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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?
      • Help support our campaign
      • Choose Psychiatry – Guidance for Medical Schools
      • 'Make this a better world'
      • Continue to choose psychiatry
    • Sixth formers and school students
    • Medical students

      Medical students

      • Becoming a student associate
      • Psychiatry attachments
      • Awards, prizes and bursaries for medical students
      • 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
      • Careers in mental health research
    • 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
    • Choose Psychiatry
      • What is psychiatry?
      • How to become a psychiatrist
      • Why choose psychiatry?
      • What next?
      • On a break from training?
      • Help support our campaign
      • Choose Psychiatry – Guidance for Medical Schools
      • 'Make this a better world'
      • Continue to choose psychiatry
    • Sixth formers and school students
    • Medical students
      • Becoming a student associate
      • Psychiatry attachments
      • Awards, prizes and bursaries for medical students
      • 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
      • Careers in mental health research
    • 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
  • 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
      • Exams Reading List
      • FAQs about our exam centre in Doha
    • Curricula and guidance

      Curricula and guidance

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

      Your training

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

      Dean's Quarterly Updates

      • Dean's Quarterly Update - April 2025
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - January 2025
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - September 2024
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - June 2024
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - February 2024
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - October 2023
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - June 2023
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - March 2023
      • Dean's update - 2022
    • Building Capacity in Perinatal Psychiatry

      Building Capacity in Perinatal Psychiatry

      • Perinatal Psychiatry Masterclass Series
      • About the Building Capacity Project
    • RCPsych Learn
    • 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
      • Exams Reading List
      • FAQs about our exam centre in Doha
    • Curricula and guidance
      • 2022 Curricula Implementation Hub
      • 2014 GMC approved curricula (ending July 2024)
      • Specialty training guides
      • Dual training
      • Assessment Strategy Review
    • Portfolio Online
    • Your training
      • Psychiatric Resident Doctors' Committee: supporting you
      • Routes to Registration
      • Applying for training
      • Run-through training
      • Training less than full time
      • Time out of training
      • Academic Training
      • Understanding Career Choices in Psychiatry
      • Leadership and Management Fellow Scheme
      • Prizes and bursaries for trainees
      • Cost of Training
      • Industrial action FAQs
      • Distribution of medical training posts
      • Presenting evidence at mental health tribunals
    • Medical training initiative (MTI)
    • International Medical Graduates
    • Employer Hub
    • Undergraduate education forum
    • Quality Assurance in Training
    • Credentialing
    • CPD eLearning
    • Dean's Quarterly Updates
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - April 2025
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - January 2025
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - September 2024
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - June 2024
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - February 2024
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - October 2023
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - June 2023
      • Dean's Quarterly Update - March 2023
      • Dean's update - 2022
    • Building Capacity in Perinatal Psychiatry
      • Perinatal Psychiatry Masterclass Series
      • About the Building Capacity Project
    • RCPsych Learn
  • 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 (PSS)
      • 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
      • Support for Refugee Psychiatrists
    • 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

      • Faculty of Academic Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Addictions Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Eating Disorders Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry
      • Faculty of General Adult Psychiatry
      • Faculty of the Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability
      • Faculty of Liaison Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Medical Psychotherapy
      • Faculty of Neuropsychiatry
      • Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Perinatal Psychiatry
      • Faculty of 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
      • CBSeic Cymru
      • RCPsych in Northern Ireland
      • Executive Committee job descriptions
    • English Divisions

      English Divisions

      • Eastern Division
      • London Division
      • Northern and Yorkshire Division
      • North West Division
      • South Eastern Division
      • South West Division
      • Trent Division
      • West Midlands Division
      • Executive Committee job descriptions
      • All Division events
    • International members
    • Special Interest Groups

      Special Interest Groups

      • How to join a Special Interest Group (SIG)
      • Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry Special Interest Group (AFPSIG)
      • Arts Psychiatry Special Interest Group (ArtSIG)
      • Digital Psychiatry Special Interest Group (DPSIG)
      • Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group (EPSIG)
      • History of Psychiatry Special Interest Group (HoPSIG)
      • Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry Special Interest Group (NDPSIG)
      • Occupational Psychiatry Special Interest Group (OPSIG)
      • Philosophy Special Interest Group 
      • Private and Independent Practice Special Interest Group (PIPSIG)
      • Rainbow Special Interest Group
      • Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group (SPSIG)
      • Sport and Exercise Psychiatry Special Interest Group (SEPSIG)
      • Transcultural psychiatry Special Interest Group (TSIG)
      • Volunteering and International Psychiatry Special Interest Group (VIPSIG)
      • Women and Mental Health Special Interest Group (WMHSIG)
      • 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
    • Mindmasters quiz

      Mindmasters quiz

      • Attend Mindmasters 2025
      • Who won in 2024?
      • The rules of the quiz
      • Sample quiz questions 
    • RCPsych ceremonies

      RCPsych ceremonies

      • New Members Ceremonies
      • Fellowship ceremonies
      • Specialist Registration Ceremonies
    • Question Time with the Officers
    • 2024 membership feedback
    • Speciality and Sub-Speciality (SAC/SSAC) Advisory Committees
    • 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 (PSS)
      • 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
      • Support for Refugee Psychiatrists
    • 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
      • Faculty of Academic Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Addictions Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Eating Disorders Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry
      • Faculty of General Adult Psychiatry
      • Faculty of the Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability
      • Faculty of Liaison Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Medical Psychotherapy
      • Faculty of Neuropsychiatry
      • Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry
      • Faculty of Perinatal Psychiatry
      • Faculty of 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
      • CBSeic Cymru
      • RCPsych in Northern Ireland
      • Executive Committee job descriptions
    • English Divisions
      • Eastern Division
      • London Division
      • Northern and Yorkshire Division
      • North West Division
      • South Eastern Division
      • South West Division
      • Trent Division
      • West Midlands Division
      • Executive Committee job descriptions
      • All Division events
    • International members
    • Special Interest Groups
      • How to join a Special Interest Group (SIG)
      • Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry Special Interest Group (AFPSIG)
      • Arts Psychiatry Special Interest Group (ArtSIG)
      • Digital Psychiatry Special Interest Group (DPSIG)
      • Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group (EPSIG)
      • History of Psychiatry Special Interest Group (HoPSIG)
      • Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry Special Interest Group (NDPSIG)
      • Occupational Psychiatry Special Interest Group (OPSIG)
      • Philosophy Special Interest Group 
      • Private and Independent Practice Special Interest Group (PIPSIG)
      • Rainbow Special Interest Group
      • Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group (SPSIG)
      • Sport and Exercise Psychiatry Special Interest Group (SEPSIG)
      • Transcultural psychiatry Special Interest Group (TSIG)
      • Volunteering and International Psychiatry Special Interest Group (VIPSIG)
      • Women and Mental Health Special Interest Group (WMHSIG)
      • 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
    • Mindmasters quiz
      • Attend Mindmasters 2025
      • Who won in 2024?
      • The rules of the quiz
      • Sample quiz questions 
    • RCPsych ceremonies
      • New Members Ceremonies
      • Fellowship ceremonies
      • Specialist Registration Ceremonies
    • Question Time with the Officers
    • 2024 membership feedback
    • Speciality and Sub-Speciality (SAC/SSAC) Advisory Committees
  • 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
      • Old Age Faculty Trainees
    • International Congress 2025

      International Congress 2025

      • Exhibiting organisations
      • Poster Presentations 2025
      • Your guide to Congress
      • Registration
      • Programme
    • In-house training

      In-house training

      • Competing interests
    • Free webinars
    • Claiming expenses

      Claiming expenses

      • What can I claim
    • Terms and conditions for event booking
    • Speaker guidance for online events
    • EventsAir FAQs
    • Speaker guidance for in-person 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
      • Old Age Faculty Trainees
    • International Congress 2025
      • Exhibiting organisations
      • Poster Presentations 2025
      • Your guide to Congress
      • Registration
      • Programme
    • In-house training
      • Competing interests
    • Free webinars
    • Claiming expenses
      • What can I claim
    • Terms and conditions for event booking
    • Speaker guidance for online events
    • EventsAir FAQs
    • Speaker guidance for in-person 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
      • CCQI research and evaluation
      • Health of Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS)
    • Influencing and campaigning for better mental health policy

      Influencing and campaigning for better mental health policy

      • College Reports
      • Position Statements
      • Integrated care and mental health
      • Children and young people's mental health Green Paper
      • Cross-government mental health and wellbeing plan 
      • RCPsych in Parliament
      • Processes for producing College publications, consultations, surveys and endorsements
      • Other policy areas
      • Mental Health Watch
      • Reforming The Mental Health Act
      • The Mental Health Policy Group (MHPG)
      • Preventing mental illness: Our manifesto for the next UK general election
      • The 2024 General Election and our manifesto
      • Assisted dying/assisted suicide
    • Planning the psychiatric workforce

      Planning the psychiatric workforce

      • About our workforce unit
      • 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
      • PMHIC Aims and objectives
      • Reports
      • About public mental health
      • PMHIC Parliamentary Launch 
      • PMHIC Commercial Determinants of Mental Health (CDoMH) Symposium 
      • PMHIC Parliamentary Roundtable 
      • Smoking and Mental Health in Wales 
      • Public Mental Health Learning Community 
      • Weight management and mental health: A framework for action in Wales
      • Health inequalities briefing pack
    • National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH)

      National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH)

      • About NCCMH and our work
      • Clinical guideline development
      • Competence frameworks
      • Quality improvement programmes
      • Reviews, evaluations and reports
      • Service design and development
      • Work with us
      • Culture of Care Programme
      • A–Z of NCCMH publications
      • Compassionate and Relational Care Learning Programme
    • 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?
      • Sustainability in your community
      • Sustainability in your practice
      • Sustainability in your trust
      • Sustainability at RCPsych
      • Nature matters
      • Sustainability scholars
      • Sustainability resources
      • College position on sustainability
      • RCPsych at COP26
    • Public Health and its role in mental heath
    • Using quality improvement
    • Net Zero Mental Health Care Guidance and Education

      Net Zero Mental Health Care Guidance and Education

      • Net Zero Mental Health Care Report Launch Event
    • Mental Health Awareness Week
    • Invited Review Service
    • Physician Associate Review

      Physician Associate Review

      • Physician Associate Review Meeting Summaries
    • 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
      • CCQI research and evaluation
      • Health of Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS)
    • Influencing and campaigning for better mental health policy
      • College Reports
      • Position Statements
      • Integrated care and mental health
      • Children and young people's mental health Green Paper
      • Cross-government mental health and wellbeing plan 
      • RCPsych in Parliament
      • Processes for producing College publications, consultations, surveys and endorsements
      • Other policy areas
      • Mental Health Watch
      • Reforming The Mental Health Act
      • The Mental Health Policy Group (MHPG)
      • Preventing mental illness: Our manifesto for the next UK general election
      • The 2024 General Election and our manifesto
      • Assisted dying/assisted suicide
    • Planning the psychiatric workforce
      • About our workforce unit
      • 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
      • PMHIC Aims and objectives
      • Reports
      • About public mental health
      • PMHIC Parliamentary Launch 
      • PMHIC Commercial Determinants of Mental Health (CDoMH) Symposium 
      • PMHIC Parliamentary Roundtable 
      • Smoking and Mental Health in Wales 
      • Public Mental Health Learning Community 
      • Weight management and mental health: A framework for action in Wales
      • Health inequalities briefing pack
    • National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH)
      • About NCCMH and our work
      • Clinical guideline development
      • Competence frameworks
      • Quality improvement programmes
      • Reviews, evaluations and reports
      • Service design and development
      • Work with us
      • Culture of Care Programme
      • A–Z of NCCMH publications
      • Compassionate and Relational Care Learning Programme
    • 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?
      • Sustainability in your community
      • Sustainability in your practice
      • Sustainability in your trust
      • Sustainability at RCPsych
      • Nature matters
      • Sustainability scholars
      • Sustainability resources
      • College position on sustainability
      • RCPsych at COP26
    • Public Health and its role in mental heath
    • Using quality improvement
    • Net Zero Mental Health Care Guidance and Education
      • Net Zero Mental Health Care Report Launch Event
    • Mental Health Awareness Week
    • Invited Review Service
    • Physician Associate Review
      • Physician Associate Review Meeting Summaries
  • Mental health

    Mental health

    • Mental illnesses and mental health problems

      Mental illnesses and mental health problems

      • ADHD in adults
      • Alcohol, mental health and the brain
      • Anorexia and bulimia
      • Anxiety and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
      • Autism and mental health
      • Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)
      • Bereavement
      • Bipolar disorder
      • Cannabis and mental health
      • Catatonia
      • Cocaine dependence
      • Coping after a traumatic event
      • Debt and mental health
      • Delirium
      • Depression
      • Depression in older adults
      • Feeling overwhelmed
      • Gambling disorder
      • Heroin dependence
      • Hoarding
      • Intellectual 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 for carers
      • Postpartum psychosis
      • Postpartum psychosis for 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 (in England and Wales)
      • 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
      • Long-acting injectable (depot) antipsychotics
      • 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
      • What are perinatal mental health services?
      • Planning a pregnancy
      • Psychotherapies and psychological treatments
      • Social prescribing
      • Spirituality and mental health
      • Stopping antidepressants
      • 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 for young people
      • 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 for young people
      • Schizophrenia for young people
      • When a parent has a mental illness
      • When bad things happen for young people
      • Who is who in CAMHS?
      • Anxiety for young people
      • Weight, exercise and eating disorders for young people
      • Preparing for a blood test or vaccine for young people
      • Use of digital media for young people
    • Translations of our mental health information

      Translations of our mental health information

      • Arabic عربى
      • Bengali বাঙালি
      • Chinese 中文
      • French Français
      • German Deutsch
      • Greek Ελληνική
      • Gujarati ગુજરાતી
      • Hindi हिंदीहिंदी
      • Italian Italiano
      • Japanese 日本語
      • Marathi मराठी
      • Persian (Farsi) فارسی
      • Polish Polski
      • Portuguese (Brazil) Português (Brasil)
      • Punjabi (Pakistan) پنجابی
      • Romanian Română
      • Russian Pусский
      • Sindhi سنڌي
      • Spanish Español
      • Swahili Kiswahili
      • Tamil தமிழ்
      • Telugu తెలుగు
      • 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
      • Travmatik bir olayla başa çıkma Coping after a traumatic event in Turkish
      • စိတ်ထိခိုက်ဖွယ် ဖြစ်ရပ်တစ်ခုကို ရင်ဆိုင်ဖြေရှင်းခြင်း Coping after a traumatic event in Burmese
    • Order mental health leaflets and resources

      Order mental health leaflets and resources

      • Order mental health packs for schools
    • About our mental health information
    • Mental health information disclaimer
    • Mental health and psychiatry FAQs
    • Mental illnesses and mental health problems
      • ADHD in adults
      • Alcohol, mental health and the brain
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Paying the price of our mental health in the cost-of-living crisis

PMHIC, The RCPsych blog

06 February, 2023

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The monthly blog of the Public Mental Health Implementation Centre (PMHIC), 'Perspectives on public mental health', aims to highlight the voices of practitioners, patients, carers, and public health experts.

Shari McDaid, Head of Policy and Evidence for Scotland and Northern Ireland at the Mental Health Foundation, has an urgent message about the impact of the UK's cost-of-living crisis on mental health.

What happens to the mental health of a nation facing its worst cost-of-living crisis in over 40 years? That is the question facing the UK now, at the start of 2023.

There are reports of financial stress being experienced across the UK, with many people cutting back on essentials such as food and energy. What does this financial stress mean for the UK population’s mental health? At the Mental Health Foundation, we have been considering this question and recently published our analysis, Mental Health and the Cost of Living Crisis: A new pandemic in the making?.

For many, these experiences are not new – and might not only relate to recent economic changes.

The UK population’s relative poverty rate after housing costs has been over 20% since 1994, with the exception of the unusual period of 2020–21, when the average income fell. And some of the demographic groups that are now at higher risk of financial strain will be the same as those who were at greatest risk of poorer outcomes during the pandemic (younger workers, low wage earners and people from Black and minority ethnic communities), as shown in the Mental Health Foundation study Coronavirus: Mental Health in the Pandemic. 

Also, people with a diagnosis of a mental health disorder are at increased risk of experiencing unemployment and financial stress.

It is well established that poverty is bad for people’s mental health: socioeconomic deprivation is associated with increased risk of most mental disorders, and this association can come from both material deprivation and subjective financial strain:

  • Economic stress impacts on the mental health of children and adolescents through its influence on parental mental health, marital interaction and parenting.
  • Debt is a risk factor for poor mental health, especially unsecured (short-term) debt, which people often resort to in times of short-term financial strain.
  • Unemployment, which may rise if the UK stays in recession, is also a substantial driver of poor mental health.

Our own UK-wide poll, carried out in November 2022, indicated early signs of mental distress in the population. One in ten (10%) UK adults reported feeling hopeless, more than one-third (34%) were anxious, and over one-quarter (29%) were stressed because of financial worries in the past month. 

Worryingly, at the time of the poll, many people reported showing signs of not being able to do some of the activities that protect mental health, with 30% of adults reporting poorer sleep, 23% meeting friends and family less often and 12% exercising less often.

However, negative mental health outcomes are by no means inevitable. Many of these adults will not yet have reached a clinical threshold of mental disorder, so there is still an opportunity for prevention.

Public authorities’ actions can mitigate financial strain-related distress, reducing the risk of this developing into mental disorders. Fundamental to this is providing people with enough income for a decent standard of living; we are not there yet, even after 2022’s Autumn Statement announcements on cost of living payments: the Joseph Rowntree Foundation calculated that someone who is unemployed, on a low income, aged over 25 and renting a room will be £538 worse off.

Additional income measures that could help include normalising the real Living Wage, eliminating the waiting time for Universal Credit and increasing benefits in line with the real level of inflation experienced by people on low incomes.

Increasing access to debt relief will also be important. Local governments play an important role in ameliorating the effects of poverty through food and other supports, however their capacity to do so has withered under funding cuts.

There are also measures that can help boost people’s access to supports that promote mental health.

For example, building the capacity of frontline social security, debt advice and anti-poverty workers to respond effectively to the mental health effects of financial strain, and investing in the capacity of community organisations working with people experiencing poverty to provide preventative mental health support. So, too, is providing affordable public transport so that people can stay connected with family and friends, and have access to work and healthcare, as well as ensuring that people can maintain their broadband connectivity and avoid digital deprivation.

The cost-of-living crisis could not have come at a worse time, after two years of COVID-19 pandemic stress. The costs of mental health problems to the UK economy are staggering, at an estimated £117 billion each year, according to the Mental Health Foundation’s 2021 report, Economic Case for Investing in the Prevention of Mental Health Conditions. This report identifies a number of cost-effective interventions to prevent mental health problems across the life course, as does Jonathan Campion’s comprehensive 2019 report on public mental health.

The question is, will a similar, whole-of-society effort be undertaken to prevent a further rise in mental health problems during this new crisis?

Shari McDaid, PhD

Head of Policy and Evidence for Scotland and Northern Ireland, Mental Health Foundation

Blog Author
Perspectives on Public Mental Health blog team

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