An article said that unhappiness among children seemed to be rising: but labelling it as depression and prescribing antidepressants was ineffective and possibly harmful.
Source: Sami Timimi, 'Rethinking childhood depression', British Medical Journal, 11 December 2004
Links: Article | BMJ press release
Date: 2004-Dec
The Mental Capacity Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to govern decision-making on behalf of other adults - both where they lost mental capacity at some point in their lives, and where the incapacitating condition had been present since birth. The government tabled late amendments (agreed with the Catholic Church) designed to ensure that the Bill could not be used to allow euthanasia.
Source: Mental Capacity Bill, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 14 December 2004, columns 1534-1641, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | Age Concern press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2004-Dec
Researchers reportedly found that the number of people who both abused drugs and suffered from mental health problems had risen by more than 60 per cent in five years.
Source: The Guardian, 16 November 2004
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2004-Nov
A report reviewed the nature and scope of the evidence base around depression and older people; evaluated current policy and practice responses; and identified gaps in the evidence base and areas for further work. It said that older people with depressive disorders were largely invisible within health and care services, and that many failed to seek or receive effective treatment.
Source: Mary Godfrey with Tracy Denby, Depression and Older People: Towards securing well-being in later life, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Nov
Psychiatrists said that the definition of mental disorder in the draft Mental Health Bill was only satisfactory if combined with extremely tight conditions and limitations.
Source: Evidence Submitted to the Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill, Royal College of Psychiatrists (020 7235 2351)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Oct
An article said that more than 1 in 20 people had experienced psychotic symptoms such as paranoid delusions or hallucinations.
Source: Louise Johns et al., 'Prevalence and correlates of self-reported psychotic symptoms in the British population', British Journal of Psychiatry, October 2004
Links: Abstract | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Oct
A government guide urged employers and public and voluntary organizations to tackle the stigma of mental health.
Source: Action on Mental Health: A guide to promoting social inclusion, Social Exclusion Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 8133)
Links: Guide (pdf) | SEU press release
Date: 2004-Oct
A study found that people with personality disorder were seven times more likely than people with other forms of mental illness to be convicted of a serious offence after discharge from high-security hospitals.
Source: Liz Jamieson and Pamela Taylor, 'A re-conviction study of special (high security) hospital patients', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 44 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2004-Oct
The Mental Capacity Bill was given a second reading. The Bill defined who could take decisions, and in which situations, on behalf of people with a mental incapacity. The Catholic Church expressed concern over the risk of allowing euthanasia 'by omission'.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 11 October 2004, columns 22-122, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 19 October 2004,Catholic Church in England & Wales (020 7901 4875)
Links: Hansard | HOC Library research paper (pdf) | MDA Briefing (pdf) | Mencap statement (pdf) | Age Concern press release | Catholic Church press release | Alzheimer's Society press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Oct
A report said that counselling and psychotherapy had gained mass acceptance, and had become a practical reality for a significant minority, with 21 per cent of the population having personal experience of therapy.
Source: The Age of Therapy: Exploring attitudes towards and acceptance of counselling and psychotherapy in modern Britain, Future Foundation (020 7250 3343)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Oct
A survey found that although 80 per cent of journalists interviewed had personal experience of, or knew someone with, a mental health problem, misconceptions about mental illness persisted: four out of five (80 per cent) agreed that coverage in general was negative and linked to violence.
Source: We Know But We Don't Really Want to Know, Rethink (formerly National Schizophrenia Fellowship) (020 7330 9100)
Links: Report | Rethink press release
Date: 2004-Sep
A briefing paper summarized research which found that the mental health of teenagers had sharply declined between 1974 and 1999. The chances that young people aged 15 would have behavioural problems - such as lying, stealing and being disobedient - had more than doubled. The rate of emotional problems such as anxiety and depression had increased by 70 per cent.
Source: Ann Hagell, Time Trends in Adolescent Well-being, Nuffield Foundation (020 7631 0566)
Links: Briefing (pdf) | Nuffield Foundation press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Sep
The government published a revised draft Mental Health Bill, which proposed procedures for dealing with those people with mental health problems who needed to be treated against their will to prevent them from harming themselves. The new draft changed the definition of mental disorder, to emphasize that it was the effect rather than the underlying cause which was important; and defined the conditions for compulsion differently, to raise the threshold for the health and safety of patients and to make clear that appropriate treatment must be available for the individual patient. But solicitors expressed concern about the broad definitions in the Bill, and said the scope for enforcing compulsory treatment was too wide. Campaigners said the Bill stigmatized and marginalized people with mental health problems.
Source: Improving Mental Health Law: Towards a new Mental Health Act, Department of Health (08701 555455) | Draft Mental Health Bill, Cm 6305, Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 8 September 2004, columns 118-119WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 8 September 2004, Law Society (020 7242 1222) | Press release 8 September 2004, Mental Health Foundation (020 7802 0300)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Text of draft Bill (pdf) | Explanatory notes (pdf) | Hansard | DH press release | Law Society press release | MHF press release | Mind press release | RCPsych press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Sep
The government published a preliminary draft of a Code of Practice to accompany the Mental Capacity Bill, when enacted (following the recommendation of a Parliamentary pre-legislative scrutiny committee).
Source: Mental Capacity Bill: Draft Code of Practice, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: Draft code (pdf)
Date: 2004-Sep
The Samaritans launched a strategy for the promotion of emotional health - through the provision of education and positive coping skills, and ultimately a change in societal attitudes to mental ill-health.
Source: Emotional Health Promotion Strategy: Changing our world, Samaritans (020 8394 8300)
Links: Strategy (pdf) | Samaritans press release
Date: 2004-Jun
A government report called for a major cultural shift in attitudes towards people with mental health problems. It outlined an action plan to address the full range of issues affecting people with mental health problems, rather than focusing solely on medical needs.
Source: Mental Health and Social Exclusion, Social Exclusion Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 14 June 2004, columns 17-18WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Hansard | SEU press release | Mind press release | RCPsych press release | Rethink press release | SCMH press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jun
The government announced the creation of a new network to improve the quality and co-ordination of research into mental ill-health.
Source: Press release 7 June 2004, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jun
A report said that the economic and social costs of mental illness in Northern Ireland amounted to nearly 3 billion in 2002-03 - more than total spending on health and social care for all health conditions.
Source: Counting the Cost: The economic and social costs of mental illness in Northern Ireland, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8352) and Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jun
A report presented the findings of a survey of the mental health of children and adolescents, aged 5-17, looked after by local authorities in England. The first part of the report focused on the prevalence rates of mental disorders among young people looked after by local authorities. The second part showed the way in which children and adolescents with particular disorders varied from those without mental disorders on a range of factors including their background, personal and familial characteristics, physical health, use of services and social functioning.
Source: Howard Meltzer et al., The Mental Health of Young People Looked after by Local Authorities in England, Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Jun
A survey found that 84 per cent of people with mental health problems felt isolated; and that 80 per cent reported that isolation impeded their recovery from mental health problems - confirming that people with mental health problems were among the most isolated in society.
Source: Not Alone? Isolation and mental distress, Mind (020 8519 2122)
Links: Report (pdf) | NIMHE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-May
Research found children had a good understanding of physical illness by the age of 5 in terms of causes and consequences. However, they did not develop a similar understanding about mental illness until they are 8-9 years old, and younger children did not always distinguish between mental and physical illness.
Source: Eithne Buchanan-Barrow and Martyn Barrett, The Development of Children's Conceptions of Mental Illness, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Apr
A report said that people with mental health problems faced poverty, homelessness and unemployment due to discrimination in the workplace and the benefits system.
Source: Lesley Cullen, Out of the Picture: CAB evidence on mental health and social exclusion, Citizens Advice (020 7833 2181)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Apr
An article said that young men intoxicated with drugs or drink were more likely than people with mental health problems to kill strangers, and that failures in the mental healthcare system were not to blame for the rising number of 'stranger homicides' in England and Wales.
Source: Jenny Shaw, et al., 'Mental illness in people who kill strangers: longitudinal study and national clinical survey', British Medical Journal, 27 March 2004
Links: Article | BMJ press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
A report outlined the action which the government and local agencies should be taking to promote mental health in young children. Evidence suggested that the attachment between a new-born baby and his or her primary carer was the foundation of lifelong mental health.
Source: Mental Health in Infancy, YoungMinds (020 7336 8445)
Links: Report | YoungMinds press release
Date: 2004-Mar
A paper argued that the government's Mental Health Bill would reform not only the relationship between individual psychiatric patients and the state, but also the relationship between the family and the state. The patient s nearest relative had important rights to object to compulsory admission and to seek discharge, all of which would be lost if the Bill in its existing form became law.
Source: Philip Fennell, Reducing Rights in the Name of Convention Compliance: Mental health law reform and the new human rights agenda, Cardiff Centre for Ethics, Law and Society/Cardiff University (029 2087 6102)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2004-Feb
The government responded to a report by a parliamentary scrutiny committee on the draft Mental Incapacity Bill. It said that it would publish a revised Bill (to be renamed the 'Mental Capacity Bill') taking account of the committee's suggestions. In particular, it would redraft the concept of a 'general authority', so as to clarify that this would not give anyone blanket authority to intervene in the life of someone who lacked capacity. (The draft Bill proposed a new statutory framework to protect vulnerable people, carers and professionals; and it defined who could take decisions in which situations.)
Source: The Government Response to the Scrutiny Committee s Report on the Draft Mental Incapacity Bill, Cm 6121, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | Committee report | Draft Bill (pdf) | MDA press release | MDA briefing (pdf)
Date: 2004-Feb
A briefing paper argued that mental health promotion could produce lasting benefits - strengthening individuals and communities, reducing barriers to good mental health, and promoting inclusion for people with mental health problems.
Source: Mental Health Promotion: Implementing standard one of the National Service Framework for mental health, Briefing 24, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8352)
Links: Briefing (pdf) | SCMH press release
Date: 2004-Jan