Latest thinking

Mental health, hidden wealth… of cabbies?

Blog

27 Jun 2012

Joe Hallgarten

One of the unwritten conventions of working at the RSA is that, if a Fellow calls, you try your best to answer. So far, this has felt like anything but a burden, and has led to fascinating discussions and an emerging set of ideas for education projects, all which aim to engage Fellows at every stage.

Inclusive Dialogue: The Way Forward in Anti-Stigma Education?

Blog

26 Jun 2012

Yesterday saw the publication of a new article of mine in the Journal of Public Mental Health. It’s titled ‘Inclusive Dialogue: The Way Forward in Anti-Stigma Education?’ Inclusive Dialogue is an educational technique I developed during my PhD research, and the article discusses the impact it had on the young people taking part. As you need subscriber access to view the full PDF, I’ll use this blog post to give you a flavour of the piece.

The Antidote

Video

12 Jun 2012

Oliver Burkeman is a feature writer for the Guardian

In pursuit of happiness

Blog

10 May 2012

‘Happiness’ is a concept that I seem to be increasingly encountering. It is the subject of a piece of work that my colleagues in Arts and Society are involved with in collaboration with the Happy Museum Project, an initiative that is encouraging UK museums to support transition to well-being and sustainability in our society.

Packing punches with poetry

Blog

01 Feb 2012

My social science research training was great in terms of giving me the tools to understand more about how we get to know what there is to know. Philosophy of science can be tricky to get your head round at first, but once you get practical examples to illustrate principles, it’s pretty much logical and consistent.

Bobby Baker - an artist at the RSA

Blog

19 Jan 2012

If you have never come across Bobby Baker, I envy you. I envy you because you have ahead of you the delicious joy of discovering her work. She is one of the most widely acclaimed performance artists working today, and has a large and impressive back catalogue of work which, using the most fabulously inventive methods (plenty of cake), makes art out of the everyday.

Why Stigma Has Had Its Day

Blog

17 Jan 2012

In all honesty, I had never heard of The Society for Curious Thought until last week. It says it exists to foster curiosity and intellectual discovery in pursuit of a better future, which sounds good to me. On closer inspection, it turns out to host an eclectic and fascinating collection of articles and contributions covering arts, science, politics, personal experience, the environment and fiction.

Discrimination: why mental illness is a special case

Blog

11 Jan 2012

I’ve had a great response so far to my post about mental health and employment on Monday, and some important issues have been raised. One of the comments made directly in response to the blog was particularly challenging, and pointed to some important issues which I have tried to tackle in some of my previous work on anti-stigma education.

Mental health at work – everyone’s business

Blog

09 Jan 2012

Whose responsibility is it to support people with mental health problems in/to employment? Later this month, the OECD will publish what looks like an important piece of work examining the myths and realities about mental health and work. The issue is a spectacular tangle of grey areas, discrepancies and imprecision.