Tag: mental health

Black Cat Stories: hard to home and just as likely to honk in your shoe as purr in your faceLeave a comment

Madness

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I want to preface this story with some thoughts. The title was a given, a course exercise, and not a choice as such, but I did have a choice about where I went with it. As a professional working for a large mental health and learning disability Trust and in the context of current campaigns to eliminate stigma, I’m bound to say something about how I arrived at this grim image. The exercise was one of perspective and the result is fiction, not fact. That said, I have worked as a nurse in conditions not dissimilar from these and observed … Continue reading Madness

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Bipolar, MedicationLeave a comment

The Quest For The Creative: or, I’m Still Here

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Originally posted on Shoshana Kessock:
Let’s talk about depression. Shall we call these depression updates? In the grand scheme of the universe, being someone who is bi-polar comes with a lot of funny side effects. If you’re unmedicated, there’s a lot of bouncing around when manic and symptoms that come with it, and the depressive slide that comes with the other end of the spectrum. When you are medicated, however, there are side effects. And the trade off one has becomes a part of your life. We are approaching eighteen months of me being on medication for my bi-polar disorder. For… Continue reading The Quest For The Creative: or, I’m Still Here

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halloweenLeave a comment

Thorpe Park: the tricky wiki bit they removed

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I should have taken a screenshot but I intended to post this clip so I copied it for pasting. The last sentence of the first paragraph along with a summarising link, has been removed [2 below which now points elsewhere]. See Halloween: What’s wrong with evoking the “scary mental patient” stereotype? for an update. Thorpe Park is a theme park in Chertsey, Surrey, England, UK. After demolition of the Thorpe Park Estate in the 1930s, the site became a gravel pit. Thorpe Park was built in 1979 on the gravel pit which was partially flooded, creating a water-based theme for the park. The park’s first large roller … Continue reading Thorpe Park: the tricky wiki bit they removed

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UncategorizedLeave a comment

Halloween: What’s wrong with evoking the “scarey mental patient” stereotype?

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Originally posted on Sectioned:
. Update: Scroll down for new additions (flagged with the handy yellow update picture), including links to numerous other people’s posts, a defence by a theme park enthusiast & an overview by a theme park industry website . On Thursday, it came to the attention of the lovely twitter people that one of Britain’s major theme parks, Thorpe Park, had a “scary mental patient” experience as part of its Halloween offering. It was called Asylum. Just as when, a few weeks ago, Asda, Tesco and Amazon marketed their “mental patient fancy dress costumes”, the mental health… Continue reading Halloween: What’s wrong with evoking the “scarey mental patient” stereotype?

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UncategorizedLeave a comment

Dear Thorpe Park: re shockingly insensitive “Asylum” event

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Originally posted on purplepersuasion:
Dear Guest Services, I understand that you plan to plan to run a Fright NIght event entitled “The Asylum.” Your website promises “a chaotic environment of noise, light and like action” where guests must “watch [their] back as [they] encounter dead ends, hidden corners and eyes that watch you from the shadows.” I was deeply shocked when I read this, and expressed concern to your Twitter person, who replied, “The Asylum represents general chaos and scary fun and was never meant to cause offence.” Do you have any idea what asylums are really like? I grew… Continue reading Dear Thorpe Park: re shockingly insensitive “Asylum” event

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learning disabilities, MHID, Sussex PartnershipLeave a comment

IASSID MHID conference, Manchester

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

This three day event, bringing together the best of mental health and learning disability (intellectual disability) research and practice, opens on September 1st. I was expecting to deliver our presentation (Second Life, People with Learning Disabilities, and Capacity to Consent: Conboy-Hill, Taylor, and Hall) outlining the results of our NIHR funded study, but unfortunately, I am not able to attend for family reasons. Nicky Gregory, a courageous colleague, will be fronting it up for me, and hoping that all the technical wizardry does its job. If it does, she will be able to sit back and let it play. The videos will tell the story as well as anything; the narration should do … Continue reading IASSID MHID conference, Manchester

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best interests, capacity to consent, health care, learning disabilities, mental capacity act 2005, vulnerable adultsLeave a comment

Samantha Backler – died of starvation

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Samantha was a 29 year old woman with cerebral palsy who was in the sole care of her mother. It is thought that she died as a result of being unable to care for herself or to call for help when her mother died suddenly. This was in 2010. There had been concerns since 1998 after Mrs Wolf, Samantha’s mother, was admitted to hospital with mental health problems, after which support from GPs and social services was increasingly denied. Mrs Wolf, apparently, was afraid that Samantha would be taken away from her. (St Albans Review inquest report) I can understand … Continue reading Samantha Backler – died of starvation

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academic, public participation7 Comments

Get Involved with Research

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

This is an experiment. If we post research questions and ideas, would you folks out there, the public, think about them, comment and help us shape our work? Well, let’s give it a go shall we? The first question is about this very thing and it’s on its own page, where it will stay because it’s over-arching. New questions will be posted here so the comments can follow on in order. And if you have ideas for mental health and learning disability research you think should get some attention, why not tell us? All your comments will be read and, … Continue reading Get Involved with Research

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