© 2008 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
SPECIAL ARTICLES |
Wake-up call for British psychiatry
Department of Psychological Medicine, Medical School, Cardiff University, UK
Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust, Newport, UK
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, The Warneford Hospital, UK
Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh, UK
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, The Warneford Hospital, UK
ABM University NHS Trust, Bridgend, UK
Royal Cornhill Hospital, Aberdeen, UK
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, The Warneford Hospital, UK
Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, The Warneford Hospital, UK
Institute of Neuroscience (Psychiatry), Newcastle University, Royal Victoria Infirmary, UK
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, The Warneford Hospital, UK
Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust, Cwmbran, Torfaen, UK
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, The Warneford Hospital, UK
Department of Psychological Medicine, Medical School, Cardiff University, UK
Institute of Neuroscience (Psychiatry), Newcastle University, Royal Victoria Infirmary, UK
Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh, UK
Department of Psychological Medicine, Medical School, Cardiff University, UK
Department of Psychiatry, University of Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, UK
Department of Psychological Medicine, Medical School, Cardiff University, UK, and Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, The Warneford Hospital, UK
Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh, UK
Department of Psychological Medicine, Medical School, Cardiff University, UK
Department of Academic Clinical Psychiatry, Sheffield University, UK
Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Department of Psychological Medicine, Medical School, Cardiff University, UK
Correspondence: Nick Craddock, Department of Psychological Medicine, Medical School, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK; Email: craddockn{at}cardiff.ac.uk
All authors are members or fellows of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and currently work within, or have recently worked within, the UK National Health Service. We hope that both of these organisations will be influenced by this paper.
The recent drive within the UK National Health Service to improve psychosocial care for people with mental illness is both understandable and welcome: evidence-based psychological and social interventions are extremely important in managing psychiatric illness. Nevertheless, the accompanying downgrading of medical aspects of care has resulted in services that often are better suited to offering non-specific psychosocial support, rather than thorough, broad-based diagnostic assessment leading to specific treatments to optimise well-being and functioning. In part, these changes have been politically driven, but they could not have occurred without the collusion, or at least the acquiescence, of psychiatrists. This creeping devaluation of medicine disadvantages patients and is very damaging to both the standing and the understanding of psychiatry in the minds of the public, fellow professionals and the medical students who will be responsible for the specialty’s future. On the 200th birthday of psychiatry, it is fitting to reconsider the specialty’s core values and renew efforts to use psychiatric skills for the maximum benefit of patients.
Related articles in BJP:
- From the Editor’s desk
- Peter Tyrer
BJP 2008 193: 90.[Full Text] - Highlights of this issue
- Sukhwinder S. Shergill
BJP 2008 193: A3.[Full Text]
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  P. Tyrer From the Editor's desk The British Journal of Psychiatry, November 1, 2009; 195(5): 470 - 470. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Brown, C. A. Vassilas, and C. Oakley Recruiting psychiatrists - a Sisyphean task? Psychiatr. Bull., October 1, 2009; 33(10): 390 - 392. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. A. Harrison The trouble with NHS psychiatrists Psychiatr. Bull., October 1, 2009; 33(10): 397 - 397. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Tyrer The British Journal of Psychiatry, September 1, 2009; 195(3): 273 - 275. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. B. Jones, E. Bullmore, and P. Fletcher Authors' reply: The British Journal of Psychiatry, September 1, 2009; 195(3): 269 - 270. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. Hawley, L. Drummond, and J. Knight NHS psychiatry: the need for constructive debate. Invited commentary on... The trouble with NHS psychiatry in England Psychiatr. Bull., August 1, 2009; 33(8): 299 - 302. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. N. Ghaemi The rise and fall of the biopsychosocial model The British Journal of Psychiatry, July 1, 2009; 195(1): 3 - 4. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
F. Holloway Common sense, nonsense and the new culture wars within psychiatry. Invited commentary on... Beyond consultation Psychiatr. Bull., July 1, 2009; 33(7): 243 - 244. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. St John-Smith, D. McQueen, A. Michael, G. Ikkos, C. Denman, M. Maier, R. Tobiansky, H. Pathmanandam, T. Davies, V. S. Babu, et al. The trouble with NHS psychiatry in England Psychiatr. Bull., June 1, 2009; 33(6): 219 - 225. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Tyrer From the Editor's desk The British Journal of Psychiatry, May 1, 2009; 194(5): 478 - 478. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
E. Bullmore, P. Fletcher, and P. B. Jones Why psychiatry can't afford to be neurophobic The British Journal of Psychiatry, April 1, 2009; 194(4): 293 - 295. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Tyrer From the Editor's desk The British Journal of Psychiatry, April 1, 2009; 194(4): 386 - 386. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. H. Young The Newcastle approach. Invited commentary on... Are specialised affective disorder services useful? Psychiatr. Bull., February 1, 2009; 33(2): 44 - 44. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. Boskovic and A. Jha Crisis resolution and home treatment teams for older people Psychiatr. Bull., February 1, 2009; 33(2): 75 - 75. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Tyrer From the Editor's desk The British Journal of Psychiatry, February 1, 2009; 194(2): 198 - 198. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
O. White Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 511 - 511. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Cohen, A. Tylee, and C. Manning Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 512 - 512. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Boardman and M. Hampson Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 513 - 513. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Shetty Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 514 - 514. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Allen Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 515 - 515. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Jauhar Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 516 - 516. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. Yeomans Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 510 - 511. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Holmes Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 511 - 512. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Agius Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 512 - 513. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. M. Vize, P. Atkinson, N. Brimblecombe, M. Crawshaw, B. Davidson, R. Hope, I. Hulatt, J. Kilyon, P. Kinderman, W. Osborn, et al. Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 513 - 514. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
W. M. Braude and A. F. Blakey Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 514 - 515. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Barker, P. Buchanan-Barker, F. Biley, B. Davidson, L. Elliott, A. Grant, H. McKenna, S. McNeil, S. Onyett, R. Peacocke, et al. Wake-up call for British psychiatry: responses The British Journal of Psychiatry, December 1, 2008; 193(6): 515 - 516. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
eLetters:
Read all eLetters
- Wake up or change?
- David Kingdon
- BJP Online, 2 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- No easy answer
- Adarsh Shetty
- BJP Online, 17 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Vision for the Future, not harking back to the past
- Christine M Vize, et al.
- BJP Online, 17 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- One cheer wake-up call
- jeremy a holmes
- BJP Online, 17 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Wake-up call for British psychiatry
- Walter M Braude. MD, FRCPsych, et al.
- BJP Online, 17 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- PTC response to Wake-up Call
- Ollie White
- BJP Online, 17 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- The keys to a successful outcome
- Martin A. Gee, et al.
- BJP Online, 17 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Wake-up call for British psychiatry
- Peter L Cornwall, et al.
- BJP Online, 17 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Psychiatry was broke - people are fixing it
- Phil Barker, et al.
- BJP Online, 17 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- A new anti-psychiatry movement?
- Derek B Dickson
- BJP Online, 17 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Wake-up call for British psychiatry : a response to Craddock et al
- David Cunningham Owens, et al.
- BJP Online, 31 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- There’s more to psychiatry than medicine
- Joanna Moncrieff, et al.
- BJP Online, 31 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Re: Vision for the Future, not harking back to the past
- Christine Vize, et al.
- BJP Online, 24 Sep 2008 [Full text]
- Against Psychiatric Fundamentalism
- Andrew E Blewett
- BJP Online, 30 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- One junior trainee's response...
- RJ Stamatakis
- BJP Online, 30 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Re: Wake-up call for British psychiatry
- Alejandro Corsico
- BJP Online, 30 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Psychiatry has more than medicines to offer
- Michael J Smith
- BJP Online, 30 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Getting Back to Basics
- Mark Agius
- BJP Online, 30 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Re: A new anti-psychiatry movement?
- Louise Pembroke, et al.
- BJP Online, 30 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- A medical student's perspective
- Rhiannon Allen
- BJP Online, 30 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Interim response from authors
- Nick Craddock, et al.
- BJP Online, 30 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Re: Craddock et al - Wake Up Call for British Psychiatry
- Duncan Double
- BJP Online, 30 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Wake-up call for British Psychiatry
- Colm McDonald
- BJP Online, 31 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Wake up call - Who can take the responsibility?
- Karthik Thangavelu
- BJP Online, 31 Jul 2008 [Full text]
- Making the biomedical case
- David Yeomans
- BJP Online, 1 Aug 2008 [Full text]
- Wake-up call
- Jed Boardman, et al.
- BJP Online, 1 Aug 2008 [Full text]
- Time for the College to act!
- David J Nutt
- BJP Online, 1 Aug 2008 [Full text]
- Trainees' perspective
- Andrew C. Stanfield, et al.
- BJP Online, 21 Aug 2008 [Full text]
- Is Psychiatry a Medical Discipline? An International Perspective
- Johannes Thome
- BJP Online, 21 Aug 2008 [Full text]
- Wake-up call for British Psychiatry
- Leon Rozewicz, et al.
- BJP Online, 21 Aug 2008 [Full text]
- Change for the sake of change?
- Sameer Jauhar
- BJP Online, 27 Aug 2008 [Full text]
- NWW: New Ways of What?
- Mamdouh EL-Adl
- BJP Online, 27 Aug 2008 [Full text]
- A Primary Care View
- Alan Cohen, et al.
- BJP Online, 3 Sep 2008 [Full text]
- wake up call for British Psychiatry
- Kamini Vasudev
- BJP Online, 24 Sep 2008 [Full text]
- Considering psychiatry as a career
- N J O Jacobsen
- BJP Online, 31 Oct 2008 [Full text]
- Wake up call: Response from authors
- Nick Craddock, et al.
- BJP Online, 19 Oct 2008 [Full text]
- Putting it all together.
- Mark Agius, et al.
- BJP Online, 31 Oct 2008 [Full text]
- Why Psychiatrists Can’t Afford To Be Neurophobic
- Peter B Jones, et al.
- BJP Online, 9 Sep 2009 [Full text]