Welcome to our April newsletter! This month's top 5 blogs don't make for comfortable viewing, but they are important. We've got research on children in persistent poverty being more likely to carry weapons and come into contact with police; on people using mental health services facing dramatically elevated rates of sexual victimisation (and then not being believed when they disclose it); on young people waiting nearly a year for CAMHS while their mental health deteriorates around them; and on patients remaining at risk of suicide for years, not weeks, after involuntary psychiatric discharge.

But we've also got something a little more hopeful: a small service evaluation asking what CMHTs can actually offer people while they wait for individual therapy. Eight weeks of compassion-focused therapy groups, it turns out, can make a difference. It's not a solution to waiting lists. Nothing short of proper investment will fix that. But it's a sensible, practical step that services could take right now, and that feels worth knowing about.

Don't forget to follow us wherever you get your research updates on social media!

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📈 Top 5 blogs this month

1. Persistent poverty and adversity drives youth weapon-carrying and police contact

"The message here is clear: persistent poverty harms children’s mental health and it has a heavy long-term cost. Tackling poverty and economic inequality could be an important component of a national effort to turn around rising rates of mental distress (Davie, 2022). But it must come alongside action to tackle racial injustice, gender-based violence, online harms, and the housing crisis, among other toxic contributors to mental ill health."

🤓 Read the BLOG by Andy Bell​

🗣️ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATION​

2. Mental health service users face higher sexual victimisation risk

People using mental health services experience sexual violence at dramatically higher rates than the general population. The evidence is unambiguous. Yet when people disclose the abuse they've experienced, their accounts are often dismissed as unreliable because of their psychiatric diagnosis. The same diagnosis that research shows makes them more vulnerable becomes the reason we don't believe them. This isn't just unfair, it's actively harmful.

🤓 Read the BLOG by Ioana Crivatu​

🗣️ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATION​

3. Waiting for CAMHS: worsening symptoms and strained families

Young people only seek CAMHS support after their mental health has already deteriorated. They feel they "need help there and then", but they wait an average of 359 days. During that year, mental health worsens. Some young people report increasing suicidal thoughts and behaviours. Family dynamics suffer. Young people feel alone, dismissed, ignored. This isn't just an inconvenience. Waiting lists can actively harm.

🤓 Read the BLOG by Becky Appleton​

🗣️ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATION​

4. Involuntary psychiatric patients face prolonged suicide risk post-discharge

What if the riskiest period after psychiatric discharge isn't just the first few weeks, but actually lasts years? This blog looks at 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​

5. Can compassion focused therapy groups support people in CMHTs?

Many CMHTs face waiting lists for individual therapy. Sometimes months. Sometimes years. What should services offer people during that time? This small service evaluation explored 8-week compassion-focused therapy groups. Some participants improved on self-compassion and depression. Participants valued the supportive environment.

🤓 Read the BLOG by Sofiia Kornatska​

🗣️ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATION​

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"WTF, this is so dangerous!" Social media influencers and youth mental health webinar

Empowering Youth: Navigating Social Media and Mental Health. This webinar took place on Monday 19th January and focused on the ESRC-funded project 'Influencer Stories of Mental Health and Young People.'

Chaired by Prof Michael Lakin and hosted by The Mental Elf, we discussed the challenges young people face with mental health content on social media. Featuring insights from young people, researchers, health communication experts, and policy influencers, we explore youth-led solutions and the role of influencers.

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The Importance of Lived Experience in Mental Health Services

This video from the BIGSPD25 conference in Liverpool dives into the significance of lived experience in mental health services and the role of lived experience practitioners.

We'll be covering BIGSPD26 in Blackpool this summer. You can register for the conference here.

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🌳🌤️🍄 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​