Young Girls Disproportionately Sectioned, Healthcare Staff Crisis & New Gut-Brain Connection Evidence
Good afternoon 👋
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This week we learned that nearly 3/4s of children detained under the mental health act are female1 that record numbers of healthcare staff are seeking crisis support2 and that targeting gut receptors prevents stress-induced psychiatric symptoms3
Plenty to discuss…
Opinion 🗣️
Another week, another set of shocking statistics.
It really is a struggle to hold onto hope during times like these and especially when it’s children that the system is seriously letting down too.
The knock-on effect of unresolved childhood trauma is almost like a life sentence for the individuals but it’s also likely to incur a serious practical and financial burden on a multitude of societal services as a result.
In a much welcomed ‘anti-positive-psychology’ stance; Chance Marshall, co-founder of The Self Space, has today declared that it’s International Sadness Day.
A lot of the problem with labelling mental health ailments as ‘disorders’ is that it automatically assumes a person is ‘abnormal’ when, in fact, the person will be experiencing a perfectly normal human reaction to the stresses and strains of life or the cards they’ve been dealt with since birth.
Exploring and not suppressing the sadder parts of the human experience is what helps us to develop greater emotional intelligence (EQ). Acknowledging emotions when they present, responding accordingly by ‘going with the flow’ and then recognising your reactive effect on others is the EQ trifecta.
I listened to one of the most powerful performances from a musician on the subject of mental illness and human nature, this week, and wow! Cutting straight through the noise, the song-in-question is titled Hi Ren by young British artist, Ren. It’s a visual and audible masterpiece that linguistic explanation is unworthy of, only feels.
Top stories 📰
United States
In new experiments with mice and humans, a team led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers says it has identified a particular intestinal immune cell that impacts the gut microbiome, which in turn may affect brain functions linked to stress-induced disorders such as depression.
Targeting changes mediated by these immune cells in the gut, with drugs or other therapies, could potentially bring about new ways to treat depression. Read more 🔗
United Kingdom
Of the 869 detentions of children under the Mental Health Act in 2021-22, almost three-quarters (71%) were female. It’s amid warnings that young people face a “postcode lottery” in their wait for treatment with the average reported time to care being 40 days yet up to 80 days and beyond in some regions.
The commissioner also looked into the quality of care for children in inpatient mental health units and found many environments where children did not have access to any activities and only a few hours of education in some places.
The report calls for the Department of Health & Social Care to roll out mental health support teams to every school by the end of 2025. Read more 🔗
United Kingdom
Unsurprisingly, given the nationwide strikes across the country of late, record levels of NHS staff are seeking mental health support as senior clinicians warn the crisis facing workers is “worse than the pandemic”.
1 in every 20 doctors and 1 in every 4 ambulance workers sought mental health support from the NHS’s Practitioner Health service last year and rising.
Most worrying about those statistics is that this past year was a 57% increase in GPs and medical doctors using the service than the previous year, which already was a 44% year-on-year increase before. Shocking. Read more 🔗
Spotlight 🔍
Community
The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has proposed the next step to modernise how California treats mental illness, substance use disorders and homelessness in the community.
The proposal sets out to build state-of-the-art residential mental health centres across the community to house Californians with mental illness and substance-use disorders and to create housing for homeless veterans. Finally, a step in the right direction with significant financial backing. Read more 🔗
Company
We’ve been impressed with The Self Space since they opened in London, England, and they now have a base in Manchester too. They call themselves “a contemporary mental health service” that offers therapy to individuals, couples and also companies, and their general vibe and ethos seem exactly aligned with what ‘the people’ need.
Campaigner
The light shines on Daniel Wilsher this week after his incredibly moving performance of an original song Learn To Live on the Channel 4 show, Piano Man. Danny is an inspiring speaker with his own company, Damaged Goods, and continues to turn his battles with mental health into education for the next generation.
Thanks for reading.
Charlie Penwarden
Mental Health Consultant @ Behaveo.com
References
Source: Two thirds of children detained under Mental Health Act are girls, children’s commissioner report warns. The Independent. Published March 14, 2023. Accessed March 21, 2023.