Seeing Things
When people experience anxiety and become hyper-vigilant, mass psychogenic phenomena may become more common. The Gatwick drone drama of Christmas 2018 is a candidate. On the day that drones were spotted flying over Gatwick airport, we all wondered what was...
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The rise of veganism?
Sausage Rolls, Flexitarians and the Fight for Sustainability The beginning of a new year offers the chance for renewal (“new year, new you?”). Increasing numbers of people are subscribing to (orchestrated) campaigns to kickstart a healthier lifestyle. Giving up drinking...
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What is Resignation Syndrome
Reports from Nauru are raising concerns about an outbreak of a severe trauma-related mental disorder known as traumatic withdrawal syndrome, or resignation syndrome. Recent legal action resulted in urgent medical evacuation of a child in an unconscious state following a progressive social withdrawal...
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Highlights of 2018
Dear Readers, Thanks for reading our posts and for following us on Twitter. Also, thanks to the many guest authors who have blogged for us over the last year. We hope you all have a merry break over Christmas and...
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White fluff
Despite extensive awareness and evidence of the dangers of working with asbestos, it continues to feature in domestic and international decision making. The ramifications of its use are felt at an individual level in the experiences of people with asbestos...
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Seriously laughing at fantasies of Race and Gender
Wise Children, director Emma Rice, on tour across England, based on Angela Carter’s novel ‘Wise Children’ (1991). BlackkKlansman, director Spike Lee, released August 2018, based on a memoir by Ron Stallworth ‘Black Klansman’ (2014). The theatre adaptation of ‘Wise Children’...
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Barriers to impact? On research in the ‘real world’
These days academic research is expected to have some degree of impact ‘out there’, in the ‘real world’, away from the academy. This is not a bad thing, but the ways in which impact has played out in practice assumes...
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Does it matter who funds public health?
Public health researchers and practitioners are divided on the ethics of taking money from ‘harmful commodity’ industries. Ethical debates about collusion with specific industries are important, but they risk ignoring the wider consequences of the increasing privatisation of public health....
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Hygiene for all?
The Guardian this week reported on new kinds of outreach work for homeless people, with mobile laundries and shower units, reported in Australia, New Zealand and Greece as well as my own city of Brighton, England. A Christian charity in...
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Constant anxiety of benefit sanctions is toxic for mental health of disabled people
As the UK government continues to roll out its flagship new benefit system, Universal Credit, it has been beset with difficulties and delays. Now, documents leaked to the BBC show that its full rollout is not expected to be complete...
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The interpretive difficulties of self-harm in “Sharp Objects”
Intense, languid, and darkly atmospheric: HBO’s Sharp Objects has been the show of the summer. Adapted from Gillian Flynn’s novel, the show follows Camille (Amy Adams, extraordinary as always), a journalist who returns to the sleepy Southern town of her childhood...
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Frankie Boyle’s hamster & the NHS long-term plan