Dear readers, It has been a while since we have checked-in with you all on Medium, but we are back! We have some news for you. While we have been quiet, we have been working on something exciting… we have a new website and we will be moving there exclusively soon, leaving Medium. When thinking about our new website, the first thing that we would like to inspire is: community. Here at ITM we focus on bringing together everything you’ve always wanted to know about the world of mental health, art, and science. We value our community and continuously reach out to create a safe and positi ..read more

Can poetry help our mental health? Image source: Freepik In my last piece, I spoke about my personal experiences with poetry, and the life-changing impact it has had on me, so much so that I’ve written a new book on the links between verse and our emotional wellbeing. However, now I am here to share the evidence that attests to poetry’s power to heal our minds. Author’s own image I set about to find what research existed, and came across a number of studies which I divided into three categories, depending on the way we interact with the poems: reading or listening, writing ..read more

Poverty and Marginalisation — Forgotten Risk Factors That Never Went Away I’m going to let you into an open secret — social status determines the likelihood of having a mental illness, accessing mental healthcare, your experience of it and how well you recover (or not). Poverty makes you mentally ill and so does being from a minoritised group — there, the cat’s out of the bag. Photo by Elyse Chia on Unsplash I’m Clinical Director of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Clinical Director for Forensic Services at the Ma ..read more

Trigger Warning: This blog discusses sexual violence, rape and self-harm, which some readers may find distressing. Photo by Elina Fairytale on Pexels My name is Lindsay and I am from Los Angeles, California. I am a third year Marriage, Family, and Couples Therapy Trainee. I sought my own therapy when I was 18 years old as a result of a sexual assault that I experienced in high school. I turned to disordered eating and self-harming behaviors to cope with the trauma after the rape. I am writing this blog to share my journey from a small, scared, and dark-minded teenager to now a successful ..read more

As scientists, we stand on the shoulders of giants, so I think it’s the least we can do to acknowledge them. Many of those who impacted our lives the most are omitted from history lessons, and this is especially true for those who lived outside of Europe. I’m passionate about shining a light on those who are often left out of the narrative. I am an undergraduate neuroscience researcher, but in this three-part mini-series, I want to shine a light on a few of the great Islamic thinkers and the ways that their work impacted modern medicine and psychology. I believe that a comprehensive and i ..read more

Another new year, another new New Year’s resolution. With every January comes a fresh new start, a new beginning, an opportunity to reinvent ourselves. It’s near impossible to resist the urge to announce, ‘this year will be different!’ Those five minutes on the 1st of January, when you pick up pen and paper and frantically jot down your goals for the coming twelve months, is an intoxicating time of hope. Of wonder. Of determined, dogged enthusiasm. In fact, just writing down that list feels like an achievement in itself. However, according to Forbes magazine, 80% of New Year’s resolutions ..read more

Rituals, traditions and ceremonies — festive reflections Photo by jeshoots.com on Pexels When I was growing up, “Merry Christmas” (or “Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia” in Polish, where I am from), was the traditional way of sharing festive wishes, in the unity of a joint celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth (Poland is a catholic country). As a grown-up, and a scientist at that, I more often find myself wishing others “Happy holidays” and I join others in the tradition to celebrate…hmm, celebrate what? I am a mental health scientist, and, in this blog, I will talk about the psychology of r ..read more

Christmas is fast approaching, with just a couple of more days to go until many of us are sat around tables with mismatched chairs from various people’s houses, laughing, and catching up over food. For many ‘it’s the most wonderful time of year’, but for others, the holidays can be a time for increased food anxiety and heightened diet talk as we transition from Christmas to the New Year. And this transition comes with the annual claim of ‘New Year, new me!’ As someone who has since recovered from an eating disorder, topics around body image and healthy relationships with food are very imp ..read more

This is the third article of the brand-new series inspired by EU-PEARL (EUropean-Patient-cEntric clinicAl tRial pLatforms). The EU-PEARL project aims to shape the future of clinical trials, creating a framework for platform trials. Photo by André Roma on Unsplash I started my journey in psychiatric research a few years ago. My interest is understanding the biological aspects of psychiatric conditions. Thus, every alteration in the body that might be linked with abnormal mental functioning, both as a cause and a consequence. Here, I would like to share some thoughts on precision medic ..read more

Photo by Jacopo Maia on Unsplash What do you think of when you think about food? How does it taste, and what does it smell like? Does it look appealing, and will it satisfy my cravings? Have you ever thought about what else your mid-morning snack might contain? If I told you it contained traces of weedkiller that might increase your risks of depression, would you still eat it? I’m a junior doctor who recently visited the Stress, Psychiatry and Immunology (SPI) lab at King’s College London. I decided to write this article to raise awareness of a rarely publicised issue which I believe ..read more