What if mental disorders aren’t just brain problems, but disruptions in how we make sense of the world?

I enjoyed speaking with Professor Sanneke de Haan about her work on the enactive approach to psychiatry in the latest Behind the Stigma episode :)

Listen here: www.buzzsprout.com/1402324/epis...

Mental Disorder as a Harmful Dysfunction with Dr. Jerome Wakefield Podcast Episode · Behind the Stigma · February 20 · 1h 29m

This week on Behind the Stigma I spoke with Professor Jerome Wakefield on mental disorders as a harmful dysfunction.

We also discussed the boundary between normal suffering & disorder, evolutionary perspectives & the bereavement exclusion in DSM.

Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

Great review of @thebusyowl.bsky.social's book!

Reclaiming the Self in Psychiatry is an extremely well written and empowering book that can appeal to an interdisciplinary audience ... it brings lived experience back into the heart of psychiatry

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Thank you so much Professor Tekin!

Remembering the human in psychiatry: balancing science and humanism Published in Philosophical Psychology (Ahead of Print, 2025)

Really grateful for a thoughtful and thorough review of my book by Seiara Imanova @seiaraimanova.bsky.social, just out in Philosophical Psychology! @journalphp.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/MENEA...

thank you for the great conversation! @edouardmachery.bsky.social

Is Morality A Human Universal with Professor Edouard Machery - Behind the Stigma In this episode, I speak with Professor Edouard Machery to explore experimental philosophy and the question of whether morality is truly universal. We discuss why humans need morals in the first place...

Really enjoyed talking with Professor Edouard Machery on Behind the Stigma about experimental philosophy, moral intuitions, and whether morality is universal. His insights (and humor) made this such a fun one! Listen here:🎙️ www.buzzsprout.com/1402324/epis...

Thank you Carme, for the great chat!

This week on Behind the Stigma Podcast🎙️, I spoke to @isernmas.bsky.social on their excellent paper 'Unmasking therapy speak' - what they describe as a superficial use of psychotherapy language. We spoke about what that means & its wider impact. Listen here:🤩 www.buzzsprout.com/1402324/epis...

Unmasking therapy-speak - Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics Therapy-speak is the imprecise and superficial integration of psychotherapy language into everyday communication, especially by privileged or wealthy people. Despite the advantages of normalizing psychotherapy language, such as resisting epistemic injustice and enhancing awareness of mental health issues, therapy-speak raises important concerns. On the epistemic front, therapy-speak is susceptible to the erosion of the meaning and relevance of psychotherapy terms, pathologizing, and the risk of self-diagnosis. Regarding its ethical concerns, therapy-speak might be used to discredit individuals, evade responsibilities, and even signal social status, by taking an objective stance. Beyond these epistemic and ethical concerns, therapy-speak can also be weaponized to promote and perpetuate some forms of epistemic injustice, and to generate affective injustice. In particular, we argue that the weaponization of therapy-speak exploits the epistemic authority and the credibility excesses of medical evidence, the conflation between the descriptive and the normative, and the linguistic strategy of deniability to impose a specific way to manage emotions in challenging, and unjust, situations.

Huge congrats to @isernmas.bsky.social & Manuel Almagro on their new paper on #therapyspeak! 🎉

Carme and I talked all about it on my podcast, Behind the Stigma. Episode drops soon!

🔗 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Call for Participants📢

If you’re a university student in the UK or UAE who has self-diagnosed (identified a mental health condition) or received a clinical diagnosis, I’d love for you to take part in this survey :)

Read details here: lnkd.in/d98XkyCW
Survey link: lnkd.in/dDx7q4YF

Our event is only a week away! Please do register if you haven’t done so already!

It was great to be back on campus last week for the CAL research festival @unibirmingham.bsky.social to present my work on how diagnostic identity interacts with young people’s identities. Love a sunny Brum!☀️

Thinking least (or a lot) of death: On the toxicity of positive thinking, and the power of philosophy as therapy I don't like talking to other patients.

A wonderful piece by Helen De Cruz: I love her defence of philosophy as therapy! helendecruz.substack.com/p/thinking-l... On the toxicity of positive thinking, and the power of philosophy as therapy

Digital Age: Mental Health, Cognitive Robotics, and AI

New on the #projectEPIC blog today is a report by @seiaraimanova.bsky.social on the workshop she co-organised with Andrew Hicklin on the topic of AI and mental health: epistemicinjusticeinhealthcareproject.blogspot.com/2025/06/digi...

#epistemicinjustice #AI #mentalhealth #technology

This was a conversation I'd been so excited for, and it didn't disappoint! It was such a pleasure having Dr. @lucyfoulkes.bsky.social on Behind the Stigma Podcast last week to talk all things Adolescent Mental Health. Listen here: www.buzzsprout.com/1402324/epis...

Blurry pics but what a great time hosting The Digital Age event this week at UoB, exploring social media & mental health, AI in translational research & ethical robotics. Huge thanks to @ljspencer.bsky.social @alan-winfield.bsky.social & Paris Lalousis for such engaging talks!

Awww Matthew, I'm so glad! Bless her, so sweet!😊

Excited to be organizing The Digital Age: Mental Health, Robotics & AI at UoB with Andrew Hicklin, featuring Dr. @ljspencer.bsky.social and Dr. @alan-winfield.bsky.social as our guest speakers! You can join us online or in-person. Register here: forms.office.com/e/azVYipz7Gf

Aww thank you Matthew! Lucky to have the best supervisors!🥰

Had a great time this weekend at the International Psychology Conference Dubai! Happy I got to represent UoB and share the early stages of my PhD work with @lisabortolotti.bsky.social & @matthewbroome.bsky.social through a poster and talk in the Applied Cognitive & Social Psychology stream🙏

Title slides

representation of two influential views of responsibility

the agential ladder, starting from validation

Really enjoyed presenting at Phenomenology of Health & Relationship conference yesterday, an event organised by Michael Larkin. This is new work with Rose McCabe on how to understand agency and responsibility in youth mental health. I loved the participants' engagement! #philsky #epistemicinjustice

Look forward to reading it!

Loved this one too, such a beautiful book!

Likewise Bella! Looking forward to the next one :)

Personality Disorders, Neoliberalism, and Survivor Voices with Dr. Jay Watts - Behind the Stigma In this compelling episode of Behind the Stigma, we are joined by award-winning clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, and activist Dr. Jay Watts to explore critical perspectives on mental health.&nb...

Greatly enjoyed speaking to the wonderful Seiara Imanova on personality disorder and ICD-11, how the neoliberal state shapes us, and my top mental health services wish: that survivor voices are centred, with ALL professions second and working to survivor and UNCRPD goals: tinyurl.com/3trmuuss%E2%...

Thank you for such an enriching conversation!❤️

Behind the Stigma: the podcast

New post in #projectEPIC blog: Seiara Imanova presents her podcast series Behind the Stigma epistemicinjusticeinhealthcareproject.blogspot.com/2024/11/behi... #philsky