Many men do seek help prior to suicide, but are services adequately designed to assess men’s needs?

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Cara Richardson summarises a qualitative photovoice study, which finds that some men who died by suicide did seek help before their death, but the help given was often ineffective.

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Not all wealth is health: how does parental wealth affect children’s cognitive ability, mental and physical health?

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Vishal Bhavsar reviews a cohort study which finds that greater parental housing wealth was associated with fewer emotional and behavioural problems in children.

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Social security? Evidence about benefits and mental health

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Andy Bell summarises a collection of recent academic research papers that have sought to understand the impact of a range of changes to the UK benefits system on people’s mental health.

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Mental health and benefits insecurity

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Consultant psychiatrist Dr Dieneke Hubbeling critically analyses a recent study looking at mental health benefits insecurity, and concludes that it is important for clinicians to realise that there is probably no such thing as benefits security.

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Poverty causes mental illness and vice versa: how can we end this vicious cycle?

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Andy Bell summarises a new international report that presents the causal links and mechanisms of action between poverty, anxiety and depression.

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Alcohol: a drug in a class of its own

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Ian Hamilton summarises a systematic review published last week, which explores the role of alcohol use and drinking patterns in socioeconomic inequalities in mortality.

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Universal Credit increases mental health problems, but not employment

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Alan Simpson summarises a recent longitudinal study that explores the impact that UK welfare reform, specifically Universal Credit, has had on the mental health of people across England, Scotland and Wales.

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Mental health scientists stand up to COVID-19

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Alexandra Pitman, Sonia Johnson and Michael Bloomfield respond to the mental health and COVID-19 research priorities set out in a new position paper published in The Lancet Psychiatry on 15th April 2020.

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Determinants of mental health: a briefing from the Commission for Equality in Mental Health

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Noortje Uphoff summarises a briefing from the Commission for Equality in Mental Health, which outlines how people from disadvantaged groups are more likely to be exposed to the factors that have a negative impact on our mental health.

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Population-based approaches to improving mental health: a view from the USA

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David Gunnell writes his debut elf blog on a recent review of population-based approaches to mental health. He calls for joined-up strategies across Government Departments to prevent mental illness and improve population mental health.

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