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  • Become a psychiatrist

    Become a psychiatrist

    • Choose Psychiatry

      Choose Psychiatry

      • What is psychiatry?
      • How to become a psychiatrist
      • Why choose psychiatry?
      • What next?
      • On a break from training?
      • Continuing to choose psychiatry
      • Help support our campaign
      • Choose Psychiatry – Guidance for Medical Schools
      • 'Make this a better world'
    • Sixth formers and school students
    • Medical students

      Medical students

      • Becoming a student associate
      • Psychiatry attachments
      • Awards, prizes and bursaries
      • PsychSocs
      • National Student Psychiatry Conference
      • Summer and autumn schools
      • FuturePsych – the student associate magazine
      • The Student Psychiatry Audit and Research Collaborative (SPARC)
    • Foundation doctors

      Foundation doctors

      • Foundation doctor associates
      • Making the most of your psychiatry placement
      • Opportunities for foundation doctors
      • FuturePsych - the associate magazine
      • Applying to Core and Higher Training
    • Help us promote psychiatry

      Help us promote psychiatry

      • How can I help?
      • Ideas to inspire you
      • Resources to help you promote psychiatry
      • RCPsych Recruitment Strategy 2022-2027
    • Supporting Medical Students: Medical Schools
    • Careers past events
    • Choose Psychiatry
      • What is psychiatry?
      • How to become a psychiatrist
      • Why choose psychiatry?
      • What next?
      • On a break from training?
      • Continuing to choose psychiatry
      • Help support our campaign
      • Choose Psychiatry – Guidance for Medical Schools
      • 'Make this a better world'
    • Sixth formers and school students
    • Medical students
      • Becoming a student associate
      • Psychiatry attachments
      • Awards, prizes and bursaries
      • PsychSocs
      • National Student Psychiatry Conference
      • Summer and autumn schools
      • FuturePsych – the student associate magazine
      • The Student Psychiatry Audit and Research Collaborative (SPARC)
    • Foundation doctors
      • Foundation doctor associates
      • Making the most of your psychiatry placement
      • Opportunities for foundation doctors
      • FuturePsych - the associate magazine
      • Applying to Core and Higher Training
    • Help us promote psychiatry
      • How can I help?
      • Ideas to inspire you
      • Resources to help you promote psychiatry
      • RCPsych Recruitment Strategy 2022-2027
    • Supporting Medical Students: Medical Schools
    • Careers past events
  • Training

    Training

    • Exams

      Exams

      • Can I take an exam?
      • Contact the Exams team
      • Preparing for exams
      • Applying for your exam
      • Exam results
      • Special notices
      • A fair exam
      • Examiners and exam panels recruitment
      • FAQs about applying for exams
      • FAQs about preparing for exams
      • FAQs about the day of the exam
      • FAQs about assessment and results
      • Exams news and updates
      • Invitation to tender to develop an international CASC examination centre
    • Curricula and guidance

      Curricula and guidance

      • 2022 Curricula Implementation Hub
      • 2014 GMC approved curricula (ending July 2024)
      • Specialty guides
      • Dual Training
      • Assessment Strategy Review
    • Portfolio Online
    • Your training

      Your training

      • Psychiatric Trainees' Committee: supporting you
      • Time out of training
      • Run-through training
      • Prizes and bursaries for trainees
      • Training less than full time
      • Routes to Registration
      • Cost of Training
      • Leadership and Management Fellow Scheme
      • Understanding Career Choices in Psychiatry
      • Industrial action FAQs
      • Distribution of medical training posts
    • Medical training initiative (MTI)
    • International Medical Graduates
    • Deanery/LETB Hub
    • Undergraduate education forum
    • Quality Assurance in Training
    • Credentialing
    • CPD eLearning
    • Dean's Quarterly Updates

      Dean's Quarterly Updates

      • Dean's update - 2022
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - March 2023
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - June 2023
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - October 2023
    • Neuroscience in training

      Neuroscience in training

      • About the project
      • Neuroscience resources
      • Multimedia learning
    • Building Capacity in Perinatal Psychiatry

      Building Capacity in Perinatal Psychiatry

      • Perinatal 2023 Masterclass Programme application and process details
      • About the Building Capacity Project
    • Exams
      • Can I take an exam?
      • Contact the Exams team
      • Preparing for exams
      • Applying for your exam
      • Exam results
      • Special notices
      • A fair exam
      • Examiners and exam panels recruitment
      • FAQs about applying for exams
      • FAQs about preparing for exams
      • FAQs about the day of the exam
      • FAQs about assessment and results
      • Exams news and updates
      • Invitation to tender to develop an international CASC examination centre
    • Curricula and guidance
      • 2022 Curricula Implementation Hub
      • 2014 GMC approved curricula (ending July 2024)
      • Specialty guides
      • Dual Training
      • Assessment Strategy Review
    • Portfolio Online
    • Your training
      • Psychiatric Trainees' Committee: supporting you
      • Time out of training
      • Run-through training
      • Prizes and bursaries for trainees
      • Training less than full time
      • Routes to Registration
      • Cost of Training
      • Leadership and Management Fellow Scheme
      • Understanding Career Choices in Psychiatry
      • Industrial action FAQs
      • Distribution of medical training posts
    • Medical training initiative (MTI)
    • International Medical Graduates
    • Deanery/LETB Hub
    • Undergraduate education forum
    • Quality Assurance in Training
    • Credentialing
    • CPD eLearning
    • Dean's Quarterly Updates
      • Dean's update - 2022
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - March 2023
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - June 2023
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - October 2023
    • Neuroscience in training
      • About the project
      • Neuroscience resources
      • Multimedia learning
    • Building Capacity in Perinatal Psychiatry
      • Perinatal 2023 Masterclass Programme application and process details
      • About the Building Capacity Project
  • Members

    Members

    • Membership

      Membership

      • Members login
      • Receipts
      • Pay Your Subscription
      • Direct Debit
      • Your subscription
      • Grades of membership
      • Benefits of membership
      • Fellowship and other Honours
      • Applying for Fellowship
      • Nominations for Honorary Fellows
      • Nominations for National Honours
    • Submitting your CPD
    • Workforce Wellbeing Hub

      Workforce Wellbeing Hub

      • Psychiatrists' Support Service
      • How the College supports workforce wellbeing
      • Top 10 tips for wellbeing
      • Coaching and mentoring
      • If a patient dies by suicide
      • If a patient commits homicide
    • Supporting your professional development

      Supporting your professional development

      • New consultants (StartWell)
      • Revalidation
      • Assessing and managing risk of patients causing harm
      • Leadership and management
      • Working less than full time
      • Writing clinic letters
      • If a patient dies by suicide
    • CPD eLearning
    • Your Faculties

      Your Faculties

      • Academic psychiatry
      • Addictions psychiatry
      • Child and adolescent psychiatry
      • Eating disorders psychiatry
      • Forensic psychiatry
      • General adult psychiatry
      • Intellectual disability psychiatry
      • Liaison psychiatry
      • Medical psychotherapy
      • Neuropsychiatry
      • Old age psychiatry
      • Perinatal psychiatry
      • Rehabilitation and social psychiatry
      • Faculty job descriptions
    • Specialty and Specialist Doctors

      Specialty and Specialist Doctors

      • A message from the Chair
      • Who are SAS Doctors?
      • How to enter the SAS grade
      • SAS career development
      • SAS doctors resources
      • College SAS training and events
      • Startwell and Staywell
      • SAS Strategy
    • Devolved Nations

      Devolved Nations

      • RCPsych in Scotland
      • RCPsych in Wales
      • Coleg y Seiciatryddion
      • RCPsych in Northern Ireland
      • Executive Committee job descriptions
    • English Divisions

      English Divisions

      • Eastern
      • London
      • Northern and Yorkshire
      • North West
      • South Eastern
      • South West
      • Trent
      • West Midlands
      • Executive Committee job descriptions
      • NW and NY mentorship
    • International members
    • Special Interest Groups

      Special Interest Groups

      • How to join a SIG
      • Adolescent forensic psychiatry
      • Arts psychiatry
      • Digital psychiatry
      • Evolutionary psychiatry
      • History of psychiatry
      • Neurodevelopmental psychiatry
      • Occupational psychiatry
      • Philosophy
      • Private and independent practice
      • Rainbow SIG
      • Spirituality and Psychiatry 
      • Sport and exercise psychiatry (SEPSIG)
      • Transcultural psychiatry
      • Volunteering and international (VIPSIG)
      • Women and mental health
      • Annual SIG Newsletters
    • Public members list
    • RCPsych Insight magazine

      RCPsych Insight magazine

      • RCPsych Insight Cover Art Exhibition
    • Publications and books
    • Members' eNewsletters
    • Posts for members
    • Jobs board
    • Committees of Council
    • President's lectures

      President's lectures

      • Declaration of competing interests (President's lectures)
      • List of president's lectures competing interests
      • Past President's lectures
    • Retired members
    • eLearning Hub
    • Obituaries

      Obituaries

      • Submit an obituary
      • Remembering Dame Fiona Caldicott
      • Memorial service for Professor Andrew Sims
    • Mindmasters quiz

      Mindmasters quiz

      • Attend Mindmasters 2023
      • Who won in 2022?
      • The rules of the quiz
      • Sample quiz questions 
    • RCPsych ceremonies

      RCPsych ceremonies

      • New Members Ceremonies
      • Fellowship ceremonies
      • Specialist Registration Ceremonies
    • 2021 membership survey
    • Membership
      • Members login
      • Receipts
      • Pay Your Subscription
      • Direct Debit
      • Your subscription
      • Grades of membership
      • Benefits of membership
      • Fellowship and other Honours
      • Applying for Fellowship
      • Nominations for Honorary Fellows
      • Nominations for National Honours
    • Submitting your CPD
    • Workforce Wellbeing Hub
      • Psychiatrists' Support Service
      • How the College supports workforce wellbeing
      • Top 10 tips for wellbeing
      • Coaching and mentoring
      • If a patient dies by suicide
      • If a patient commits homicide
    • Supporting your professional development
      • New consultants (StartWell)
      • Revalidation
      • Assessing and managing risk of patients causing harm
      • Leadership and management
      • Working less than full time
      • Writing clinic letters
      • If a patient dies by suicide
    • CPD eLearning
    • Your Faculties
      • Academic psychiatry
      • Addictions psychiatry
      • Child and adolescent psychiatry
      • Eating disorders psychiatry
      • Forensic psychiatry
      • General adult psychiatry
      • Intellectual disability psychiatry
      • Liaison psychiatry
      • Medical psychotherapy
      • Neuropsychiatry
      • Old age psychiatry
      • Perinatal psychiatry
      • Rehabilitation and social psychiatry
      • Faculty job descriptions
    • Specialty and Specialist Doctors
      • A message from the Chair
      • Who are SAS Doctors?
      • How to enter the SAS grade
      • SAS career development
      • SAS doctors resources
      • College SAS training and events
      • Startwell and Staywell
      • SAS Strategy
    • Devolved Nations
      • RCPsych in Scotland
      • RCPsych in Wales
      • Coleg y Seiciatryddion
      • RCPsych in Northern Ireland
      • Executive Committee job descriptions
    • English Divisions
      • Eastern
      • London
      • Northern and Yorkshire
      • North West
      • South Eastern
      • South West
      • Trent
      • West Midlands
      • Executive Committee job descriptions
      • NW and NY mentorship
    • International members
    • Special Interest Groups
      • How to join a SIG
      • Adolescent forensic psychiatry
      • Arts psychiatry
      • Digital psychiatry
      • Evolutionary psychiatry
      • History of psychiatry
      • Neurodevelopmental psychiatry
      • Occupational psychiatry
      • Philosophy
      • Private and independent practice
      • Rainbow SIG
      • Spirituality and Psychiatry 
      • Sport and exercise psychiatry (SEPSIG)
      • Transcultural psychiatry
      • Volunteering and international (VIPSIG)
      • Women and mental health
      • Annual SIG Newsletters
    • Public members list
    • RCPsych Insight magazine
      • RCPsych Insight Cover Art Exhibition
    • Publications and books
    • Members' eNewsletters
    • Posts for members
    • Jobs board
    • Committees of Council
    • President's lectures
      • Declaration of competing interests (President's lectures)
      • List of president's lectures competing interests
      • Past President's lectures
    • Retired members
    • eLearning Hub
    • Obituaries
      • Submit an obituary
      • Remembering Dame Fiona Caldicott
      • Memorial service for Professor Andrew Sims
    • Mindmasters quiz
      • Attend Mindmasters 2023
      • Who won in 2022?
      • The rules of the quiz
      • Sample quiz questions 
    • RCPsych ceremonies
      • New Members Ceremonies
      • Fellowship ceremonies
      • Specialist Registration Ceremonies
    • 2021 membership survey
  • Events

    Events

    • Conferences and training events

      Conferences and training events

      • Register your interest - CESR in Psychiatry Training
      • MHA Section 12 and Approved Clinician Training
      • Subscribe to receive the Events eNews
      • RCPsych Certification Courses
      • Grand Rounds
    • International Congress 2023

      International Congress 2023

      • Register your interest - Congress 2023 exhibitors
      • Travel and accommodation guidance 
      • Registration
      • Congress 2023 FAQs
      • Poster Presentations 2023
      • Programme
      • Social Media
      • Exhibition opportunities 2023
      • Your guide to Congress
      • Social and Fringe Events
      • Congress 23 Webinar Package
    • International Congress 2024

      International Congress 2024

      • Poster Presentations 2024
      • Exhibition opportunities 2024
    • In-house training

      In-house training

      • In house training: working with us
      • Health of Nation Outcome Scales
      • Competing interests
    • Events held by other organisations
    • Free webinars

      Free webinars

      • Free webinars for members
    • Recruitment events
    • Claiming expenses
    • Terms and conditions
    • Speaker guidance for online events
    • Conferences and training events
      • Register your interest - CESR in Psychiatry Training
      • MHA Section 12 and Approved Clinician Training
      • Subscribe to receive the Events eNews
      • RCPsych Certification Courses
      • Grand Rounds
    • International Congress 2023
      • Register your interest - Congress 2023 exhibitors
      • Travel and accommodation guidance 
      • Registration
      • Congress 2023 FAQs
      • Poster Presentations 2023
      • Programme
      • Social Media
      • Exhibition opportunities 2023
      • Your guide to Congress
      • Social and Fringe Events
      • Congress 23 Webinar Package
    • International Congress 2024
      • Poster Presentations 2024
      • Exhibition opportunities 2024
    • In-house training
      • In house training: working with us
      • Health of Nation Outcome Scales
      • Competing interests
    • Events held by other organisations
    • Free webinars
      • Free webinars for members
    • Recruitment events
    • Claiming expenses
    • Terms and conditions
    • Speaker guidance for online events
  • Improving care

    Improving care

    • College Centre for Quality Improvement (CCQI)

      College Centre for Quality Improvement (CCQI)

      • What we do in the CCQI
      • Quality Networks and Accreditation
      • National Clinical Audits
      • Multi-source feedback
      • CCQI resources
      • CCQI Who we are
      • Research and evaluation
      • CCQI news
    • Campaigning for better mental health policy

      Campaigning for better mental health policy

      • Five Year Forward View
      • Integrated care and mental health
      • Children and young people's mental health Green Paper
      • Cross-government mental health and wellbeing plan 
      • RCPsych in Parliament
      • Join our Research Panel
      • College Reports
      • Position Statements
      • Process for College publications
      • Other policy areas
      • Mental Health Watch
      • Reforming The Mental Health Act
      • Don't overlook mental health campaign
      • The Mental Health Policy Group (MHPG)
    • Planning the psychiatric workforce

      Planning the psychiatric workforce

      • About workforce
      • Job planning and recruitment
      • Our workforce census
      • Campaigning for the mental health workforce of the future
      • Workforce strategy
      • Job description approval process
    • Public Mental Health Implementation Centre

      Public Mental Health Implementation Centre

      • Partnerships and events  
      • How to work with the Public Mental Health Implementation Centre
      • About the PMHIC
      • Aims and objectives
      • Reports
      • About public mental health
      • PMHIC Parliamentary Launch 
      • PMHIC Commercial Determinants of Mental Health (CDoMH) Symposium 
      • PMHIC Parliamentary Roundtable 
    • National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health

      National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health

      • About NCCMH and our work
      • Clinical guideline development
      • Competence frameworks
      • Quality improvement programmes
      • Reports and research
      • Service design and development
      • Work with us
    • Physician Associates

      Physician Associates

      • About Physician Associates
      • Employing Physician Associates
      • Becoming a Physician Associate
      • Support for Physician Associates
      • Physician Associates network
      • The Competence Framework for Physician Associates in Mental Health
    • Act Against Racism

      Act Against Racism

      • Tackling racism in the workplace
      • Adopt the guidance and join our network
      • Act Against Racism: a toolkit to support the campaign
      • If you're experiencing racism at work
      • Allies: information and signposting
      • FAQs about the campaign
      • Act Against Racism campaign films
      • Resources
    • Sustainability and mental health

      Sustainability and mental health

      • Why is sustainability important?
      • In your community
      • In your practice
      • In your trust
      • Sustainability at RCPsych
      • Nature matters
      • Sustainability scholars
      • Sustainability resources
      • College position on sustainability
      • RCPsych at COP26
      • The eco-crisis and CAMHS
    • Invited Review Service
    • Public Health and its role in mental heath
    • RCPsych Course Accreditation
    • Using quality improvement
    • Net Zero Mental Health Care Guidance and Education
    • Mental Health Awareness Week
    • College Centre for Quality Improvement (CCQI)
      • What we do in the CCQI
      • Quality Networks and Accreditation
      • National Clinical Audits
      • Multi-source feedback
      • CCQI resources
      • CCQI Who we are
      • Research and evaluation
      • CCQI news
    • Campaigning for better mental health policy
      • Five Year Forward View
      • Integrated care and mental health
      • Children and young people's mental health Green Paper
      • Cross-government mental health and wellbeing plan 
      • RCPsych in Parliament
      • Join our Research Panel
      • College Reports
      • Position Statements
      • Process for College publications
      • Other policy areas
      • Mental Health Watch
      • Reforming The Mental Health Act
      • Don't overlook mental health campaign
      • The Mental Health Policy Group (MHPG)
    • Planning the psychiatric workforce
      • About workforce
      • Job planning and recruitment
      • Our workforce census
      • Campaigning for the mental health workforce of the future
      • Workforce strategy
      • Job description approval process
    • Public Mental Health Implementation Centre
      • Partnerships and events  
      • How to work with the Public Mental Health Implementation Centre
      • About the PMHIC
      • Aims and objectives
      • Reports
      • About public mental health
      • PMHIC Parliamentary Launch 
      • PMHIC Commercial Determinants of Mental Health (CDoMH) Symposium 
      • PMHIC Parliamentary Roundtable 
    • National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health
      • About NCCMH and our work
      • Clinical guideline development
      • Competence frameworks
      • Quality improvement programmes
      • Reports and research
      • Service design and development
      • Work with us
    • Physician Associates
      • About Physician Associates
      • Employing Physician Associates
      • Becoming a Physician Associate
      • Support for Physician Associates
      • Physician Associates network
      • The Competence Framework for Physician Associates in Mental Health
    • Act Against Racism
      • Tackling racism in the workplace
      • Adopt the guidance and join our network
      • Act Against Racism: a toolkit to support the campaign
      • If you're experiencing racism at work
      • Allies: information and signposting
      • FAQs about the campaign
      • Act Against Racism campaign films
      • Resources
    • Sustainability and mental health
      • Why is sustainability important?
      • In your community
      • In your practice
      • In your trust
      • Sustainability at RCPsych
      • Nature matters
      • Sustainability scholars
      • Sustainability resources
      • College position on sustainability
      • RCPsych at COP26
      • The eco-crisis and CAMHS
    • Invited Review Service
    • Public Health and its role in mental heath
    • RCPsych Course Accreditation
    • Using quality improvement
    • Net Zero Mental Health Care Guidance and Education
    • Mental Health Awareness Week
  • Mental health

    Mental health

    • Mental illnesses and mental health problems

      Mental illnesses and mental health problems

      • ADHD in adults
      • Alcohol and depression
      • Alcohol and older people
      • Anorexia and bulimia
      • Anxiety and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
      • Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)
      • Bereavement
      • Bipolar disorder
      • Cannabis
      • Catatonia
      • Club drugs
      • Cocaine dependence
      • Coping after a traumatic event
      • Debt and mental health
      • Delirium
      • Depression
      • Depression in older adults
      • Feeling overwhelmed
      • Gambling disorder
      • Heroin dependence
      • Hoarding
      • Isotretinoin and mental health
      • Learning disabilities
      • Medically unexplained symptoms
      • Memory problems and dementia
      • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
      • Perinatal OCD
      • Perinatal OCD for carers
      • Personality disorder
      • Physical illness and mental health
      • Postnatal depression
      • Postnatal depression key facts
      • Postnatal depression: information for carers
      • Postpartum psychosis
      • Postpartum Psychosis in Carers
      • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 
      • Schizoaffective disorder
      • Schizophrenia
      • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
      • Self-harm
      • Shyness and social phobia
      • Sleeping well
    • Support, care and treatment

      Support, care and treatment

      • Alzheimers drug treatments
      • Antidepressants
      • Antipsychotics
      • Antipsychotics in pregnancy
      • Being sectioned
      • Benefits, financial support and debt advice
      • Benzodiazepines
      • Caring for someone with a mental illness
      • Children's social services and safeguarding
      • Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
      • Complementary and alternative medicines: herbal remedies
      • Complementary and alternative medicines: physical treatments
      • Depot medication
      • Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
      • Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
      • Hypnosis and hypnotherapy
      • Liaison psychiatry services
      • Lithium in pregnancy and breastfeeding
      • Mental capacity and the law
      • Mental health in pregnancy
      • Mental health rehabilitation services
      • Mental health services and teams in the community
      • Mental Health Tribunals
      • Mother and baby units (MBUs)
      • Neuromodulation
      • Perinatal mental health services: what are they?
      • Planning a pregnancy
      • Psychotherapies and psychological treatments
      • Social prescribing
      • Spirituality and mental health
      • Stopping antidepressants
      • Valproate in women and girls who could get pregnant
      • What to expect of your psychiatrist in the UK
      • COVID-19: for patients and carers
      • Veterans' mental health
    • Young people's mental health

      Young people's mental health

      • Bipolar disorder for young people
      • Cannabis and mental health: for young people
      • Club drugs
      • Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for young people
      • Coping with stress for young people
      • Depression in children and young people
      • Drugs and alcohol for young people
      • Eco distress: for young people
      • Physical activity, exercise and mental health for young people
      • OCD for young people
      • Psychosis in young people
      • Schizophrenia: for young people
      • When a parent has a mental illness
      • When bad things happen
      • Who is who in CAMHS?: for parents, teachers, young people and carers
      • Anxiety: for young people
      • Weight, exercise and eating disorders in young people
      • Preparing for a blood test or vaccine for young people
      • Use of digital media for young people
    • Translations

      Translations

      • Arabic عربى
      • Bengali বাঙালি
      • Chinese 中文
      • French Français
      • German Deutsch
      • Greek Ελληνική
      • Gujarati ગુજરાતી
      • Hindi हिंदीहिंदी
      • Italian Italiano
      • Japanese 日本語
      • Lithuanian Lietuvių kalba
      • Marathi मराठी
      • Pashto پښتو
      • Persian (Farsi) فارسی
      • Polish Polski
      • Portuguese (Brazil) Português (Brasil)
      • Punjabi (Pakistan) پنجابی
      • Romanian Română
      • Russian Pусский
      • Sindhi سنڌي
      • Somali
      • Spanish Español
      • Swahili Kiswahili
      • Tamil தமிழ்
      • Telugu తెలుగు
      • Turkish
      • Ukrainian украї́нська
      • Urdu اردو
      • Vietnamese Việt
      • Welsh Cymraeg
      • התמודדות לאחר אירוע טראומטי Coping after a traumatic event in Hebrew
      • Mijûlbûna piştî bûyerekê trawmatîk Coping after a traumatic event in Kurdish
    • Order mental health resources

      Order mental health resources

      • Order mental health packs for schools
    • About our mental health information
    • Mental health information disclaimer
    • Mental health and psychiatry FAQs
    • Choosing Wisely - a national campaign
    • Mental illnesses and mental health problems
      • ADHD in adults
      • Alcohol and depression
      • Alcohol and older people
      • Anorexia and bulimia
      • Anxiety and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
      • Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)
      • Bereavement
      • Bipolar disorder
      • Cannabis
      • Catatonia
      • Club drugs
      • Cocaine dependence
      • Coping after a traumatic event
      • Debt and mental health
      • Delirium
      • Depression
      • Depression in older adults
      • Feeling overwhelmed
      • Gambling disorder
      • Heroin dependence
      • Hoarding
      • Isotretinoin and mental health
      • Learning disabilities
      • Medically unexplained symptoms
      • Memory problems and dementia
      • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
      • Perinatal OCD
      • Perinatal OCD for carers
      • Personality disorder
      • Physical illness and mental health
      • Postnatal depression
      • Postnatal depression key facts
      • Postnatal depression: information for carers
      • Postpartum psychosis
      • Postpartum Psychosis in Carers
      • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 
      • Schizoaffective disorder
      • Schizophrenia
      • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
      • Self-harm
      • Shyness and social phobia
      • Sleeping well
    • Support, care and treatment
      • Alzheimers drug treatments
      • Antidepressants
      • Antipsychotics
      • Antipsychotics in pregnancy
      • Being sectioned
      • Benefits, financial support and debt advice
      • Benzodiazepines
      • Caring for someone with a mental illness
      • Children's social services and safeguarding
      • Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
      • Complementary and alternative medicines: herbal remedies
      • Complementary and alternative medicines: physical treatments
      • Depot medication
      • Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
      • Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
      • Hypnosis and hypnotherapy
      • Liaison psychiatry services
      • Lithium in pregnancy and breastfeeding
      • Mental capacity and the law
      • Mental health in pregnancy
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Procrastiplanting: when you have a million things to do – but ignore everything and re-pot plants

Careers in psychiatry, Trainees

14 April, 2022

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In the middle of a hustling and bustling high street, just a ten-minute walk away from the community mental health centre, is a park with a beautiful walled garden that I only discovered recently, which offered a tranquil oasis away from both the business of the high street and of the clinic. With the favourable turn in the weather, what more could a person ask for?

Many of us (including myself) became lockdown gardeners during the pandemic. After killing a series of plants, an impulsive purchase of a peace lily houseplant from Sainsbury marked the beginning of what would almost become an obsession. Very quickly a corner of our living room turned into a mini-garden centre. Ranging from pothos, anthurium, schefflera, night blooming jasmine and of course, the peace lily. Many experiments failed, for example trying to grow coriander from seed and keeping miniature roses alive. But each attempt instilled a new hope that “this might work”!

The pandemic, being a period of chaos and uncertainty, was a time when I experienced feelings of despair, helplessness and lack of control. Gardening in those difficult times served as a much-needed distraction and gave me a sense of purpose when things largely felt futile. I recall starting my mornings with anticipation to see how my plants were doing – whether there was any sign of growth, a new bud, a new leaf? Trips to garden centres became frequent. From indoors, I had to focus my attention to the back garden because I was running out of space!

In recent conversation with a fellow gardening enthusiast and co-incidentally also a past RCPsych Green Champion, Dasal Abayaratne, we discussed how gardening had helped us in good and not-so-good times. There was just something about planting a seed. The childlike anticipation that something will come out of this, no matter how big or small. How sometimes despite all our efforts, things don’t work, but then learning to accept and honour that and then move on to try yet again. It is also a huge lesson in managing uncertainty - a peril we deal with almost daily in our professional and personal lives. Linking with nature gives you utmost faith that every seed you sow will reap results in some form or another.

In her recent book, The Well Gardened Mind1, psychiatrist Dr Sue Stuart-Smith describes seeds as having a “tomorrow ready-built into them”; a tomorrow that requires us, the “good-enough” gardener, to unlock it. She also speaks about gardening being an intrinsically mindful activity. It requires us to pause and adapt to a slower pace, rather than the constant rushed ‘threat-mode’ that we often find ourselves in as psychiatrists. A mode that is unproductive at best and leads to burnout at worst. In essence, Dr Stuart-Smith argues that through the simple act of tending plants, our minds too can be ‘gardened’.

There is ample evidence in literature linking the benefits of gardening and time in nature on mental and physical wellbeing2. It has been shown to decrease heart rate, blood pressure3 and decrease cortisol levels4. A recent randomised control trial for people with stress disorders found that a 10-week gardening group of a few hours a week had similar beneficial impact as individual CBT5.

All in all, gardening has been a fulfilling process of not just connecting with nature, but also getting a better understanding of my personal and professional identities. It has helped me develop skills to tolerate distress and uncertainty and to put my trust in the process of getting to where I’d like to. It changed my perspective towards a life that had very easily turned into a rat race. It taught me that slowing down, recharging, and recovering were equally important parts of “progressing forward” as were hustling and striving. And so, slow down, connect with nature, and plant some seeds…!

By Dr Sidra Chaudhry (ST5) and Dr Dasal Abayaratne (ST6), Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust

References

  1. Stuart-Smith S. The Well Gardened Mind. London: William Collins; 2020.
  2. Kamioka H, Tsutani K, Yamada M, et al. Effectiveness of horticultural therapy: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Complement Ther Med. 2014;22(5):930-943.
  3. Gladwell VF, Brown DK, Barton JL, et al. The effects of views of nature on autonomic control. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2012;112(9):3379-3386.
  4. Van Den Berg AE, Custers MH. Gardening promotes neuroendocrine and affective restoration from stress. J Health Psychol. 2011;16(1):3-11.
  5. Stigsdotter UK, Corazon SS, Sidenius U, Nyed PK, Larsen HB, Fjorback LO. Efficacy of nature-based therapy for individuals with stress-related illnesses: randomised controlled trial. The British Journal of Psychiatry. 2018;213(1):404-411.

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