So far this year, each issue of the magazine took a particular theme. We hope you found them interesting. We apologise to anyone who has sent in a contribution not on one of those themes, and not had much of an acknowledgement. This issue catches up on some of the backlog of material we have on a variety of topics, and we hope soon to publish more.

Because hardly anyone seems aware of the problem – and even fewer are bothered by it – and since it affects the mental and physical wellbeing and behaviour of so many patients all over the world, perhaps the most important material we have ever published in Asylum is the information on genetics, psychiatric drugs and ‘side-effects’ which has been provided by Catherine Clarke (See Asylum 17.2 and 17.3).

When I say ‘hardly anyone’ and ‘even fewer’, I mean (in the UK, at least) everyone from policy makers (e.g., NICE), psychiatrists, doctors and mental health workers in general, to Joe Public and the human guinea-pigs who are the patients. In this issue we publish another article from Catherine, this time concerning research which indicates genetic differences within the population for the propensity of the neuroleptic drugs to cause a patient to become violent.

You can probably imagine the implications of this – especially, it seems, for certain sections of the BME population. But we think you will fnd the other articles in this issue just as interesting.

The editors certainly did. It’s a good mix of topics, and mainly provided by people who are (or were) on the receiving end of the mental health and psychiatric services. While much of it is critical, it also seems to emanate a lot of spirit and optimism. So it’s kind of bad news but also really good news … at least amongst these contributors.

Phil Virden

Download Volume 20 No 3

Contents

• Editorial Phil Virden
• Poems Ben Gray
• Publication Of The New Edition Of The Psychiatric Bible:
• Reactions To Dsm-5
• News Item: Psychologists Oppose Biomedical Model
• More Harm Than Good Mental Health Europe
• Book Review Dwight Garner
• Neuroleptic Drugs And Patient Violence Catherine Clarke & Jan Evans.
• Dialogue And Debate In Preston William Park
• Fear And Loathing In The Con Dem Nation Michelle Brown
• Poem: Royal College Of Psychiatric Patients. Jo Mcfarlane
• Bigots Amongst The Anti-Capitalists Ronny
• Mad Love: Interview With ‘the Vacuum Cleaner’
• Out Of Sight: Notes On Obstacles To Community In A Philadelphia Association Community Household. Meg Kelly.
• The Recovery Star Dr. Joanna, Dip. Loon
• We Are All Asylum Seekers Now. David Morgan
• A Journey Through Madness And Back: How I Became Involved In Asylum Magazine And What This Has Meant For Me. Dina Poursanidou
• Patients Take Control: A Critical Period In A Day Centre Worker’s Life, And Co-Production In The Era Of The Asylums Mark Bertram
• News And Comments
• A Mad Dictionary
• The Ferguson Safety Smock For Suicidal Inmates And Patients. Dr Joanna
• Antidepressant Prayer Flags Caiti Berry