Topic description and stories

Cambridge researchers are advancing understanding of mental illness and wellbeing – and putting this into practice.

Lockdown led to happiness rebound, after wellbeing plunged with onset of pandemic

27 Jul 2020

New study is among the first to distinguish effects of the pandemic from effects of lockdown when it comes to wellbeing in Britain.

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UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak at a Covid-19 press conference. Sunak is credited with instigating the UK's 'furlough' job retention scheme.

Furlough ‘stemmed the tide’ of poor mental health during UK lockdown, study suggests

24 Jul 2020

Researchers say the UK government should ask employers to share out reduced hours rather than lose workers, in order to mitigate a looming mental...

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Abingdon street in central Blackpool, the English town with the highest rate of hospital admissions for self-harm.

People in England’s poorest towns ‘lose over a decade of good health’, research finds

17 Jun 2020

Cambridge researchers find major health inequalities – as well as a geographic divide – between the most and least deprived English towns. They say...

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Most young people with increased suicide risk only display ‘mild to moderate’ mental distress – study

20 May 2020

Around 70% of young people who report self-harming or suicidal thoughts are within the normal or non-clinical range of mental distress.

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Sheffield's Women of Steel statue during the pandemic

Opinion: Employers should cut hours not people during the pandemic

13 May 2020

If the UK emulated short-time working programmes in countries like Germany it would help mitigate the mental health as well as economic crises caused...

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Academy of Medical Sciences

The Academy of Medical Sciences announces new Fellows for 2020

13 May 2020

Six affiliates of the University of Cambridge are among 50 world-leading UK researchers who have been elected to the prestigious Fellowship of the...

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Man using internet

Researchers to track impact of lockdown on alcohol, gambling and pornography use

12 May 2020

Is the lockdown leading us to drink more alcohol or spend more time gambling online or watching pornography? Researchers today launch a survey aimed...

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“It’s been very humbling”: returning to the clinic during the pandemic

04 May 2020

It’s been decades since Professor Paul Fletcher last donned scrubs, but he now finds himself helping treat psychiatric patients, sometimes in full...

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Man standing in front of window

Almost a quarter of adults living under lockdown in the UK have experienced loneliness

22 Apr 2020

One in four adults (24 per cent) in the UK have felt lonely because of coronavirus, according to a longitudinal study that is tracking mental health...

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Opinion: Five ways to beat anxiety and take back control of your life during the COVID-19 pandemic – based on science

19 Mar 2020

Anxiety is tough to deal with at the best of time. It’s even tougher when we’re in the midst of a pandemic that is causing chaos around the globe. Dr...

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Professor Gordon Harold, Cambridge’s newly-appointed Professor of the Psychology of Education and Mental Health

Cambridge creates new Professorship in education and mental health

12 Mar 2020

The new post will strengthen existing research into how better to support young people’s well-being and mental health, in particular through the...

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Brain development during adolescence: red brain regions belong to the “conservative” pattern of adolescent development, while the blue brain regions belong to the “disruptive” pattern

Brain networks come ‘online’ during adolescence to prepare teenagers for adult life

29 Jan 2020

New brain networks come ‘online’ during adolescence, allowing teenagers to develop more complex adult social skills, but potentially putting them at...

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