Times Letters: The Scientific Basis of Mental Health Research

Mental illness is already stigmatized, and it doesn’t help Parris to argue that some people with these conditions choose not to work. Far from being unscientific, mental health is a pioneering branch of medicine in terms of measurement, clinical research, and demonstration of action.
Professor Isobel HeymanUCLA; Professor Tamsin FordUniversity of Cambridge; Professor Louise HowardKCL; Professor Wendy BurnUniversity of Chester; Professor Henrietta Bowden-JonesUniversity of Cambridge

Sir, Matthew Parris argues that mental health research does not deserve the name “science”. When I worked as a physician, I shared much of his frustration with the limited scientific basis of many approaches. However, in my role as a global funder of mental health research, I am privileged to see a new generation of rigorous science-based interventions developed with and for those most in need. The first new schizophrenia drug in more than 50 years is awaiting approval in the US. UK researchers have developed a personalized digital avatar that allows people who hear distressing voices in their head to challenge them. There are new “snackable” digital mental health therapies that can be accessed in easily digestible three- to five-minute increments. These are just a few of the innovations that give me hope that mental health science will help improve the lives of billions of people.
Professor Miranda Wolpert
Director of Mental Health, Wellcome

Sir, Matthew Parris raises an important point about the ever-expanding economic cost of mental health disorders. Given that the government has a limited amount to spend on treating and alleviating these conditions, priorities must be set strictly. If ADHD, an area of ​​huge growth for no apparent reason, gets more, the public needs to realize that funding for the seriously mentally ill will be cut to even lower levels. Perhaps at some point our nation will reach a tipping point where economic inactivity becomes so great that we fall into an economic depression. Hopefully, the following generations will regain their passion for work.
Dr. Fiona Cornish
GP, Cambridge

The collapse of Spycatcher

Sir, having been in a courtroom in Sydney, I fear that Trevor Woolley (19 August) is being too charitable towards Robert Armstrong (“Declassified memos suggest Thatcher misled MPs over spy” 17 August). When asked if he and the Prime Minister had agreed to allow Chapman Pincher to write his book, Their business is betrayalhe dismissed it as a very ingenious conspiracy theory and quite wrong. He denied that anyone he knew knew in the late 1980s that Pincher was writing his book.

Documents withheld for 37 years – despite three court orders for full disclosure – show that such an agreement was indeed made in June 1980, and the government received a summary of the book in December 1980. Even the mildest Oxbridge common room dweller. you could choke on the truth of these answers.
David Hooper
Attorney at Peter Wright and Heinemann; Abergavenny, Monmouthshire

Rooms at the top

Sir, building higher (News, Aug. 17; Letter, Aug. 20) further threatens an already struggling group: existing tenants in low-rise apartment buildings. They have no control over unscrupulous, underfunded and uninsured business landlords who may embark on shoddy “upscale” developments in an attempt to make a quick buck. When things go wrong, existing tenants are left to clean up messes from neglected construction work.

A lawsuit against building control inspectors or their landlords will not provide financial relief to tenants who do not obtain insurance against these risks. Ironically, the landlord could, but is not required to, do this. The government should close this glaring gap in consumer protection.
Andrew Colvin
London W13

Repeating GCSEs

Sir Professor Alan Smithers (August 19) is right to insist that all young people complete the requirement to pass GCSEs in maths and English. Although this is well intentioned, it puts 16-19 year olds with special needs and those whose additional language is English at a particular disadvantage. Currently, the Education and Skills Funding Agency requires schools and colleges to run Level 2 maths and English programs for those without GCSE qualifications, taking at least four and three hours respectively. Such conditions add to staffing pressures at a time of significant deficits in teacher recruitment and retention. In addition, there are often behavior and attendance problems for students who are forced into repulsive GCSE programs and have repeatedly failed their exams. The new Minister of Education should urgently review this.
Neil Roskilly
Diamond Learning Partnership Trustee

Sir, like Alec Thomas (letter, August 20), I can see the point of the replays. I too was able to attend an agricultural college, but later I learned to teach English and became an examiner in one of the subjects I failed at school: English literature.
Peter Inson
Former Headteacher, East Mersea

Not so sweet 16

Sir, one reason for the rise in Neets (not employment, education or training) is the demand for maths grade 4 for almost every job (“Why sweet 16 is fast turning sour in rural Britain”, Libby Purves, 20 August). Believing that harder exams make students smarter, trigonometry, quadratic equations, and simultaneous equations were placed in the core math paper. As a result, numeracy students are excluded from applying for many jobs simply because they did not achieve an arbitrary grade 4 at GCSE. It deprives capable people of jobs they could do well.
Corinna Jones
Teacher, London SW19

Libby Purves concludes her interesting article by highlighting the problems and difficult choices that 16-year-olds face, noting that they are ill-equipped to face the complex old world. They seem to have a lot on their plates – and these are the young people Labor wants to vote for.
Christina Fearon
Stourton, Wilts

Salary of railway employees

Sir, In your management letter (“Gravy Train”, August 16) and subsequent letters (August 17), it is correct that the salary increase for Aslef train drivers should have come with conditions for changed working methods. It has also missed the opportunity to change pensions, which have not changed for train operator workers in the 30 years since rail privatisation: their pension is still “final salary”, still a retirement age of 60. These pensions actually add another 25 percent to Aslef’s salaries.
John Ralph
Pensions Consultant, Hognaston, Derbyshire

Rolled up delicacies

Sir, Carol Gilmour (20 Aug) wants recipes for recycling fauna and flora. They are readily available. Badger hams have long been a country delicacy (now only available as roadkill). Their preparation involves six hours of soaking and up to three hours of baking. If the turtledove explosion were to return them to the game list, they could be treated like pigeons, in a pot of port wine, for example. Bring it on!
Julian Critchlow
Ditcham, Hants

Designer dead end

Sir, your scrap piece (“Why good old-fashioned excess fabric sets the trend”, 19 August) reminded me of the Fent Shop opposite the back entrance to Woolworths in Huddersfield, which was very popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Fents were newly woven pieces of cloth left on the loom, and home weavers claimed to clothe their children. This store sold larger scraps and I made several skirts for a bargain.
Mary Lewis
London W5

Women’s restroom

Sir, our mother was sticky about the correct use of words, and my sister and I were scolded when any other alternative to the toilet was caught (letter, August 20). He reminded us that the word toilet was for fixing the face or hair. I am now a frequent visitor to the state of Georgia; my use of the word restroom was at first perplexing, and since my mom is no longer here, I feel safe enough to follow suit and use their preferred term: “lounge.”
Elaine Laney
Cocking, W Sussex

On the shelf

Mr. Victoria’s sandwiches (August 20) will be noted (or even disqualified) for jam oozing out of the sponge, as well as visible rack marks and cream fillings.
I know I’m one of the judges.
Judith George
Saxmundham, Suffolk

Bumper Town

Sir, two London-centric bumper stickers (Letters, 13-17 August) still make me smile: “Stop knocking Neasden” and “Got acne? Move to ‘Aringey.’
Brian Hart
Towcester, Northants

Best Fringe gag

Sir, you announce the Edinburgh Fringe triumph (August 19): “I was going to sail around the world in the world’s smallest ship, but I bottled it.” Sathnam Sanghera offers a much better joke in his notebook in the same publication: “Describe yourself in three words. Lazy.”
John Rudofsky
Claygate, Surrey