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Royal College of Psychiatrists - Celebrating 180 years
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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?
      • Career essentials
      • What next?
    • Sixth formers and school students
    • Medical students

      Medical students

      • Becoming a student associate
      • Psychiatry attachments
      • Awards, prizes and bursaries
      • PsychSocs
      • National conference
      • Summer and autumn schools
      • FuturePsych – the student associate magazine
    • Foundation doctors

      Foundation doctors

      • Foundation doctor associates
      • Making the most of your psychiatry placement
      • Opportunities for foundation doctors
      • FuturePsych - the associate magazine
    • Help us promote psychiatry

      Help us promote psychiatry

      • How can I help?
      • Ideas to inspire you
      • Resources to help you promote psychiatry
      • Our strategy
    • Choose Psychiatry: Guidance for Medical Schools
    • Choose Psychiatry
      • What is psychiatry?
      • How to become a psychiatrist
      • Why choose psychiatry?
      • Career essentials
      • What next?
    • Sixth formers and school students
    • Medical students
      • Becoming a student associate
      • Psychiatry attachments
      • Awards, prizes and bursaries
      • PsychSocs
      • National conference
      • Summer and autumn schools
      • FuturePsych – the student associate magazine
    • Foundation doctors
      • Foundation doctor associates
      • Making the most of your psychiatry placement
      • Opportunities for foundation doctors
      • FuturePsych - the associate magazine
    • Help us promote psychiatry
      • How can I help?
      • Ideas to inspire you
      • Resources to help you promote psychiatry
      • Our strategy
    • Choose Psychiatry: Guidance for Medical Schools
  • Training

    Training

    • Curricula and guidance

      Curricula and guidance

      • GMC approved curricula
      • Curricula review project
      • Specialty guides
      • Dual Training
    • Your training

      Your training

      • Psychiatric Trainees Committee: supporting you
      • Time out of training
      • Training resources
      • Run-through training
      • Prizes and bursaries for trainees
      • Leadership and management training
      • Training less than full time
      • Routes to Registration
      • Cost of Training
    • Exams

      Exams

      • Can I take an exam?
      • Contact the exams team
      • Preparing for exams
      • Applying for your exam
      • Exam results
      • Special notices
      • Exam FAQs
      • A fair exam
      • MRCPsych examinations and COVID-19
      • Webinar: MRCPsych Exam - Changes to exam delivery this autumn
      • Capacity reached for September 2020 CASC
    • Neuroscience in training

      Neuroscience in training

      • About the project
      • Neuroscience events
      • Who is on the commission?
      • Latest news from the neuroscience project
      • Neuroscience history
      • Neuroscience videos
      • Neuroscience resources
    • Information for Local Education and Training Boards (LETBs)
    • Medical training initiative (MTI)
    • Undergraduate education forum
    • International Medical Graduates

      International Medical Graduates

      • Shortage Occupation List
    • Quality Assurance in Training
    • Curricula and guidance
      • GMC approved curricula
      • Curricula review project
      • Specialty guides
      • Dual Training
    • Your training
      • Psychiatric Trainees Committee: supporting you
      • Time out of training
      • Training resources
      • Run-through training
      • Prizes and bursaries for trainees
      • Leadership and management training
      • Training less than full time
      • Routes to Registration
      • Cost of Training
    • Exams
      • Can I take an exam?
      • Contact the exams team
      • Preparing for exams
      • Applying for your exam
      • Exam results
      • Special notices
      • Exam FAQs
      • A fair exam
      • MRCPsych examinations and COVID-19
      • Webinar: MRCPsych Exam - Changes to exam delivery this autumn
      • Capacity reached for September 2020 CASC
    • Neuroscience in training
      • About the project
      • Neuroscience events
      • Who is on the commission?
      • Latest news from the neuroscience project
      • Neuroscience history
      • Neuroscience videos
      • Neuroscience resources
    • Information for Local Education and Training Boards (LETBs)
    • Medical training initiative (MTI)
    • Undergraduate education forum
    • International Medical Graduates
      • Shortage Occupation List
    • Quality Assurance in Training
  • Members

    Members

    • Supporting you

      Supporting you

      • Psychiatrists Support Service
      • New consultants (StartWell)
      • Mentoring and coaching
      • Revalidation
      • Assessing and managing risk of patients causing harm
      • Leadership and management
      • Working less than full time
      • If a patient dies by suicide
      • Writing clinic letters
    • Submitting your CPD

      Submitting your CPD

      • CPD Submissions FAQs
      • Alterations to CPD during coronavirus pandemic
    • CPD Online
    • 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
    • Your Faculties

      Your Faculties

      • Academic psychiatry
      • Addictions psychiatry
      • Child and adolescent psychiatry
      • Eating disorders psychiatry
      • Forensic Psychiatry Faculty
      • General adult psychiatry
      • Intellectual disability psychiatry faculty
      • Liaison psychiatry faculty
      • Medical psychotherapy faculty
      • Neuropsychiatry faculty
      • Old age psychiatry faculty
      • Perinatal psychiatry faculty
      • Rehabilitation and social psychiatry faculty
      • Faculty job descriptions
    • Devolved Nations

      Devolved Nations

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

      English Divisions

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

      International members

      • International strategy
    • Special Interest Groups

      Special Interest Groups

      • How to join a SIG
      • Adolescent forensic psychiatry
      • Arts psychiatry
      • Evolutionary psychiatry
      • History of psychiatry
      • Neurodevelopmental psychiatry
      • Occupational psychiatry
      • Philosophy
      • Private and independent practice PIPSIG
      • Rainbow SIG
      • Spirituality
      • Sport and exercise psychiatry (SEPSIG)
      • Transcultural psychiatry
      • Volunteering and international
      • Women and mental health
      • Special Interest Group Job Descriptions
      • Digital psychiatry
    • Committees of Council
    • RCPsych Insight magazine
    • Publications and books
    • Your monthly eNewsletter

      Your monthly eNewsletter

      • Members' update 8 April 2021
      • RCPsych eNewsletter March 2021
      • Members' update 11 March 2021
      • RCPsych eNewsletter February 2021
      • Members' update 11 February 2021
      • RCPsych eNewsletter January 2021
      • Members' update 14 January 2021
      • RCPsych eNewsletter December 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter November 2020
      • Members' update 12 November 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter October 2020
      • Members' update 8 October 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter September 2020
      • Members' update 11 September 2020
      • Members' update 1 September 2020
      • Members' update 14 August 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter July 2020
      • Members' update 10 July 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter June 2020
      • Update 12 June 2020
      • COVID-19 Update 29 May 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter May 2020
      • COVID-19 Update 7 May 2020
      • COVID-19 Update 1 May 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter April 2020
      • COVID-19 Update April 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter February 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter January 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter December 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter November 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter October 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter September 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter July 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter June 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter May 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter April 2019
    • Posts for members
    • Public members list
    • Jobs board
    • Specialist and Associate Specialty Doctors

      Specialist and Associate Specialty 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
    • 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
    • New Members Ceremonies
    • Obituaries

      Obituaries

      • Submit an obituary
      • Remembering Dame Fiona Caldicott
    • About CPD Online - elearning
    • Supporting you
      • Psychiatrists Support Service
      • New consultants (StartWell)
      • Mentoring and coaching
      • Revalidation
      • Assessing and managing risk of patients causing harm
      • Leadership and management
      • Working less than full time
      • If a patient dies by suicide
      • Writing clinic letters
    • Submitting your CPD
      • CPD Submissions FAQs
      • Alterations to CPD during coronavirus pandemic
    • CPD Online
    • 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
    • Your Faculties
      • Academic psychiatry
      • Addictions psychiatry
      • Child and adolescent psychiatry
      • Eating disorders psychiatry
      • Forensic Psychiatry Faculty
      • General adult psychiatry
      • Intellectual disability psychiatry faculty
      • Liaison psychiatry faculty
      • Medical psychotherapy faculty
      • Neuropsychiatry faculty
      • Old age psychiatry faculty
      • Perinatal psychiatry faculty
      • Rehabilitation and social psychiatry faculty
      • Faculty job descriptions
    • Devolved Nations
      • RCPsych in Scotland
      • RCPsych in Wales
      • Coleg Cymraeg
      • RCPsych in Northern Ireland
      • Executive Committee job descriptions
    • English Divisions
      • Eastern
      • London
      • Northern and Yorkshire
      • North West
      • South Eastern
      • Trent
      • West Midlands
      • South West
      • Executive Committee job descriptions
      • NW and NY mentorship
    • International members
      • International strategy
    • Special Interest Groups
      • How to join a SIG
      • Adolescent forensic psychiatry
      • Arts psychiatry
      • Evolutionary psychiatry
      • History of psychiatry
      • Neurodevelopmental psychiatry
      • Occupational psychiatry
      • Philosophy
      • Private and independent practice PIPSIG
      • Rainbow SIG
      • Spirituality
      • Sport and exercise psychiatry (SEPSIG)
      • Transcultural psychiatry
      • Volunteering and international
      • Women and mental health
      • Special Interest Group Job Descriptions
      • Digital psychiatry
    • Committees of Council
    • RCPsych Insight magazine
    • Publications and books
    • Your monthly eNewsletter
      • Members' update 8 April 2021
      • RCPsych eNewsletter March 2021
      • Members' update 11 March 2021
      • RCPsych eNewsletter February 2021
      • Members' update 11 February 2021
      • RCPsych eNewsletter January 2021
      • Members' update 14 January 2021
      • RCPsych eNewsletter December 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter November 2020
      • Members' update 12 November 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter October 2020
      • Members' update 8 October 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter September 2020
      • Members' update 11 September 2020
      • Members' update 1 September 2020
      • Members' update 14 August 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter July 2020
      • Members' update 10 July 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter June 2020
      • Update 12 June 2020
      • COVID-19 Update 29 May 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter May 2020
      • COVID-19 Update 7 May 2020
      • COVID-19 Update 1 May 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter April 2020
      • COVID-19 Update April 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter February 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter January 2020
      • RCPsych eNewsletter December 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter November 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter October 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter September 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter July 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter June 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter May 2019
      • RCPsych eNewsletter April 2019
    • Posts for members
    • Public members list
    • Jobs board
    • Specialist and Associate Specialty 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
    • President's lectures
      • Declaration of competing interests (President's lectures)
      • List of president's lectures competing interests
      • Past President's lectures
    • Retired members
    • New Members Ceremonies
    • Obituaries
      • Submit an obituary
      • Remembering Dame Fiona Caldicott
    • About CPD Online - elearning
  • Events

    Events

    • Conferences and training events

      Conferences and training events

      • Faculty of intellectual Disability Spring Conference 2019
      • Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry Annual Conference 2020 - Register your interest
      • Section 12 and AC – Update for Trainers - Training Day Course Resources
      • Resilience & Wellbeing Course for SAS Doctors
      • Present State Examination Course 17 April - Register your interest
      • Present State Examination Course 1 September - Register your interest
      • Section 12 and Approved Clinician Training
      • Perinatal Psychiatry Masterclasses
      • Women and Mental Health Special Interest Group Annual Conference
      • Faculty of Medical Psychotherapy Annual Conference 2021 - Register your interest
      • Register your interest - Clinical and Educational Supervisor Training future dates
      • Register your interest - Leadership & Management Fellow Scheme 2021/22 (Trainee)
      • Register your interest - Leadership & Management Fellow Scheme 2021/22 (Trust)
      • Register your interest - Leadership & Management Fellow Scheme 2021/22 (Trust)
    • Events held by other organisations
    • Terms and conditions
    • In house training

      In house training

      • In house training: working with us
      • Health of Nation Outcome Scales
      • Competing interests
    • Highlights from International Congress 2020 - Webinar Series

      Highlights from International Congress 2020 - Webinar Series

      • Registration
      • Programme
      • FAQs
    • Accommodation List
    • Recruitment events
    • Claiming Expenses
    • International Congress 2021

      International Congress 2021

      • Congress FAQs
      • Exhibition Opportunities 2021
      • Registration
      • IC21 Keynote speakers
      • Programme
      • Presenter information
      • Your guide to Congress
    • Free webinars

      Free webinars

      • Free webinars for members
    • Speaker guidance for online events
    • Conferences and training events
      • Faculty of intellectual Disability Spring Conference 2019
      • Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry Annual Conference 2020 - Register your interest
      • Section 12 and AC – Update for Trainers - Training Day Course Resources
      • Resilience & Wellbeing Course for SAS Doctors
      • Present State Examination Course 17 April - Register your interest
      • Present State Examination Course 1 September - Register your interest
      • Section 12 and Approved Clinician Training
      • Perinatal Psychiatry Masterclasses
      • Women and Mental Health Special Interest Group Annual Conference
      • Faculty of Medical Psychotherapy Annual Conference 2021 - Register your interest
      • Register your interest - Clinical and Educational Supervisor Training future dates
      • Register your interest - Leadership & Management Fellow Scheme 2021/22 (Trainee)
      • Register your interest - Leadership & Management Fellow Scheme 2021/22 (Trust)
      • Register your interest - Leadership & Management Fellow Scheme 2021/22 (Trust)
    • Events held by other organisations
    • Terms and conditions
    • In house training
      • In house training: working with us
      • Health of Nation Outcome Scales
      • Competing interests
    • Highlights from International Congress 2020 - Webinar Series
      • Registration
      • Programme
      • FAQs
    • Accommodation List
    • Recruitment events
    • Claiming Expenses
    • International Congress 2021
      • Congress FAQs
      • Exhibition Opportunities 2021
      • Registration
      • IC21 Keynote speakers
      • Programme
      • Presenter information
      • Your guide to Congress
    • Free webinars
      • Free webinars for members
    • 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
      • Using quality improvement
      • CCQI resources
      • CCQI Who we are
      • Research and evaluation
    • Campaigning for better mental health policy

      Campaigning for better mental health policy

      • The Mental Health Act (MHA)
      • Five Year Forward View
      • Integrated care and mental health
      • Children and young people's mental health Green Paper
      • RCPsych in Parliament
      • Join our Research Panel
      • College Reports
      • Position statements
      • Process for College publications
      • Other policy areas
      • Mental Health Watch
      • COVID-19: Guidance for clinicians
      • The Mental Health Act White Paper 2021
    • Planning the psychiatric workforce

      Planning the psychiatric workforce

      • What we do
      • Job planning and recruitment
      • Our workforce census
      • Campaigning for the mental health workforce of the future
      • Workforce strategy
    • Physician Associates

      Physician Associates

      • About Physician Associates
      • Employing Physician Associates
      • Becoming a Physician Associate
      • Support for Physician Associates
      • Physician Associates network
    • National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health

      National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health

      • About the NCCMH
      • Mental health care pathways
      • Mental health quality improvement programmes
      • Other programmes
      • Reducing restrictive practice
      • National suicide prevention programme
      • Sexual Safety Collaborative
      • COVID-19 Mental Health Improvement Network
      • RCPsych Enjoying Work Collaborative
    • Invited Review Service
    • Public Health and its role in mental heath
    • Sustainability and working sustainably

      Sustainability and working sustainably

      • In your community
      • In your practice
      • In your trust
      • Green care
      • Sustainability scholars
      • About sustainability in mental health care
      • Sustainability resources
      • Working sustainably (old)
    • RCPsych Course Accreditation
    • College Centre for Quality Improvement (CCQI)
      • What we do in the CCQI
      • Quality Networks and Accreditation
      • National Clinical Audits
      • Multi-source feedback
      • Using quality improvement
      • CCQI resources
      • CCQI Who we are
      • Research and evaluation
    • Campaigning for better mental health policy
      • The Mental Health Act (MHA)
      • Five Year Forward View
      • Integrated care and mental health
      • Children and young people's mental health Green Paper
      • RCPsych in Parliament
      • Join our Research Panel
      • College Reports
      • Position statements
      • Process for College publications
      • Other policy areas
      • Mental Health Watch
      • COVID-19: Guidance for clinicians
      • The Mental Health Act White Paper 2021
    • Planning the psychiatric workforce
      • What we do
      • Job planning and recruitment
      • Our workforce census
      • Campaigning for the mental health workforce of the future
      • Workforce strategy
    • Physician Associates
      • About Physician Associates
      • Employing Physician Associates
      • Becoming a Physician Associate
      • Support for Physician Associates
      • Physician Associates network
    • National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health
      • About the NCCMH
      • Mental health care pathways
      • Mental health quality improvement programmes
      • Other programmes
      • Reducing restrictive practice
      • National suicide prevention programme
      • Sexual Safety Collaborative
      • COVID-19 Mental Health Improvement Network
      • RCPsych Enjoying Work Collaborative
    • Invited Review Service
    • Public Health and its role in mental heath
    • Sustainability and working sustainably
      • In your community
      • In your practice
      • In your trust
      • Green care
      • Sustainability scholars
      • About sustainability in mental health care
      • Sustainability resources
      • Working sustainably (old)
    • RCPsych Course Accreditation
  • Mental health

    Mental health

    • Problems and disorders

      Problems and disorders

      • ADHD in adults
      • Alcohol and depression
      • Alcohol and older people
      • Anorexia and bulimia
      • Anxiety, panic and phobias
      • Bereavement
      • Bipolar disorder
      • Cannabis
      • Club drugs
      • Coping after a traumatic event
      • Debt and mental health
      • Delirium
      • Depression
      • Depression in older adults
      • Depression and men
      • Eating well and mental health
      • Feeling on the edge
      • Feeling overwhelmed
      • Feeling stressed
      • Hoarding
      • Learning disabilities
      • Medically unexplained symptoms
      • Memory problems and dementia
      • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
      • Perinatal OCD
      • Perinatal OCD for carers
      • Personality disorder
      • Physical illness
      • Postnatal depression
      • Postnatal depression key facts
      • Postnatal depression: information for carers
      • Postpartum psychosis
      • Postpartum Psychosis in Carers
      • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
      • Problem gambling
      • 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
      • Being sectioned
      • Benzodiazepines
      • Bipolar medications
      • 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)
      • Electronic health records in mental health services in England
      • Guide to mental health tribunals
      • Liaison psychiatry services
      • Mental capacity and the law
      • Mental health rehabilitation services
      • Mental health services and teams in the community
      • Planning a pregnancy
      • Psychotherapies and psychological treatments
      • Spirituality and mental health
      • Stopping antidepressants
      • Talking to your GP
      • What to expect of your psychiatrist in the UK
      • Antipsychotics in Pregnancy
      • Lithium in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
      • Mother and Baby Units (MBUs)
      • Children's Social Services and Safeguarding
      • Valproate in women and girls who could get pregnant
      • What are Perinatal Mental Health Services?
      • Mental health in pregnancy
      • Medication for mental health and COVID-19
      • Remote consultations and COVID-19
      • Attending hospital and COVID-19
      • Monitoring health at home and COVID-19
      • Alcohol and COVID-19
      • Eating disorders and COVID-19
      • Perinatal care and COVID-19
      • COVID-19: Self-harm in young people 
      • COVID-19: Self-harm and suicide 
      • COVID-19: Looking after your mental health – for young people and their parents and carers 
      • COVID-19: Using drugs
      • COVID-19: ASD
    • Young people's mental health
    • Translations

      Translations

      • Arabic عربى
      • Bengali বাঙালি
      • Bulgarian български
      • Chinese 中文
      • French Français
      • German Auf Deutsch
      • Greek Ελληνική γλώσσα
      • Gujurati ગુજરાતી
      • Hindi हिंदीहिंदी
      • Italian italiano
      • Japanese 日本語
      • Lithuanian Lietuvių kalba
      • Pashto پښتو
      • Persian (Farsi) فارسی
      • Polish Polski
      • Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
      • Romanian Română
      • Russian Pусский
      • Somali
      • Spanish Español
      • Turkish
      • Tamil தமிழ்
      • Urdu اردو
      • Welsh Cymraeg
    • Mental health FAQs
    • Order mental health leaflets
    • About our mental health information
    • Disclaimer about our mental health information
    • Choosing Wisely - a national campaign
    • BSL translations
    • MindEd: web tools for those working with young people
    • Order mental health packs for schools
    • Audio resources
    • Problems and disorders
      • ADHD in adults
      • Alcohol and depression
      • Alcohol and older people
      • Anorexia and bulimia
      • Anxiety, panic and phobias
      • Bereavement
      • Bipolar disorder
      • Cannabis
      • Club drugs
      • Coping after a traumatic event
      • Debt and mental health
      • Delirium
      • Depression
      • Depression in older adults
      • Depression and men
      • Eating well and mental health
      • Feeling on the edge
      • Feeling overwhelmed
      • Feeling stressed
      • Hoarding
      • Learning disabilities
      • Medically unexplained symptoms
      • Memory problems and dementia
      • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
      • Perinatal OCD
      • Perinatal OCD for carers
      • Personality disorder
      • Physical illness
      • Postnatal depression
      • Postnatal depression key facts
      • Postnatal depression: information for carers
      • Postpartum psychosis
      • Postpartum Psychosis in Carers
      • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
      • Problem gambling
      • Schizoaffective disorder
      • Schizophrenia
      • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
      • Self harm
      • Shyness and social phobia
      • Sleeping well
    • Support, care and treatment
      • Alzheimers drug treatments
      • Antidepressants
      • Antipsychotics
      • Being sectioned
      • Benzodiazepines
      • Bipolar medications
      • 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)
      • Electronic health records in mental health services in England
      • Guide to mental health tribunals
      • Liaison psychiatry services
      • Mental capacity and the law
      • Mental health rehabilitation services
      • Mental health services and teams in the community
      • Planning a pregnancy
      • Psychotherapies and psychological treatments
      • Spirituality and mental health
      • Stopping antidepressants
      • Talking to your GP
      • What to expect of your psychiatrist in the UK
      • Antipsychotics in Pregnancy
      • Lithium in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
      • Mother and Baby Units (MBUs)
      • Children's Social Services and Safeguarding
      • Valproate in women and girls who could get pregnant
      • What are Perinatal Mental Health Services?
      • Mental health in pregnancy
      • Medication for mental health and COVID-19
      • Remote consultations and COVID-19
      • Attending hospital and COVID-19
      • Monitoring health at home and COVID-19
      • Alcohol and COVID-19
      • Eating disorders and COVID-19
      • Perinatal care and COVID-19
      • COVID-19: Self-harm in young people 
      • COVID-19: Self-harm and suicide 
      • COVID-19: Looking after your mental health – for young people and their parents and carers 
      • COVID-19: Using drugs
      • COVID-19: ASD
    • Young people's mental health
    • Translations
      • Arabic عربى
      • Bengali বাঙালি
      • Bulgarian български
      • Chinese 中文
      • French Français
      • German Auf Deutsch
      • Greek Ελληνική γλώσσα
      • Gujurati ગુજરાતી
      • Hindi हिंदीहिंदी
      • Italian italiano
      • Japanese 日本語
      • Lithuanian Lietuvių kalba
      • Pashto پښتو
      • Persian (Farsi) فارسی
      • Polish Polski
      • Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
      • Romanian Română
      • Russian Pусский
      • Somali
      • Spanish Español
      • Turkish
      • Tamil தமிழ்
      • Urdu اردو
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Bullying, depression and suicide: taking responsibility in Life is Strange

Cultural blog, Gaming the mind blog

08 August, 2016

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Life Is Strange was conceived primarily as a game about teenage struggles.

Though there is a fantasy element, involving main character Max's ability to rewind time and correct past mistakes, this is meant to serve only as a backdrop to the everyday trials and tribulations for Max and her fellow students at Blackwell Academy. After witnessing a horrifying incident, Max discovers her powers, and from then on uses these powers to help herself and those around her.


Depression and suicide is still relatively new ground for games, and few games have tackled these issues as head-on as Life is Strange


Max's world is filled with teenagers based on various Hollywood high school archetypes. The developers, Dontnod Entertainment, intended the game to unflinchingly tackle real issues teenagers would face, and so they end up covering difficult subjects such as cyber-bullying, mental illness, and suicide.

As the player, you control Max, navigating her through everyday environments such as classrooms, dormitories, and family homes. You can inspect items in these environments, like a detective of ordinary life, and speak to the characters that inhabit this world.

At times the game poses you with difficult choices, which will profoundly affect the course of future events.

Do you let your friend be scolded by her father for having weed in her room, or do you take the blame instead? When a school bully gets a taste of her own medicine, do you humiliate her further, or show her compassion?

There are no "perfect" answers, so you are free to act however you feel is appropriate. The game does not shy away from dealing with serious issues and throws tougher dilemmas at the player later on; decisions that some players spend minutes agonising over.

Exploring bullying

Psychiatric themes lace the plot of Life is Strange, and a few characters are shown, either explicitly or implicitly, to be experiencing mental illness. One of the game's more challenging series of scenes focuses on the character of Kate, a student at Blackwell who is mercilessly bullied, both at school and online.

Kate is a kind-hearted, strictly religious, reserved person. If you explore her room, you will see evidence of her strong faith, and her highly judgemental family. Sadly for Kate, somebody drugs her at a student party, and soon a compromising video of her is posted online.

Incessant bullying and teasing ensues. She finds little support; you can view a letter from her parents, in which her mother writes: "We hope you haven't brought shame upon you or our family."

For Kate, this experience sadly leads her to severe depression. Evidence of this is found as you explore her room. Her mirror is covered up so she doesn't have to look at herself. Her room is kept dark. Observing her violin shows she hasn't played it in weeks. She has stopped tidying her room, when usually her room is immaculate.

Overall, it paints an impression of the low mood, lack of energy, and loss of enjoyment which come with depression. Kate feels helpless and hopeless, saying "I'm in a nightmare and I can't wake up... unless I put myself to sleep."

Throughout the first act of the game, you are presented with opportunities to be supportive to Kate, be it having a friendly chat with her, helping to remove insulting graffiti about her, or by being available on the phone for her. Unfortunately it's clear that you alone cannot cure her of her depression.

Eventually, Kate, feeling alone and abandoned, ends up on the roof of a school building with the intention of ending her life.

Here the game presents you with an opportunity to talk her down to safety. If you have paid attention to her story so far, and have been a good friend to her, there is a good chance that you can convince her to stay strong in the face of bullying, and remind her that she has family members who would be devastated if she were to die.

This of course is sensitive subject matter for a game: if you don't say the right things in this scene, and if you haven't built a strong relationship with Kate, there's a chance that things could go horribly wrong. The developers were mindful that this was essentially "gamifying" a suicide attempt, and had to take care not to trivialise the issue.

One important step they took was removing Max's powers during this scene, so that the player would deal with it strictly on a human level.

The developers made sure that this was a scene that continued to matter throughout the course of the game, as it would belittle the moment if it was quickly forgotten. Max continues to dwell on the moment as the game progresses, as do other characters. If Kate survives, you will continue to converse with her over text messages, and eventually visit her in hospital, where she is shown to be recovering.

This hospital scene provides a strong sense of hope and closure, indicating people with depression can find help and can get better.


The developers were also aware of the impact such scenes may have on players, and produced a web resource for those affected by issues in the game


The developers have gone to great lengths in trying to tackle the subject matter sensitively, including researching about bullying, reviewing suicide prevention materials, and speaking to mental health professionals about how best to speak to people who are having thoughts of suicide. They were also aware of the impact such scenes may have on players, and produced a web resource for those affected by issues in the game.

Our own ordinary world

What makes Life is Strange so impactful is that, despite the fantasy element, it essentially takes place in our own ordinary world, and stars believable characters not unlike people we already know. As you grow attached to characters like Kate (just one of a wide and fascinating cast, all with their own issues to deal with), it makes the overarching story of time manipulation all the more compelling.

I've neglected to mention the key plot element: the story of a teenage girl who has disappeared from the community. As the game progresses, you will learn the dark secret at the heart of this small town, but much like the television series Twin Peaks was about so much more than the murder of Laura Palmer, this game is about so much more than the core mystery.

This game can be played at a leisurely pace, allowing you to become lost in its fully realised, detailed world. It is rich in character, and features a warm acoustic soundtrack, for a late-2000's indie-film feel. It is widely regarded as one of the best games of 2015 and is a must for anyone who enjoys strongly narrative-driven interactive experiences.

Depression and suicide is still relatively new ground for games, and few games have tackled these issues as head-on as Life is Strange. Playing the game I get the feeling that developers are still finding their feet on the best way to deal with such subject matter, but I certainly admire the bravery with which they explored it, and their attempts to remain respectful.

More information on the emotional cost of bullying is available.

Life is Strange is available across multiple platforms including PC and Mac via Steam or Humble Bundle, as well as on Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

Authored by Sachin Shah

Blog Author
Gaming the mind team

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