Marking #LGBTHistoryMonth, @davidwoodhead.bsky.social explores how #LGBTQ+ history helps us see how the past sits in the present. Read his latest blog 👇https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/lgbtq-history-month-and-mental-health-how-the-past-shapes-the-present/
"Carrying more than we should: The human story in the latest LGB+ statistics." @davidwoodhead.bsky.social reflects on new figures released by the ONS revealing stark inequalities and how we can prevent this.
Read the blog here: bit.ly/3YOuwRt
Content warning: This post discusses suicidal feelings
Text: The mental health legacy of AIDS is complex. It encompasses deep psychological wounds and catastrophic re-enactments (the unconscious repetition of post-traumatic events). We know, for example, that suicide rates among gay men are disproportionately high, and many report depression and anxiety. David Woodhead. World Aids Day.
Text: Yet it also conveys a kind of empowerment. We want to be visible and acknowledged. We have a deep pride in who we are in all our diversity and difference. And we display profound resilience in the face of our ongoing, and sometimes growing, marginalisation as members of an international LGBTQIA+ community. David Woodhead. World Aids Day.
On #WorldAIDSDay, @davidwoodhead.bsky.social reflects on the collective memory and mental health legacy of the AIDs crisis of the 1980s and 90s.
Read David's blog 👇https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/echoes-of-survival-queer-reflections-on-getting-older-mental-health-and-world-aids-day/
“Am I Queer Enough?” @davidwoodhead.bsky.social reflects on visibility, ethics, and contradictions as a a middle-aged gay man in recovery and a mental health researcher.
Read more in the journal from @durhamimh.bsky.social 👇
thepolyphony.org/2025/11/24/am-i-queer-enough/
"The point is how do we navigate the gap between how we live and how we theorise, how we enact our identities and the sensibilities we bring to research?" Brilliant post by @davidwoodhead.bsky.social on lived experience, queer experience and theory
thepolyphony.org/2025/11/24/a...
Steve Martin & Martin Short singing the way you look tonight to the beautiful DianeKeaton 🥺💔
How do global catastrophic events – like climate change, war and pandemics – affect mental health?
And how can governments support those most at risk?
@davidwoodhead.bsky.social & @andybell-centremh.bsky.social explore in this special edition of @rsph.bsky.social's journal 👇 tinyurl.com/y5x88td3
Congratulations 🎊💐🥳🎊
For reasons I don’t fully understand the UK #AIDS quilt was displayed recently at @tatemodern.bsky.social for only three days.
My friend and colleague @davidwoodhead.bsky.social writes in this incredible piece about his encounter there w materiality and/as memory thepolyphony.org/2025/07/02/q...
@centreformh.bsky.social @aldersonday.bsky.social @durhamimh.bsky.social @literarti.bsky.social @andybell-centremh.bsky.social
Stood before the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt at Tate Modern and felt fury and sorrow coil together. Grief for those lost.
Rage at the silence that let it happen
My blog on remembering—not passively, but defiantly.
Grieving loudly. Loving fiercely. Refusing erasure.
thepolyphony.org/2025/07/02/q...
Thank you, Fiona. That's very kind of you.
The fight for LGBTQ+ rights can take its toll, yet solidarity strengthens us. We build resilience together, honouring the past while forging a future of compassion and justice. In our communities, we find healing, courage, and the power to keep going. @centreformh.bsky.social @durhamimh.bsky.social
Image of a young person with short red hair draped in a LGBTQ+ Pride flag in the crowd at a Pride march. Quote from David Woodhead: "Every beat, every shout, every flash of colour was a declaration of identity – a promise that our existence, in all its boldness, would not be silenced."
Marching through time: Intersections of queer activism and mental wellbeing
To kick off #Pride month, @davidwoodhead.bsky.social thinks back to his first Pride march, and considers the importance of caring communities in confronting mental health injustice 👇 tinyurl.com/4vx5bx56 #Pride2025
As @davidwoodhead.bsky.social marks a decade of sobriety, he reflects on the support that enabled his recovery from #SubstanceUse - including family and friends, therapy, writing, physical health services & support like @londonfriend.bsky.social 👇 www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/waterloo-sun...
An incredibly powerful post by our fabulous colleague @davidwoodhead.bsky.social
Writing about addiction invites judgement and stigma. Yet I hope my blog reminds us that even in the darkest days, there is always hope #LGBTQ+ #mentalhealthequity #recovery @centreformh.bsky.social @durhamimh.bsky.social @andybell-centremh.bsky.social @aldersonday.bsky.social @literarti.bsky.social
We also need to see:
🎯 ICBs developing a plan that addresses the care pathways between both services
🎯 ICBs funding voluntary orgs that meet the needs of marginalised communities
🎯 Strengthening & training of the workforce
🎯 Investment in testing innovative approaches to meeting co-occurring needs
Today at @centreformh.bsky.social we’re sharing our new briefing on the urgent need to improve support for people with both mental health and substance use difficulties. For too long, doors have been closed and people have been let down. It’s time to plan services with people’s real needs in mind.
Writing about addiction invites judgement and stigma. Yet I hope my blog reminds us that even in the darkest days, there is always hope #LGBTQ+ #mentalhealthequity #recovery @centreformh.bsky.social @durhamimh.bsky.social @andybell-centremh.bsky.social @aldersonday.bsky.social @literarti.bsky.social
Integrate drug and mental health services. Prioritise compassion over criminalisation, acceptance over stigma. A system rooted in care recognises that addiction is a health issue, not a crime—ensuring people receive support, not punishment. Change begins with humanity. @centreformh.bsky.social
Having both mental health and substance use difficulties shouldn’t stop you from accessing care. But this is too many people’s reality. We’re calling for more integrated & compassionate care.
Having both mental health and substance use difficulties shouldn’t stop you from accessing care. But this is too many people’s reality. We’re calling for more integrated, compassionate care so that everyone can get the support they need.
www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/publications...
This gap in provision has been recognised, but not effectively closed, for decades. Now we need action.
📢 We're calling for investment in both substance use & mental health services - and more integration between the two - as part of the upcoming ten-year health plan.
Two quotes from participants: “We might have a ‘no wrong door’ approach, but people may not even get to the door.” “There needs to be greater acceptance of the strength that it takes someone to disclose that they want support for a drug or alcohol problem, as people have told us this is not always taken seriously and often the issue is dismissed as not being a major problem.”
The pervasive stigma around both substance use and mental ill health acts as a significant barrier to getting help. And the lack of culturally competent, faith-sensitive, gender-informed can compound the barriers for people from racialised and LGBTQ+ communities.
A key barrier to support is the lack of integration between mental health and substance use services. Despite the complex links between the two problems, people are routinely refused mental health support until they stop using substances.
We hosted a roundtable with Professor Dame Carol Black and participants from charities, service providers, grassroots organisations, and professional bodies, to explore how we can move from fragmentation to more integrated, effective services.
Hate and its impacts on LGBTQ+ mental health. 🌈 How to combat the negativity and foster wellbeing. My latest blog post #LGBTQ #MentalHealth #Wellbeing @centreformh.bsky.social @literarti.bsky.social @durhamimh.bsky.social @andybell-centremh.bsky.social @aldersonday.bsky.social
Rainbows in the storm: Navigating hostility and hope in LGBTQ+ lives David Woodhead
Quote: “What are the long-term impacts of enduring hate, not just on us as individuals but on the many LGBTQ+ communities we belong to?” “And perhaps more fundamentally, how do we survive, let alone thrive, in a world that questions our existence?”
Rainbows in the storm: Navigating hostility and hope in LGBTQ+ lives
Following last week's Supreme Court ruling & new data on suicide deaths, @davidwoodhead.bsky.social explores how mental health inequalities are impacting LGBTQ+ people, and how we can tackle these injustices👇 tinyurl.com/mpu2a7px
Facing up to the reality of being HIV positive is, without doubt, a challenge. But in the midst of the fear, uncertainty, and stigma, I found hope and friendship. And purpose. @centreformh.bsky.social #UequalsU #HIV #Hope #Stigma #HIVTestingWeek #LGBTQIA @durhamimh.bsky.social
My giant head smashed through the door in the Shinning. My eyes are wide and wild. "Here's autism!"
Here's Autism!
#AutismAwareness
#AutismAcceptance
