On Monday, a pre-inquest review at Surrey coroner’s court will be told that Laura was born with Goldenhar syndrome, which caused the curvature of her spine, and had suffered mental health problems since her teenage years. After being detained under the Mental Health Act in 2006, she moved into a council flat in Sheerwater whilst … Read more
Adolescent humans and chimps seek risky option Just like humans, chimpanzees show rapid changes in hormone levels during adolescence, start forming new bonds with peers, show increases in aggression and compete for social status. To find out if other aspects of their behaviour mirrored that of human teens, researchers played two games with 40 wild-born chimps … Read more
According to the NHS, more than 8.3 million patients in England received an antidepressant drug in 2021/22. A widely-used class of antidepressants, particularly for persistent or severe cases, is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These drugs target serotonin, a chemical that carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and has been dubbed the ‘pleasure chemical’. … Read more
One in four young people who spent their adolescence in the shadow of Covid now has a mental health disorder, new data suggests. The figure has risen from one in six in just one year. The data from NHS Digital examines the impact of repeated lockdowns, school closures, and attempts to adjust to a “new … Read more
Mental health apps are so alluring, but once you’ve recorded your two-week streak and things are feeling a little more organized, it can be hard to keep going. It’s hard enough to keep up with journaling and a great bedtime routine, and many lovely self-help tools also lose their effectiveness when the novelty wears off. … Read more
“Gaslighting”, the practice of manipulating a person to second guess themself, has been named American English dictionary Merriam-Webster’s word of the year. Searches for the word on merriam-webster.com increased 1,740 per cent in 2022. However, unlike previous words of the year, there wasn’t a single event that drove spikes in curiosity. “It’s a word that … Read more
Louis Weinstock, a psychotherapist, recalls how a teenage girl with acute mental health problems, which included self-harm and suicidal thoughts, confided in him that she had started to question whether her suffering was real or not. She had seen so many of her friends posting about their “anxiety” and “depression” that “she felt like she … Read more