As experts in disaster mental health push to reframe disaster response as a preventive medicine rather than its actual state of acute management, various factors should be considered. Although a whole population may be victim to the effects of disasters, particularly vulnerable are those with severe mental illness. Therefore, efforts geared to bolster trauma response should centre on these individuals, starting at a community level and reaching organisational and governmental endeavours and funding.

Complementary and integrative medicine provides safe, low-cost, effective treatments for conditions ranging from everyday stress to post-traumatic stress disorder. The evidence for herbs, nutrients and mind–body practices is growing, despite disproportionately small amounts of financial support compared with funding for expensive pharmaceuticals. The unsustainable cost of conventional treatments, the moral imperative to care for millions of uninsured and the impact of COVID-19 compel us to fully explore known and potential benefits of treatments being used by complementary and integrative practitioners.

The worldwide stress that is a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic illuminates the need for mental preventive actions. Such ‘mental vaccines’ should be interdisciplinary and culturally sensitive. They should enhance resilience and adaptation of communities as well as vulnerable individuals.

Understanding the philosophical foundations of cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) is vital to drive theory and research forwards and to effectively conduct therapy using varied methods and techniques from different CBT models that may be rooted in distinct philosophical tenets. In the evolution of CBT as the most empirically validated form of psychotherapy, each of its three waves (behavioural therapy, cognitive therapy and acceptance-based therapies) has brought unique contributions to improve its effectiveness. Although some of the philosophical assumptions underlying the different CBT waves may be considerably dissimilar, in this clinical reflection I review the distinctive and cross-cutting features of such backgrounds, while suggesting a conciliation of epistemological perspectives that is capable of informing the practice of CBT in a consistent manner.

The ongoing impact on global mental health of the COVID-19 pandemic and the isolation measures used to combat its spread is increasingly acknowledged. This reflection focuses on the effect the pandemic has had specifically on the mental health of women in the peripartum period, using recent case examples from a busy and diverse south London community perinatal psychiatry service.

Intra-hospital transmission of COVID-19 is a major concern. To mitigate this risk, ‘COVID-triage’ psychiatric wards were implemented by some in-patient service providers in the UK. Although the effectiveness of this model has not been investigated, there are questions about the benefits and detriments of this model of care for patients and staff. This reflection draws from the experiences of clinicians who were redeployed from their planned clinical posts (and training rotations, in the case of trainees) to staff a newly established COVID-triage ward at a large urban mental healthcare provider, between August 2020 and March 2021.

The author reflects on discoveries over the course of a century concerning histamine as a potent chemical signal and neurotransmitter, the development of antihistamines, including promethazine, and chlorpromazine from a common precursor, and the recognition of a major brain pathway involving histamine. Although chlorpromazine has been succeeded by numerous other antipsychotics, promethazine remains the antihistamine recommended for sedation in acutely disturbed patients, largely because it is potently anticholinergic at atropinic muscarinic receptors and therefore anti-Parkinsonian: this means it is also useful in combination with older antipsychotics such as haloperidol.

Managing isolation protocols for distressed, cognitively impaired COVID-19-positive patients presented a range of new challenges to our liaison psychiatry for the elderly service. In this article we present some of the scenarios we have experienced, our own reflections on the needs of this specific group and how this has challenged us in terms of tolerating risk, prescribing off-label, collaborating with distressed colleagues, professional boundaries and being creative in non-pharmacological interventions.

The substantial strain that women are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic can affect their menstrual cycle and further impair their quality of life. In low- and middle-income countries, this strain is exacerbated by: cultural taboos and poor education related to menstruation; ‘period poverty’; unavailability of menstrual hygiene products; and poor hygiene facilities. We suggest actions that governments, healthcare professionals and individuals can take to address these factors and minimise the psychological impact of COVID-19 on women's physical and mental health.

Addressing inequalities between mental and physical healthcare in older adult healthcare is imperative for safe patient care. This evaluation of services at The Harbour mental health hospital, Blackpool, UK gives insight into parity of esteem and prompts investigation into the clinical decisions of doctors working in older adult mental healthcare.

Singapore is a multi-ethnic Asian society with a unique sociocultural and economic background. This is an overview of the characteristics of psychiatry in this nation in terms of service provision, mental health funding, education and training, and the challenges it faces in the midst of an evolving mental health landscape. Over the past 5 years, Singapore has maintained a closer tie with the Royal College of Psychiatrists through the the College's Membership examination.

The language of psychiatry can be ambiguous and idiosyncratic, reflecting the elastic borders of mental illness and psychiatric disorder. This problem is not unique to psychiatry, but as the medical specialty moves closer towards a 'spectrum view’ of mental illness, psychiatric terminology increasingly risks misappropriation and conflation with lay concepts of normal suffering. Deciding what words mean and how psychiatric disorders are defined requires ongoing consideration of the pragmatic consequences, both intended and unintended. Refining the lexicon of psychiatry with an eye towards precision and the minimisation of stigma requires that terms be revised and updated from time to time, but often suitable word replacements remain elusive.

Malingering is the intentional feigning of illness for external gain. The author has written several papers on the epidemiology, assessment, testing and reporting of this. However, practice in this field can raise considerable challenges, not least the inability to determine motivation for lying, and potential damage from ‘false positives’, where individuals fabricate some aspects of their testimony, yet still have underlying psychiatric problems. This brief article lays out the author's reflections on this complex area.

In this reflection we summarise the various obstacles to accessing healthcare encountered by people with neurodevelopmental disorders (intellectual disability, autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) with and without mental health problems. We outline different service models from around the world, ranging from the person centred to the institutional. Finally, we suggest ways of addressing some of the problems identified, including a model of integrated care involving intellectual disability, neurodevelopmental and mental health services that would better serve this population.

Psychiatry intertwines mind and brain, sometimes in a strained marriage. Psychiatrists feel the criticism of a ‘narrow’ biological or medical (and medication) focus, and we are very aware of the limitations of all treatments and diagnostic systems. Many understandably move towards a more social approach, seeing individuals in their wider lives. But there are dangers in losing the brain, something unique to our specialty in the world of mental health. This reflective piece calls for us to rediscover the joy of the science of the brain, which augments, not conflicts with, psychosocial approaches.

Perceptions of self-injurious behaviour as refractory to treatment, and of treatment outcomes as unpredictable, in children and adults with intellectual disabilities and/or autism may lead to treatment inertia or nihilism, restrictive practices and overuse of psychotropic medication in its management. Recent research suggests, however, that from infancy to young adulthood prospects for a positive outcome are fair, and markers predictive of treatment outcome have begun to be identified. In this clinical reflection we briefly describe this work, consider how it may contribute to case stratification, and outline current thinking on further functional differentiation of cases of SIB, promoting non-restrictive practices.

Bed management and the transfer of patients is an area of clinical care that is frequently overlooked. Often, the lack of discussion leads to the patient perspective being ignored and to transfers to new hospitals without appropriate handovers, both to the detriment of patient outcomes. This article reflects on the real-world consequences of the bed management systems used within the UK's National Health Service (NHS), using the example of a patient in psychiatric services.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition associated with differences in social communication and interaction, as well as a restricted, repetitive repertoire of behaviours and interests. Autistic people will have areas of interest and can possess abilities that are of potential benefit to both themselves and wider society. However, many find that their opportunities are limited. Here, we will discuss how a social model of care can help meet the needs of autistic people.

Since its first description in 1863, ‘hebephrenia’ has highlighted a group of patients characterised by an early onset of illness, formal thought disorder, bizarre behaviour and incongruent emotional expression. A proportion of patients with the most severe form of mental illness have a clinical presentation that is best captured by this diagnosis. Here, we outline the construct of hebephrenia and two of its core overlapping constituent parts: bizarre behaviour and the disorganisation dimension. We argue that, despite the removal of hebephrenia (disorganised schizophrenia) from DSM-5, clinicians should consider it as a differential diagnosis, particularly in suspected personality disorder.

Training in neuroscience is vital to the future of psychiatry as a medical specialty. Trainees and trainers alike demonstrate a desire to keep up to date with developments in the associated scientific fields. Neuroscience increasingly underpins clinical assessments, treatment options and patients’ expectations. Psychiatry training in the UK can embrace neuroscience at many levels, from discussing patient presentations with supervisors, to teaching programmes supported by the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ activities. Although challenges remain, neuroscience literacy enhances the specialty and will improve patient care.