“Actress Jessica Biel is the latest A-list celebrity to come under public scrutiny after she was spotted at the California State Assembly lobbying against a public health bill that would make it harder for parents to opt out of vaccinations for their children..” Read article here: As a doctor, I know how dangerous Jessica Biel’s vaccination views […]
Category Archives: Health
The Colour of Madness| Synergi Collaborative Centre
“While we have seen an increase in the attention paid to racial disparities in mental health, for example through news reports, audits and task forces, we are only at the beginning of our journey. The Colour of Madness is but one drop in the ocean of voices that need to be heard.” Read blog post here: […]
Mental health support for NHS workers is just sticking a plaster on a gaping wound | Metro
The Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has proposed a set of measures to improve the mental health of NHS staff, including a 24-hour advice and support service. As a junior doctor, I can’t help but wonder if these interventions are merely a plaster on top of a gaping wound. Read article here: Mental health […]
My Label and Me: Being a junior doctor is both exhilarating and tedious, exciting and mundane | Metro
When I tell people I am a junior doctor, I am met by a mixture of admiration and pity. ‘Your parents must be so proud.’ ‘Have you had to give mouth to mouth?’ ‘Do you think I should see my GP about this rash?’ Yes. No. And, probably… Read article here: My Label and Me: […]
Motherhood, Migration And Mental Health: Justina Kehinde’s UMUADA | Black Ballad
UMUADA is an exploration of mental health, migration, and motherhood against the backdrop of an urban-African diasporic family. Led by a cast and creative team of Black British women, UMUADA is headlining the 2018 Play Mill Festival at the King’s Head Theatre this July, following its powerful debut at the Bunker Theatre. Black Ballad spoke […]
Why We Need To Write Our Own Mental Health Narratives | Black Ballad
It is perhaps unsurprising that in a world where prejudice and discrimination are rampant, merely existing can invoke trauma upon our minds and bodies. I find myself thinking about this a lot, the difficulties of simply existing as who we are. Maybe it was my experience of immigrating from rural Jamaica to inner-city London and […]
#16blogs for #IDEVAW: Beyond ‘resilience’: black women and mental health | Imkaan
“but bein alive & bein a woman & bein colored is a metaphysical dilemma/ i haven’t conquered yet/ do you see the point my spirit is too ancient to understand the separation of soul & gender” – For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf A word frequently used to describe […]
Why NHS England Shouldn’t Be Charging Migrants For Health Care | Black Ballad
From today, certain migrants will be charged upfront for NHS treatment. A couple of years ago, I met a with a patient with end-stage organ damage, who was nearing the end of his life. A fellow medical student and I had perched ourselves in the corner of his cubicle, listening and learning about his illness. […]
Black Women on Eating Disorders, Body Image & Thinness | Black Ballad
“A common misconception about people with an eating disorder is that black people don’t have eating disorders. With anorexia nervosa in particular, we tend to think that only over sensitive middle-class white girls fall prey to this illness.” – Jada*, aged 27 Only white girls get eating disorders. You would be forgiven for believing this… Read article here: […]
Black Women, Let’s Talk About Our Breasts | Black Ballad
Two years ago, I found a lump in my breast. I was moisturising, enjoying one of those blissful moments of self-care where it is just you, your skin and a tub of shea butter, coconut oil, almond oil blend when the discovery sent a chill down my spine. “I’m only 21,” I thought to myself. […]
