in both men and women.

The evidence reinforces the urgent need for trauma-informed mental health services that recognise how early life experiences shape risk and recovery.

We can’t treat psychosis in isolation from the social and emotional context in which it often begins.

Read more here: https://buff.ly/St3GU4o

21/07/2025

🧠💼 “It would be easier if they had a broken leg.”

That’s how one clinician described the stigma and shame workers face when returning to work after a mental health issue.

This blog looks at a new Finnish study exploring a referral system that connects psychiatrists and occupational health teams. It aimed to improve support for people returning to work — but found several barriers in the way.

🚧 Confusion over roles
📉 Fewer referrals than expected
😞 Stigma in the workplace
📡 Weak collaboration systems

There were also some positives — shared belief in the model and good will among professionals. But the study also noted a crucial gap: no patient voices.

If return-to-work care isn’t shaped around the needs of workers, who is it really for?

👉 Read the full blog: https://buff.ly/1P4sZpN

18/07/2025

AWARE and INSPIRE? School mental health trials show mixed results and unexpected harms

The Education for Wellbeing programme was one of England’s biggest school mental health initiatives, involving over 30,000 pupils.

The AWARE and INSPIRE trials tested universal approaches like mindfulness, relaxation, and mental health literacy programmes.

Results were disappointing: few lasting benefits, and some surprising harms — particularly for the most vulnerable young people.

💬 Should we rethink universal mental health interventions in schools?

Read and join the discussion: https://buff.ly/kq8B4Ch

17/07/2025

Psychosis stigma in the Middle East: shining a light on hidden struggles

A new systematic review by Tabar and colleagues (2025) has shown that people with psychosis and their families in Middle Eastern communities often experience rejection, isolation, and harmful labels.

While there is some evidence that targeted anti-stigma interventions can help, much more work is needed to improve mental health literacy and support social integration.

Our latest blog explores these findings and what they mean for mental health practice.

💬 What do you think are the biggest barriers to reducing stigma in your community?

Read and comment: https://buff.ly/lMTscKq

16/07/2025

🧬 Groundbreaking new research on bipolar disorder genetics

The largest study of its kind analysed data from over 158,000 people with bipolar disorder and almost 2.8 million controls.

Researchers identified 289 significant genetic loci, including 267 that had never been reported before. They also highlighted brain and synaptic pathways, and even pointed to potential gut involvement.

These insights could one day help improve risk prediction and guide more personalised treatments.

Read Emiliana’s full blog summary here: https://buff.ly/BO7jetf

14/07/2025

🔍 New research from the Netherlands shows that stigma around mental health disclosure is a major barrier to work.

A “Conceal or Reveal” tool helped people weigh up the pros and cons of disclosure and boosted their chances of employment — but only when actually used!

📈 Clients in the intervention group found and kept jobs at twice the rate of the control group.

It’s time to embed these tools into everyday practice and support employment specialists to tackle the disclosure dilemma with confidence.

Read more: https://buff.ly/HDYCV8N

💬 Would you feel comfortable discussing mental health disclosure with an employment adviser?

11/07/2025

Inequity in action: Why minoritised ethnic patients are more often rapidly tranquilised — and what needs to change

A major new review shows patients from minoritised ethnic communities are 32% more likely to be rapidly tranquilised in mental health hospitals than white patients.

This is about more than safety — it’s about racism, bias, and deeply ingrained systemic problems.

We need to move beyond “cultural sensitivity” and address these issues at their roots.

Here’s what needs to change:
✅ Train staff to recognise and challenge unconscious and institutional bias.
✅ Expand early intervention to reduce crises and avoid restrictive practices.
✅ Invest in alternative de-escalation options like trauma-informed care, sensory rooms, and peer support.
✅ Stop using vague “cultural” explanations to justify disparities.
✅ Co-create care approaches with communities, ensuring inclusivity and human rights at the core.
✅ Equip professionals to spot and address their own decision-making biases.
✅ Provide equitable access to culturally adapted therapies and alternatives to RT.

This isn’t a new problem — it’s a longstanding injustice. We need collective action to create fair and compassionate mental health care.

💬 How do we make this happen?

Read more: https://buff.ly/TuGrU87

10/07/2025

🚨 Teen drinking and drug use might seem like “just a phase,” but new research says otherwise.

A big study from Denmark found that the more substances teens try, the more likely they are to struggle with mental health problems later — including depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts.

Alcohol is still the most common, but many young people are also experimenting with to***co, cannabis, and even prescription meds.

Parents, carers, and educators — this is a wake-up call. The choices teens make today can have implications tomorrow.

💚 Read more about what this means and how we can help young people reduce their risk of future mental health problems: https://buff.ly/IZmKwDz

09/07/2025

Psychedelic therapies are full of promise – but what’s needed to take them from research to real-world care?

A new Mental Elf blog outlines five urgent priorities for the field, from improving trial design to preparing health systems.

Written by experts across clinical trials, psychotherapy, and regulation, it’s a call for action grounded in evidence, not hype.

📌 A short, accessible read
📖 Read it now: https://buff.ly/nBGYa3B

08/07/2025

How do we value subjective experiences in mental health research?

Are people’s experiences of depression, anxiety and psychosis properly integrated into mental health research?

Not really.

The SUNRISE team has spent the past 10 months exploring this question, commissioned by the Wellcome Trust. They’ve spoken with phenomenologists, neuroscientists, sociologists, and many others.

It’s clear that subjective experiences shape how researchers think, feel, and decide what questions to ask. Yet, this work remains undervalued in traditional hierarchies of evidence.

The SUNRISE team argues it’s time to move beyond the old “objective vs subjective” divide and bring real human experiences to the centre of science. They also call for more interdisciplinary research, including that led or co-produced by people with lived experience.

Mental health researchers are invited to share their perspectives.

Read the full blog to learn more about where this work could lead: https://buff.ly/t5EyJzN

👉 Complete the survey before 28 July: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/774USE/