WaMH in PC's blog

Here are a couple of mental health news stories which caught our eye this weekend and we thought you might find interesting.

Both come from the Guardian website's Science section the first deals with the issue of the legal restraints imposed by UK law on dealing with depression and the second looks at the problems surrounding our current way of diagnosing certain mental conditions.

The first story is entitled Magic mushrooms' psychedelic ingredient could help treat people with severe depression and was penned by the website's Science Editor Robin McKie.

The story looks at how drugs derived from magic mushrooms - which contain could psilocybin - could help treat people with severe depression but according to Professor David Nutt of Imperial College London the UK's strict drugs laws are preventing research into this area.

Professor Nutt - who was sacked as the chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2009 after clashing with government ministers on the dangers and classification of illicit drugs - has found that psilocybin appears to stop patients suffering from depression from dwelling on themselves and their own perceived inadequacies and makes them feel happier just weeks after taking the drug.

However, his ongoing researach into this area is encounterating difficulties as magic mushrooms - and therefore psilocybin - are rated as a class-A drug and the active chemical ingredient cannot be manufactured unless a special licence is granted.

The second news was covered by the regular Guardian columnist Vaughan Bell who is visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.

In his weekend column called News from the borders of mental illness he discusses new research which is challenging the polarised views of how best to define, diagnose and treat conditions such as schizophrenia.

He discusses the issues surrounding the classification of "mental illness" and whether this is fundamentally flawed and the key issue of whether different diagnoses such as schizophrenia, bipolar or depression represent distinct disorders have specific causes or are just convenient ways of dividing up these conditions for the purposes of treatment.

If you have a mental health news story or event you would like us to highlight on this blog please contact us via email at lhills@rcgp.org.uk or on 029 2050 4516.

Our parent organisation has helped launch the first practical guide to help GPs navigate their way around the ethical dilemmas of using social media.

The new Social Media Highway Code was launched in the middle of March and has been described as "a practical and encouraging guide for doctors and other healthcare professionals who use social media".

Published by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) - in collaboration with Doctors.net.uk and LimeGreen Media - it has been drawn up to ensure doctors make the most of their online communications whilst meeting their professional obligations and protecting their patients' confidentiality at the same time.

The document is a collection of practical and supportive advice based around a 10-point plan created by a range of people with an interest in social media including doctors, nurses, journalists, lawyers, students and patients.

It is intended to help and encourage healthcare professionals to communicate effectively using various social media channels whilst adhering to the conventions that their patients, their colleagues and the public might reasonably expect.

Since its launch healthcare professionals from all over the world have been providing feedback through Twitter, Facebook and the online forums on Doctors.net.uk.

This feedback has now been incorporated into the Code and there has been interest in adapting the content for education and other professionals.

For further information please visit the Doctors in the fast lane on social media guidance page on the RCGP website or download a copy of the Social Media Highway Code from the following Social Media page on the same website.

Here are some further detaills about the second winner of our 2013 Bursaries programme which each year awards small grants of up to £3,000 to successful applicants from within the primary care mental health sector across Wales.

Our second successful bursary recipient was the The Powys Children and Young Peoples Bibliotherpy Scheme - Reading Buddy Intervention project which is being run by a partnership between CAMHS and Powys Children and Young Peoples Partnership (CYPP) until the end of March 2015.

The project aims to empower children and young people to more effectively communicate their thoughts and feelings and make changes to improve their mental health and well-being.

The overall goal is to produce a prescription "bibliotherapy scheme" which guides children and young people to access self-help material and produce a therapeutic outcome through an increase knowledge and understanding about mental health issues.

Since the programme's inception in 2003 there have been 24 recipients and this year we decided to award this sum to projects which encourage innovation in the local delivery of Part 1 of the Mental Health (Wales) Measure and raising awareness of mental health or well-being issues.

For further information about the Powys CYPP project please read and download the following document - The Powys Children and Young Peoples Bibliotherpy Scheme - Reading Buddy Intervention.

Since our Bursary programme's inception in 2003 there have been 24 recipients who have each received up to a maximum of £3,000.

Applications were open to anyone with a link to Primary Care Mental Health in Wales and those able to demonstrate a clear and justifiable benefit in relation to the aims of our bursaries programme.

If you're interested in finding out more about our bursaries please visit our Bursaries section or contact us via email at lhills@rcgp.org.uk or on 029 2050 4516.