“I can get different reactions in the street . . . (swears) . . . from strangers, whether the reaction is somebody staring at me or giving me a sly look, or whether they’re laughing at me or pointing.” – 13-year-old Spencer Davies-Monk, My F-ing Tourette’s Family, BBC Documentary. “These kids look like they’re just...Read More

Diagnosing autism – or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) – is a difficult thing to do. There is no single test. It takes time. For those seeking our help, it starts with an initial assessment. This is just the beginning. Factor in a school-based observation; an IQ test (learning difficulties can have a huge impact...Read More

Why consult a child psychiatrist? It’s an important question to consider. For you, as parents. For us, as professionals. The answer isn’t straightforward, as the reasons for reaching out can be many. That said, our experience and understanding means that we’re able to make the process as painless as possible. To answer your questions. To...Read More

The idea that what one wants to happen, can happen. This is hope defined. Quite literally; for this is a meaning that came direct from our office dictionary. Hope is such an important resource for mental health. For those who seek out our help, young people and adults alike, it is often in short supply....Read More

  Quoted in our morning newspaper last week, were figures that did not make for good reading. 60% of children and young people referred for specialist mental healthcare via a GP do not receive treatment (based upon data drawn from 32 NHS Trusts in England). It must be said that to those with knowledge and...Read More

Trending on Twitter in recent times has been the hashtag #ChoosePsychiatry. It’s linked to a carefully-constructed campaign that the Royal College of Psychiatrists devised in order to shine a light on the specialism and persuade more doctors to do just that: To choose Psychiatry. It’s something that got us thinking. Thinking about our own background(s)....Read More

It has been trending on Twitter and featured on Facebook. Discussed both online and off. In newspapers, in books and in magazines. On television – the tales told both factual and fictional. That autism is in the spotlight like never before is beyond any doubt. Yet understanding – proper understanding – remains elusive. This is...Read More

It sounds rather clichéd. Like something from a movie or a hackneyed novel. That just before death, life flashes before one’s eyes. The thing is, it might just be true. That conclusion is one that has been reached following research in Jerusalem that suggests that, as our functions start to fail, the parts of the...Read More

There’s a girl. She’s always checking her appearance. Her hair is long, blonde and wavy, her eyes big and blue. There can be little question that the girl is beautiful. That she seems to have it all . . . Yet the girl thinks she is ugly. The girl in question is all too real....Read More

Heard the one about the theatre director, the playwright, the poet and the psychiatrist? It sounds a little like the opening line in a convoluted joke. On the contrary, however, the subject matter could not be more serious. It centres on psychosis, a condition that, as all who have experienced it can attest, is nothing...Read More