Blog

Expert by Experience? What’s in a name?

I avoid identifying myself as an ‘expert by experience’ – a common label nowadays for mental health service users which I question. If I was to be called an ‘expert by experience’, what exactly would I be an expert on? On compulsory hospitalisation (sectioning) and how it can destroy one’s confidence perhaps? Read more


Too much coercion in mental health services…

This post follows on from the previous post that looked at the rising tide of compulsory psychiatric admissions in the UK in the last 2 decades, as well as at the potential role of Community Treatment Orders (compulsory care in the community) in affecting this rapid increase in compulsory admissions. Read more


Can we reverse the rising tide of compulsory psychiatric admissions in the UK and can CTOs play a part?

I recently came across a commentary published in The Lancet (journal), entitled ‘Can we reverse the rising tide of compulsory admissions?’. In this short paper, the author (Sonia Johnson) outlines potential explanations for the rising tide of compulsory psychiatric admissions in the UK in the last 2 decades, and looks at the potential role of Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) in affecting this rapid increase in compulsory admissions. Read more



From Willow Ward to academia: the identity and other struggles of a researcher service user

On 12 April I did a presentation at the Psychosis Research Unit Spring Meeting at Manchester University. My paper, entitled ‘From Willow Ward to academia: the identity and other struggles of a researcher service user‘, focused on  the identity and other struggles that I have had to fight (and I am still fighting) in my journey back to academic research following my mental health crisis in 2008-2010. Read more