@ekneuro
Lecturer in Applied Psychology, University of Edinburgh. Currently researching cognitive processing in people with OCD. Other research interests include early life stress, neuroscience, and mental ill health more generally.
I agree there is limited genuine help for sleep issues, despite their centrality. When sleep is mentioned it's either low-level support that doesn't suit many people, or information about a new bad outcome of sleeplessness (which isn't encouraging!)
Good piece on falling life expectancy and falling quality adjusted life years.
As a working class person I have occasionally had to point out to others that in the past 'we did not live long' when talking about family and relatives.
If you want a hero, get a T shirt of Michael Marmot.
I semi-regularly appreciate the fact I can easily listen to audiobooks in bed nowadays. So much of my time as a child and adolescent was spent lying in the dark unable to either sleep or do anything interesting. One time I even fell out of bed very slowly because it gave me something to do.
I never used to like spring because it felt like the season of never-ending school(!) But I've got into gardening in recent years so I'm looking forward to spending time on that as the evenings get longer and warmer.
Logged into BlueSky for the first time in months because I'm interested what the people who used to be on Twitter think about current events.
Software thinks I look like an adult, success!
This "face scan" option for verifying that you are over 18 is strange. Humans underestimate my age by 5 to 15 years. Hopefully at 36 that means the scan will still put me in the "adult" category. But it would have caused trouble when I was a bit younger.
"While the most popular narratives of suicide in the media seem to frame it as coming “out of the blue”, many people who are bereaved by suicide have lived with fear for a long time before their loss."
Sonja the dog was a little camera shy!
Last few days to take part!
Relatively unusually this research idea started with people's lived experience, so I am hoping to do it justice by gathering as much data as possible.
Please take part (whether or not you have OCD) and/or share widely!
edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Like thousands of others I'm continuing to keep a close eye on the #Madleen @freedomflotilla.bsky.social as it travels towards Gaza. The bravery of the crew is inspiring. #AllEyesOnDeck
More people are in work than peer nations but this is changing as more people wait for healthcare
The UK has some of the longest waits for healthcare
This has happened in the past 15 years
They are due to arrive in 6 days, you can follow the journey online. freedomflotilla.org/ffc-tracker/
I feel despairing that world leaders have still not acted to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The fact that 12 people (including Greta Thunberg) are currently risking their lives to get aid into Gaza gives me some hope for humanity. #AllEyesOnDeck
I went to a local Lebanese takeaway to help fuel me through exam moderation. Very keen on these little baklawa baskets.
I'm sorry to hear that. Inviting input from groups like yourselves and then not following through on it can often be worse than not inviting contributions in the first place. There are individuals with good intentions but there hasn't been much systemic movement.
We're having some difficulty finding people to take part in this study. Please consider taking part or sharing (you don't need to have OCD to take part!)
This work is built on lived experience and we're optimistic that it could (eventually) make a difference for people with #OCD.
On the one hand that's good news as I'm in the "right" career already. On the other hand I was hoping for some other career suggestions too, given the precarity in the academic sector right now(!)
If anyone's interested you can try it out here: whichjob.me
Just took the personality-based job profiler from @renemottus.bsky.social - the top two job matches for my personality were "Research professionals not otherwise classified" and "University and Higher Education teachers". I've actually done 3 of the top 4 jobs it suggests for me (other was writer).
A meme of Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. The text reads "Mould, mould everywhere".
It takes a weight off your shoulders when you own your own home (with a mortgage). Also there's no longer mould everywhere, as was the norm when renting.
It all highlights how skewed our country is though - standard of living is very much linked to how much property you or your family owned prior to the rapid inflation of house prices. Two above-average salaries are not necessarily enough to own a home these days.
I'm mindful that I'm in a relatively privileged position compared to many other millennials - I'm not renting and my parents benefited from the housing boom (and passed these benefits on by supporting me financially).
I'm here feeling excited about getting my mortgage down to a 20 year term with two good salaries and no children. Meanwhile when my parents were my age they'd paid off the mortgage on a whole house with one good salary and two children.
Spoke to my mum about taking a mortgage from one house to another. She said that wasn't a concern when she was about my age because the house went up in value so much that the sale price paid off the whole mortgage (for the original house).
We're looking for UK men aged 40-65 to give us some paid feedback on a video featuring 2 men talking about experiences of #suicidal thoughts. We want to know if it will be helpful for other men, even if they have never felt suicidal. Up to 1 hour of your time to help in our #suicideprevention work.
Six investment priorities to support better mental health: 1. Enable health visitors to support new mothers’ mental health. 2. Roll out evidence-based parenting programmes. 3. Expand the network of early support hubs for young people. 4. Expand offers within the NHS Talking Therapies Programme. 5. Expand Individual Placement and Support employment services. 6. Provide alternatives to hospital admission in a mental health crisis.
By investing in what works, the Government can turn the tide on poor mental health.
With @nhsconfed.org's Mental Health Network, we've set out six key areas for investment, backed by economic evidence, which would boost the nation’s mental health 👇
tinyurl.com/ypjusv3z #InvestInMentalHealth
Good point from @markoneinfour.bsky.social. In the last couple of years I've got into aerial gymnastics. I'm not very good at it but I enjoy it and it means I'm doing regular exercise. Like with many hobbies though it's a privilege to be able to afford it and attend a nearby location.
A guinea pig with white, black and brown fur.
Uf I'm sorry, what a shame it didn't go back to the original reviewers. My guinea pig Sharon sends her commiserations!
Photo of a longhaired tortie cat lying on a sunny sidewalk with grass lawn on either side. It has a round little dark object in front of it, a toy maybe.
Writing on the back of this photo from my collection says “General Nuisance. Summer 1954”.