Keir Harding, Dan Warrender and Hollie Berrigan
The use of long-term anti-psychotic medication for borderline personality disorder contravenes prescribing guidelines in the UK. There is evidence to suggest clozapine can be…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of long-term anti-psychotic medication for borderline personality disorder contravenes prescribing guidelines in the UK. There is evidence to suggest clozapine can be beneficial yet anecdotally it is prescribed almost exclusively in locked settings. A single study suggests a substantial proportion of psychiatrists disapprove of this practice. The purpose of this paper is to articulate concerns about the use of clozapine for “BPD” that are absent from current literature.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper summarises the reflections and experiences of the authors lived experience, academic and clinical backgrounds.
Findings
The published literature is uniformly positive when describing the prescription of clozapine for those diagnosed with BPD; however, this in no way reflects the experience of the authors. There is no body of material reflecting a study showing that a substantial number of psychiatrists have issues with this practice.
Research limitations/implications
While it is a fact that there is a discrepancy between psychiatrists attitudes towards clozapine prescription for “BPD” and the published literature, the described concerns in this paper are based solely on the authors’ experiences and observations.
Practical implications
Those seeking literature to articulate concerns about the use of clozapine with this population will likely be disheartened by the paucity of published literature.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to raise substantial concerns about the use of clozapine for those diagnosed with “BPD” and the circumstances in which it is prescribed.
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Michael Haslam and Keir Harding
This discursive paper considers the use of restrictive practices in mental health inpatient settings and how these are often prioritised over relational approaches, especially…
Abstract
Purpose
This discursive paper considers the use of restrictive practices in mental health inpatient settings and how these are often prioritised over relational approaches, especially where the diagnostic label of personality disorder intersects with risk.
Design/methodology/approach
Key concepts from Orwell’s 1984 are studied for their pertinence to mental health inpatient settings, supporting our argument that restrictive practices arise from dichotomous thinking and externalised fears.
Findings
Drawing upon Orwellian themes of power, social control and digital surveillance from 1984, the authors highlight the role of fear in perpetuating restrictive practices under a guise of benevolent care in mental health inpatient settings, especially for those who are diagnosed with a personality disorder. A lack of preparedness to work with complexity in such environments, coupled with a deficit in self-reflexivity and critical thinking, can exacerbate challenges.
Research limitations/implications
To transcend damaging dichotomies and reduce restrictive practices in inpatient settings, the authors make the argument for the adequate preparation and education of the mental health nurse and authentic, collaborative, user-involved care.
Originality/value
The authors use Orwell’s novel to support a critical discourse around those damaging dichotomies and inherent contradictions that contribute to restrictive practice in contemporary mental health settings and to question whose interests’ these restrictive practices serve.
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The purpose of this study is to suggest how the Covid-19 lockdown may affect illicit drug users and vulnerable children and young people who become involved in County lines drug…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to suggest how the Covid-19 lockdown may affect illicit drug users and vulnerable children and young people who become involved in County lines drug dealing.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an “opinion piece” based on data released by central and local government departments and voluntary sector sources concerning the impact of the Covid-19 restrictions on illicit drug users and vulnerable children and young people. The data is augmented with information from recent discussions with police officers, youth workers and social workers in a London borough.
Findings
It appears that the Covid-19 restrictions have had, and will continue to have, a deleterious impact upon both illicit drug users and the young people caught up in County lines drug distribution.
Originality/value
The study’s originality lies in its attempt to use a range of sources to anticipate the consequences of the Covid-19 restrictions on illicit drug users and vulnerable children and young people.
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This paper aims to identify and fill a gap in the knowledge of the contribution of Henry S. Dennison toward management and organization studies and problematize the assumptions…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify and fill a gap in the knowledge of the contribution of Henry S. Dennison toward management and organization studies and problematize the assumptions underlying the mainstream understanding of scientific management and human relations.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary sources are in the guise of archival papers, as well as published journal articles, books and book chapters; secondary sources in the guise of material about Dennison, as well as interviews with family and friends.
Findings
The paper concludes that Dennison made an original and enduring contribution to management theory including, but not isolated to, personnel management, organizational behavior and corporate governance that influenced key thinkers of his times.
Practical implications
Dennison was a practicing manager – in fact, he was the president of (what was) his family company which operates today as Avery Dennison – but he still found the time and energy for active public service and to peripatetically articulate his management “praxis”. The paper reveals that much of Dennison’s thoughts and deeds have much relevance today. Among other issues, in his concern with reducing labor turnover and unemployment, in devising and implementing effective personnel management and in his pioneering work on human motivation, group dynamics, goal congruence, worker empowerment and executive compensation, issues of profound importance to business leaders today can be found.
Originality/value
To date, only piecemeal attempts have been made to chronicle Dennison’s contributions to management and organization theory, but these have been scattered across the social sciences. There has been neither any systematic, consolidated synthesis of his contributions to management and organization studies nor of his impact on the thinking of key thinkers of his times.
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THE Treaty of Rome is one of the least publicised, yet potentially most important, international documents of our time. Under that treaty the six signatory powers began on the…
Abstract
THE Treaty of Rome is one of the least publicised, yet potentially most important, international documents of our time. Under that treaty the six signatory powers began on the first day of this year that process of tariff reductions which will, over the next twelve or fourteen years, reduce and ultimately abolish all tariffs and trade barriers between them. For all practical purposes six national economies will be welded into a single supranational authority, with a common trade and commercial policy. That is to re‐draw the economic map of Europe.
There is a certain type of British trader who, with pharisaic unction, lifts up his voice and deplores the unhappy condition of “the heathen in his blindness,” including all…
Abstract
There is a certain type of British trader who, with pharisaic unction, lifts up his voice and deplores the unhappy condition of “the heathen in his blindness,” including all persons of other nationalities and any of his own who may happen to differ in opinion from himself. On these collectively it is his habit to bestow his contemptuous regard when from his elevated position he condescends to thank Providence that as far as the methods and conduct of business are concerned he is “not as other men.” Of course, most people recognise that the attitude assumed by this type of person is one for which it is difficult altogether to blame him. Born as he was in an atmosphere reeking with traditions of insular supremacy, and nurtured from his youth up on notions of commercial arrogance, it is no miracle that he arrives at maturity with singularly inflated ideas of the greatness of his powers and person. If there is one thing more than another in which he feels particular pride it is the possession of a superabundant stock of what he is pleased to call “business acumen,” and to hear him, it might be imagined that no one could approach him in enterprise and general commercial ability.
Some months ago a national organisation established to keep a watchful eye on the Nation's diet expressed concern over the eating trends of people in what to them appeared to be…
Abstract
Some months ago a national organisation established to keep a watchful eye on the Nation's diet expressed concern over the eating trends of people in what to them appeared to be developing inbalances of necessary nutrient factors and the inadeuacy not so much of calories and energy values but in the nature and quality of main food factors. It was recommended that the national diet should be improved, but the authorities pointed to the National Food Survey results to show that the diet was not deficient; that the average daily intake of protein, vitamins, minerals and overall energy requirements were satisfied; all of which is true for the not‐too‐generous levels set. Even the pensioner households included in the Survey sample appear well‐fed. What causes concern is the year‐by‐year decrease in staple foods consumed—milk, red meat, bread, fresh vegetables—and the heavy reliance on refined, processed foods. In its annual reports on NFS reviews, the BFJ has almost monotonously referred to this downward trend. Individual NFS Reports do not reveal any serious deficiencies, as yet, but in the trend over the years—and herein lies the real value of the Survey and its data—few if any of the changes have been for the better; movements in food groups have tended to be downwards. If these trends continue, the time must surely come when there will be real deficiencies; that substitution within a food group cannot make good essential foods severely rationed by high prices.