The new dawn promised twenty years ago by the national policy publication Personality disorder: No longer a diagnosis of exclusion has failed to materialise. Individuals with complex emotional needs that may result in a “personality disorder” diagnosis continue to report stigma within mental health services and a struggle to get care that is accessible, holistic, and effective. Continuity of care and strong therapeutic alliances are similarly lacking. Complex emotional needs research, meanwhile, lags behind the rest of the mental health field. Research is both underdeveloped and underfunded; where it does exist, there are concerns that the questions that matter to service users, clinicians, and policy makers are not being addressed.
How might care and research be radically re-thought to ensure service users receive the right support? Join our expert panel to discuss how care can be transformed for people with complex emotional needs, and what research is needed to drive this change.
This MHQT (Mental Health Question Time) coincides with completion of a programme of NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit work on complex emotional needs, and is delivered within International Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness month.
Panel
Oliver Dale - Consultant Psychiatrist, Cassel Hospital, London & co-President BIGSPD @OliverDale10, @BIG_SPD
Tamar Jeynes - Lived Experience Researcher, PRU Complex Emotional Needs project, Lived Experience Practitioner and Expert by Experience
Shirley McNicholas - Women's Lead, Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust; Manager and Founder, Drayton Park Women's Crisis House
Lars Mehlum - Professor of Psychiatry, Director of National Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, University of Oslo
Sharon Prince - Consultant Clinical and Forensic Psychologist, Leeds and Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Kylee Trevillion - Lecturer, NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit, study lead on PRU Complex Emotional Needs Project @MentalHealthPRU
Sanisha Wynter, Expert by Experience and Mental Health Advocate @sanishawynter
Chair: Sian Oram - Deputy Director, NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit, Senior Lecturer in Women’s Mental Health, King’s College London @sianoram