Dafni Katsampa

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Dafni is a Trainee Clinical Psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire. She holds a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences from UCL. Prior to training, Dafniworked at Samaritans –Online Harms and led on research to understand the impact of self-harm and suicide content and create safer online spaces for young people. She was also involved as an early career researcher with the UKRI-funded MARCH Network at UCL aiming to understand how community-based approaches prevent and treat mental health difficulties. Dafni is very passionate about social justice, and her research and clinical interests include suicide prevention, social determinants and their impact on mental health with a particular focus on migration, health inequalities and cultural/community engagement.

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Lay people intervening and preventing suicide in a public place: how is it done and is it effective?

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Dafni Katsampa and Ioana Crivatu explore a qualitative paper. which gives accounts from both survivors and interveners of a suicide attempt in a public place.

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Suicide risk: could migration be a protective factor?

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Dafni Katsampa’s latest blog looks at a new study exploring the influence of migration on risk of suicide in refugees in Sweden.

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“Mens sana in corpore sano”: outdoor activities can shape the body and mind

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Francesca Bentivegna and Dafni Katsampa summarise a recent mixed methods study, which looks at the mental health benefits of purposeful activities in public green spaces in urban and semi-urban neighbourhoods.

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Knitting makes me happy

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Dafni Katsampa reviews a recent qualitative study that examines the perceived benefits of knitting and its role in the lives of people who self-identified as passionate knitters.

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Mental illness in clinical psychologists: stigma stops people from seeking help

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Dafni Katsampa considers how mental health problems can affect clinical psychologists, and the impact that stigma has on disclosure and help-seeking.

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Risk factors for suicide in people with bipolar disorder

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Dafni Katsampa explores a recent prospective cohort study of risk factors for suicide in bipolar disorder, which finds significant variation in risk factors in men and women.

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Can smoking cessation improve cognitive functioning in people with psychosis?

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Dafni Katsampa explores a recent prospective cohort study that investigates the association between smoking behaviour and cognitive functioning in patients with psychosis, their siblings and healthy control subjects.

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Can museums help prevent dementia?

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Dafni Katsampa and Derek Tracy get all cultured and summarise a retrospective cohort study of museum attendance and dementia incidence, which suggests that cultural engagement may help protect us from cognitive decline.

The research is led by Daisy Fancourt who heads up the new MARCH Network which is launching later this month.

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