Mental Elf Monthly: Five studies shaping mental health practice

Welcome to our Spring newsletter! What’s really shaping mental health outcomes right now? This month’s most-read Mental Elf blogs point to a mix of structural problems, clinical innovation, and uncomfortable blind spots.

We look at the lived experience of racism for Black students navigating higher education, the feasibility of resistance training in psychiatric rehab, and the strikingly long-term suicide risk following involuntary psychiatric care. We also explore whether PWPs could deliver focused CBT for panic disorder, and why personality disorders remain a major but overlooked contributor to global mortality.

Read the most popular blogs below and don't forget to follow us wherever you get your research updates on social media!

📈 Top 5 blogs this month

1. "How can I thrive in an institution that hates me?"

Black students experience cumulative racism from childhood through postgraduate research, with higher education institutions contributing to the problem. Two new studies expose the reality.

🤓 Read the BLOG by Hári Sewell​

🗣️ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATION​

2. Resistance training in psychiatric rehab settings is feasible and safe for psychosis

People with psychosis tend to have worse physical health outcomes, partly due to medication side effects and lower cardiovascular fitness. Exercise interventions can help, but resistance training has been overlooked in inpatient settings. This study demonstrates that resistance training is both feasible and safe, directly challenging assumptions about what's possible when improving physical health in those with schizophrenia.

🤓 Read the BLOG by Stephanie Allan and Beth McCulloch​

🗣️ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATION​

3. Suicide risk following involuntary psychiatric care remains substantially elevated for years after discharge, not just weeks or months.

Recent research tracking 72,275 Swedish patients after involuntary psychiatric care. Suicide risk was nearly 200x higher than the general population in the first month, but it remained 50x elevated even after five years. Patients with psychotic disorders had the lowest suicide risk post-discharge, while those with 'personality disorders' had the highest.

🤓 Read the BLOG by Yanakan Logeswaran​

🗣️ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATION​

4. Could NHS Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners deliver focused CBT for people with panic disorder?

For those working in Talking Therapies: what's your experience with panic interventions in low-intensity settings? Does this approach seem worth investigating further?

🤓 Read the BLOG by Lottie Shipp​

🗣️ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATION​

5. A global perspective on personality disorders: common, deadly and underestimated

This systematic review found 'personality disorders' associated with significantly elevated mortality, especially for inpatients. Yet they're invisible in public health planning. Our blog asks a powerful question: is this stigma operating at a global scale?

🤓 Read the BLOG by Kirsten Lawson​

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World Bipolar Day webinar - 30th March 2026

We are hosting a webinar and everyone is welcome! New hope for bipolar disorder: the evidence you need now will feature a mix of speakers - lived experience experts, clinicians, practitioners and researchers.

We'll cover medication, psychotherapies, lifestyle issues (diet, exercise, sleep), digital interventions and neurostimulation. A 90-min Zoom meeting that'll refresh your knowledge and cut through the noise to bring you the latest evidence for managing bipolar disorder.

🎟️ Sign up now! 🎟️

This is the latest in our series of expert webinars, following on from our successful Difficult To Treat Depression webinar in November 2025.

New series of 'personality disorder' videos

We have been working with the British and Irish Group for the Study of 'Personality Disorders' for over 5 years now, helping amplify their summer conference, reach more people, and grow their organisation. The BIGSPD community has grown massively in that time and these videos feature a diverse range of voices, featuring people with lived experience, clinicians, practitioners and researchers.

📺 Watch the videos now on YouTube 📺

🌳🌤️🍄 Commission The Mental Elf to share your research

We help researchers share evidence through social media, podcasts, videos, webinars and more. Right now we're working with research groups across the country to disseminate their new research and maximise their reach and impact.

You can commission our expert team or write us into your next grant application as your dissemination partner.

🎗️ Contact us now and get yourself some #ElfHelp.

🔗 elfi.sh/help​

📧 andre.tomlin@nationalelfservice.net​

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