Lucy Foulkes: What’s going wrong with mental health awareness?

46 MINUTES

Why the mental health awareness movement needs more precision and fewer vibes

By and large, the rise in public conversations about mental health over the past decades has been a positive development, says Lucy Foulkes, a psychologist at the University of Oxford and former Psyche editor. However, certain aspects of the mental health awareness movement – including imprecise, inflated and even flippant language, as well as the proliferation of non-experts using psychology-speak – are causing genuine societal harm.

In this lecture at the Royal Institution in London, Foulkes presents arguments from her books Losing Our Minds (2021) and What Mental Illness Really Is… (And What It Isn’t) (2022) to make a meticulous yet empathetic case that several serious problems have emerged in the public discourse around mental health. More than just critique, Foulkes offers a constructive roadmap forward that’s deeply informed by her expertise and research.

PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTHCOMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGEMENTAL HEALTH

Video by the Royal Institution

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