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For older items of news, please see our news archive.
Psychological care delivered over the phone is an effective way to combat loneliness and depression, according to a major new study
Depression and loneliness can be prevented using structured, telephone-based psychological care, delivered over eight weeks, according to new research. The results of the study, a major clinical trial carried out during the Covid pandemic, showed rapid and enduring improvements in mental health and quality of life when older people received weekly phone calls over eight weeks from a specially trained coach who encouraged them to maintain their social connections and to remain active.
Researchers call for action to end mental health related deaths
Researchers have called for radical changes on a global scale to prevent the growing mortality rates of people with mental health problems.
A study, published in Lancet Psychiatry, and involving 40 global experts, including researchers at the University of York, revealed the factors that increased early mortality for people with mental health conditions.
Personalised care needed for mental illness and physical health conditions
People with severe mental illness can struggle to self-manage long-term physical conditions and need personalised support, a new study suggests. The study calls for services that bring together support for physical and mental health conditions, as well as personalised support that could include flexible appointments, longer consultations to discuss both physical and mental health conditions, and proactive follow-up to help them manage their medication and health.
Applications open for new MSc Mental Health Research
We are pleased to announce that applications to the new MSc Mental Health Research are now open for a September 2023 start. The programme is a joint venture between Hull York Medical School and the Department of Health Sciences and will be led by Professor Dean McMillan and Dr Katie Pybus
Digital divide poses exclusion risk for people with mental illness
A stark digital skills deficit among people with severe mental illness means they struggle to access key services which are increasingly online. A study found that adults with conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are more likely to lack digital skills and are at risk of greater social isolation due to the digitalisation of services including health and social care, a trend that gathered pace during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Human-animal interaction webinar for ESRC Festival of Social Sciences
Stephen Fry in conversation with Professor Christina van der Feltz-Cornelis for York Unlimited
The York Unlimited campaign of the University of York is aiming to transform mental health on a local, national and international scale, through supporting on the ground initiatives and the latest groundbreaking research. As a tireless campaigner, supporter and advocate for everyone experiencing mental health problems, the team behind the York Unlimited campaign thought Stephen Fry would be the perfect person to invite to speak with Professor Christina van der Feltz-Cornelis about the University of York’s efforts to improve mental health and wellbeing in many forms, reaching out from the University to the city's communities and beyond. Watch their conversation
New research on electronic cigarettes to help smokers with mental health problems quit and reduce harm
Academics from the University of York and University College London are to lead a major new trial, funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research, to establish whether integrating the offer of a vaping starter kit to mental health patients who smoke helps increase the number who quit successfully. Read more
Dr Elena Ratschen & Dr Emily Shoesmith presenting at the ESRC Festival of Social Science
They will present a short talk on Human-animal interaction before and since Covid-19: lessons and priorities for research, policy and practice (UK event). Book your place
DIAMONDS project runner-up in service users and carers award
The DIAMONDS research project is runner-up in a national competition to highlight the best examples of service user and carer involvement in mental health research studies. Read more
York to lead a national study on the impact of Covid-19 on mental ill-health under £2M funding announcement
The impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on people with severe mental health illnesses is now being studied by researchers in partnership with mental health provider, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust.
The research project - Optimising Wellbeing in Self-isolation study (OWLS) - explores how people with severe mental ill health have experienced the pandemic restrictions and how they dealt with the social consequences of lockdown. It will also investigate the impact of coronavirus on their physical health. Read more
Loosening regulations on controlled drugs during the covid-19 pandemic
Bureaucracy is preventing timely and adequate access to controlled drugs during the covid-19 pandemic. Read more
Covid-19 - are we rationing who we care about?
Certain vulnerable groups risk being left behind in our response to the Covid-19 outbreak. Read more
Focusing on GHB ignores the more common involvement of alcohol in sexual assault
Recent high profile sexual attacks have drawn attention to the drug GHB, yet Ian Hamilton writing in the BMJ underlines how much more commonly alcohol is weaponised in cases of sexual assault. Read more
New project launched to reduce work stress
A European collaborative project aimed at reducing work stress started January 1st 2020, in which the University of York is one of the collaborating partners. It is led by the Spanish partner in Barcelona, funded with € 3.99M by the EU Horizon 2020 programme. EMPOWER envisions improving workplace conditions and employee mental health and well-being at the workplace. Read more
Computerised CBT could help reduce waiting lists in the treatment of depression in adolescents
Using a computerised version of cognitive behavioural therapy to treat depression in children and young adults has the potential to improve access to psychological therapies and reduce waiting lists, a new study suggests. Read more
Suicides reduced by 17 per cent in new collaborative prevention programme
A new suicide prevention programme which includes swift access to specialist care and 12 months of telephone follow-ups has shown to reduce deaths by 17 per cent. This is the first outcome of a programme called Suicide Prevention by Monitoring and Collaborative Care (SUPREMOCOL) that brought together care services and key community agencies to create a cohesive network who worked together with the aim of diminishing preventable deaths by suicide. The design of this systems intervention is published in the BMC Psychiatry. Read more
New guidelines for prescribing medicinal cannabis
New guidance from NICE leaves us no clearer about the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis. Read more
World Mental Health Day on Thursday 10 October 2019
Mental and physical health are equally important and indivisible, since there is 'no health without mental health'. An event entitled 'Putting mental and physical health on the same page' is taking place to celebrate World Mental Health Day. For further details see our Eventbrite page
Antidepressants may reduce anxiety more than depressive symptoms
Researchers have discovered that a commonly used antidepressant also leads to an early reduction in anxiety symptoms. Read more
York awarded funding for mental and physical health multimorbidity
Professor Simon Gilbody will lead the Mental and Physical Multimorbidity theme as part of the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Applied Research Collaboration. Professor Gilbody said “... there is no health without mental health. We are delighted that the York expertise in these areas will drive innovation and research for the benefit of people in the region'' Read more
Over 8,000 people with severe mental ill health have now joined the research-ready Closing the Gap: Health and Wellbeing Cohort
The cohort is an important resource that underpins the Closing the Gap network - a UKRI-funded network to understand why people with severe mental ill health face some of the most profound health inequalities. Read more
New intervention doubles quit rate among smokers with severe mental illness
Results of the SCIMITAR+ trial led by Simon Gilbody have shown that people with severe mental illness are twice as likely to quit smoking when offered support.
https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2019/research/smoking-mental-illness/
The full study results can be read here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(19)30047-1/fulltext
Read the findings
Christina van der Feltz-Cornelis along with collaborators have recently published the following:
, 368kb)Paper published in Anthropology & Medicine
Jerome Wright and Limbika Maliwichi-Senganimalunje (University of Malawi) have published an article entitled 'Pluralism and Practicality: Village health workers’ responses to contested meanings of mental illness in Southern Malawi' in which they explore how personal, social and cultural influences inform causative attributions for mental health problems and people's help-seeking decisions. Findings emphasise the need for mental health task-shifting interventions to work with communities to discern authentic and practical responses to mental distress.
E-cigarettes more effective than nicotine replacement therapies
E-cigarettes are almost twice as effective as nicotine replacement treatments, such as patches and gum, at helping smokers to quit, according to a new clinical trial. Read more
Majority of people with severe mental ill health would like to be more physically active, new research suggests
Taking part in regular physical activity is linked to a more positive outlook on general health in people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to a new report. Read more
York awarded funding for mental health network
The University of York has secured £1.2m funding to form an innovative mental health network which will focus on improving physical health and reducing health inequalities for people with severe mental illness. Read more