Centre for Mental Health

Centre for Mental Health Speaking up for social justice in mental health.

Mental health inequality is unjust - and it doesn't have to be this way. 💙Our Annual Report looks back on the work we've...
20/08/2026

Mental health inequality is unjust - and it doesn't have to be this way. 💙

Our Annual Report looks back on the work we've done this year to tackle mental health inequalities, and looks ahead to how we'll keep pursuing justice in mental health.

The nation's mental health has been getting worse over the last decade, with more people experiencing distress and struggling to get the support they need. Inequality in mental health reflects wider social and economic inequality - and tackling it is our job.

This year we launched a new five-year strategy for a mentally healthier future, setting out our ambitions to 2030: that everyone's essential needs are met, that everyone can get the right mental health support at the right time, and that no one faces inequity or injustice because of their mental health.

We're building knowledge, creating learning through our training, convening people and communities, and speaking out about injustices in mental health - while strengthening our commitment to anti-racism.

Thank you to everyone who has worked with us and supported us this year. Partnership is at the heart of everything we do, especially at a time when so many pressures - from conflict to the cost of living - are affecting our collective mental health.

🔗 Read our Annual Report, and find a link to donate to support our work in the comments below 👇

Right now there is an unacceptable life expectancy gap in the UK, resulting from injustice and inequality across our soc...
19/08/2026

Right now there is an unacceptable life expectancy gap in the UK, resulting from injustice and inequality across our society. It could take 18 years of your life.

The conditions that we are born, live and work in: whether we can afford to heat our homes, breathe clean air, access decent housing, find secure work, and have enough money to live well, all affect both our physical and mental health, and can impact drastically on our life expectancy.

This life expectancy gap is unjust and avoidable. Change is possible if government start taking these issues seriously.

We’re supporting the Health Equals campaign in calling for a change in the law to tackle health inequalities.

Explore the campaign and find out how you can get involved. Link in the comments 👇

People from racialised communities face disproportionately high levels of trauma. This trauma isn't isolated, and is oft...
18/08/2026

People from racialised communities face disproportionately high levels of trauma. This trauma isn't isolated, and is often rooted in racism.

It's shaped by the historical legacies of colonialism, slavery and segregation, and deepened today by the ongoing effects of racial inequality – a structural injustice that must be urgently challenged.

Racism also gets in the way of people getting the right mental health support, because care that isn't culturally sensitive, and doesn't address the discrimination people face, will always fall short.

It’s up to all of us working in mental health, every organisation, service and institution, to embed anti-racism in our practice - in order to tackle this injustice and support better mental health for all.

Centre for Mental Health and the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition are shocked and deeply saddened by ...
17/08/2026

Centre for Mental Health and the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic death of Professor Jason Arday. Our thoughts are especially with Professor Arday’s family and friends at this time.

Jason's death after weeks of racist and ableist public scrutiny and shaming is a tragedy.

There will be many Black people who are upset and angry. Such a campaign against a public Black figure, which sadly is not the first, may cause people to question whether roles in public life are for them, and put their mental health at risk. If this dissuades Black people from taking part in public life or academia, we will be denied their talents, skills and expertise.

Racism is deeply entrenched in our society and causes trauma and harm to people, families and communities. This is a painful reminder of why rooting out racism from our institutions and services is urgent and essential, and of the importance of widening access to trauma-informed support for people from racialised communities.

If you have been affected by this news and need to speak to someone, we have a list of organisations you can reach out to for mental health support – find the link in the comments below.

14/08/2026

Deborah Williams relates her own experiences of struggling with depression from an early age, and the difficulties in finding suitable help. It was only after her third pregnancy and experience of postpartum depression that she was finally signposted to support.

Deborah went on to found The Women’s Association, and in our latest podcast she explored how to tackle mental health inequalities from the perspective of people with lived experience.

Deborah was joined by Christopher Egan, lived experience lead at We Are Survivors, advocating for male survivors of sexual harm, and Sarah Rouse a local councillor, who after a lifetime of misdiagnosis, found self-awareness and self-acceptance through training as a mental health counsellor.

🔗 Find a link to the podcast in the comments below 👇

⚠️ Content warning: this episode includes reference to sexual abuse and substance use.

A facilitator arrives. A discussion unfolds. Transcripts are typed up, themes extracted. Too often, that's all group wor...
13/08/2026

A facilitator arrives. A discussion unfolds. Transcripts are typed up, themes extracted. Too often, that's all group work in research is asked to be – a vessel for data, rather than a site where meaning is made.

But what if the group itself – the silences, the tension, the unspoken – is where the real insight lives? 🤔

David Woodhead shares four strands of thinking about group work in mental health research. From focus groups to Open Space events to reflective sessions with frontline staff, he explores how facilitation means listening not just to what's said, but to power, emotion and what sits beneath the surface.

"Systems already hold the knowledge they need. The task of the experienced facilitator is to bring that knowledge to the surface, and to create the circumstances in which honest, constructive discussion can take place."

It's the same thinking behind the group work activities we offer at Centre for Mental Health, helping organisations, teams and communities understand and improve their work.

Read David's blog and find out more about our group work (🔗link in comments 👇)

Racism doesn't let up. It's toxic to mental health. For many people from racialised communities, it's something they fac...
12/08/2026

Racism doesn't let up. It's toxic to mental health. For many people from racialised communities, it's something they face every day - and it's getting harder, as cuts to services, job and housing insecurity and a hostile political climate pile on the pressure.

Our report, Shifting power, shows that racism isn't just about individual prejudice - it's woven into the systems that shape people's everyday lives and their mental health: housing, work, health care and more. Real change means moving past individual clinical care and towards prevention and community-led support.

The people taking part in workshops for the research told us how a hostile political climate and rising far right activism are making them feel less safe and more isolated.

We're calling for racial trauma to be recognised as a public health priority, for stable funding for community organisations, and for real power-sharing with the communities most affected - not just consultation.

🔗 Read the report, link in comments 👇

More than a decade after the Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence was abolished, around 2,000 people are still li...
11/08/2026

More than a decade after the Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence was abolished, around 2,000 people are still living under its shadow - some still in prison years beyond their minimum term, others released but under indefinite licence conditions, with the constant threat of being recalled.

In a new guest blog, Dr Sarah Markham argues that every person still subject to an IPP sentence should be automatically eligible for an independent resentencing review. She explains how years of uncertainty and institutionalisation can shape behaviour in ways that get mistaken for ongoing dangerousness - meaning the sentence itself can end up distorting the very risk assessments used to justify keeping people detained.

"If Parliament concluded that IPP had no place in the future, why should those sentenced before its abolition remain subject to a sentencing framework that no longer exists?"

🔗 Read Sarah's blog - link in comments 👇

It's deeply worrying to see reports in The Guardian that two-thirds of NHS mental health trusts in England are having to...
10/08/2026

It's deeply worrying to see reports in The Guardian that two-thirds of NHS mental health trusts in England are having to make plans to cut services to make ends meet.

Sadly, this is a consequence of a health and care system that makes mental health less of a priority - with less than 9% of NHS funding for 20% of need. Mental health services are also funded differently to others, and asked to make extra 'efficiency savings', making them more at risk of having to make cuts.

Last week we welcomed plans to create 100 more community mental health centres across England. But these centres will need to have sufficient staff working in them to meet people's needs, and there is no additional funding as yet to enable that, nor a plan to keep building the mental health care workforce.

The Government has a chance now to turn a corner on mental health. Its new mental health strategy can take action to prevent mental health difficulties and direct investment into high-quality mental health and social care services, there when and where people need them. We hope the Government will seize this opportunity to turn the nation's mental health around and ensure essential services are sustained.

For someone experiencing psychosis for the first time, the support they get in those early months can shape the rest of ...
07/08/2026

For someone experiencing psychosis for the first time, the support they get in those early months can shape the rest of their life. Our new briefing, published today, looks at recent research into how well Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) services support people during their first episode of psychosis.

The research, from the EXTEND study, finds that EIP services which offer the full range of recommended support - talking therapies, medication, family interventions, employment support and physical health care - achieve better outcomes. Gaps in support mean poorer outcomes for the people who need it most.

Care coordinators play a huge role here, and need caseloads of 15 people or fewer to do their job well. The research also found that people from racialised communities have worse outcomes from EIP services - a reflection of deeper inequities in society and the NHS.

Most people move on from EIP after around three years, and how that transition is handled really matters. Some people feel abandoned if it isn't well supported. Involving carers throughout is linked to better outcomes too.

The briefing calls on Government, NHS England, integrated care boards and NHS trusts to make sure EIP services are properly resourced, monitored and equitable.

🔗 Read the briefing: Link in the comments 👇

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