21/02/2016 Reporters

a fifth term as president of Uganda. -- Museveni. Now, it is time for

Reporters. Welcome to a special edition of

Reporters, examining a key area that affects all of us, our mental

health. We will be finding out how the latest research is improving the

understanding and treatment of mental illnesses, and hearing from

people who have learned to live with their conditions. Fergus Walsh

reports on the new revolution in neuroscience. I will be explaining

how scientific understanding of mental illness are being advanced by

these, miniature human brain is being grown in a laboratory. A shock

to the system. Chris Buckler reports from Northern Ireland on how one of

the most controversial treatments, electroconvulsive therapy, is on the

rise. To think that this barbaric treatment still exists... Strapped

down to a metal bed. Childhood and mental health. Fergal Keane

investigates new study suggesting young victims of domestic violence

can suffer from PTSD. It is costing society a great deal, and causing

the children a huge amount of time. Talking about it and opening up

about it is fairly helpful for breaking down stigma and telling

people what it is really like to have it. And we will be hearing from

the young campaign is taking on the taboos of mental illness.

How does the brain work and wide does it go wrong? These are two of

the fundamental questions behind treating mental illnesses. It

involves our emotional, psychological and social well-being,

and affect how we think, feel and act. Mental health problems are also

one of the main causes of disease and sickness worldwide. According to

the world's top neuroscientist, our understanding of the human brain is

undergoing a revolution. Advances in genetics and brain imaging are

labelling research is to discover more about mental illness. As Fergus

Walsh explains, it opens up the possibilities of new forms of

treatment. It is a privilege to be able to

examine this, the right hemisphere of the human brain. One of hundreds

of trains donated in the UK for medical research every year. This

delicate structure is responsible for thought, memory, language,

emotion, consciousness. The very things that make us human, yet

despite all of our scientific knowledge there is still a huge

amount to be discovered about how the brain works and why it goes

wrong. But the brain is beginning to give up its secrets. Advances in

biology mean many genes implicated in mental illness have been

identified, and new scanning techniques are creating something

extraordinary, a complete map of the brain's intricate network of

connections. These coloured lines represent bundles of nerve fibres

linking different parts of the brain through a number of highly connected

hubs. There are parts of the brain that we can talk about as being hubs

of the brain, in the same way that Heathrow was a hub in the global

airline network. Researchers have discovered that people with

schizophrenia tend to have fewer hubs so their brain networks are

less well-connected and help individuals. Where the excitement is

building at the moment is linking the network diagrams that we can get

out of imaging to what we are learning about the genetics of

schizophrenia. If we can bring those two things together we may be able

to understand more clearly whether the genetic mechanisms that drive

genetic development can go off on a different path that lead to

schizophrenia. If we can understand mechanisms, then we can design new

treatments. As well as deciphering the brain's networks of

connections, scientists are also learning more about the early stages

of development by growing miniature brains. Known as all annoyance, here

they are in the hands of the scientist who prevented technique.

Incubated in a research lab in Cambridge. These tiny balls of

tissue many Government mimic what the infant brain is like as it grows

in the womb. Among people with mental illness, many brains can help

explore the origins of the disorder. We can then compare those

brains and try to understand what caused some illnesses. I think it is

an early step in some great breakthroughs in what has been a

desert in the field of biomedicine. Mental health disorders have been

incredibly lacking in terms of new medications to treat these really

devastating disorders. So when will this research pay dividends? In

delivering new medications for mental illness. In the next five or

ten years you can expect to things with reasonable certainty. We will

be able to use neuroscience in genetics to target treatments better

for patients, and this could happen with schizophrenia. The second is

that based on the knowledge we have now we can actually have new

medications, not foreign an entire illness, but for a subset of it. Of

course, mental health is determined by our life experiences as well as

the genes we inherit. The more we discover about this masterpiece of

evolution, the greater the chance we have of treating it when it goes

wrong. We may be learning more about the

brain itself, but much of mental health still remains a mystery. So

how do we define mental health conditions? There are two broad

categories. The erotic and psychotic. Neurotic conditions are

extreme emotional experiences, such as depression and anxiety. Psychotic

symptoms interfere with the perception of reality. Conditions

include schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. How common are mental

health issues? Global figures are hard to track down, but in the UK

about 20% of people will become depressed at some point in their

lives. Anxiety will affect 5% of the population at any one time. Other

conditions, like bipolar disorder schizophrenia, affect about one

person in every 100 people. The exact cause of most mental illnesses

is not known. Many conditions, such as bipolar disorder, can run in

families, which suggests a genetic link. Difficult life events can then

trigger a mental illness. Stress, poverty, abuse, isolation, substance

abuse, Boral thought be triggers. So, how are mental health problems

treated? Talking treatments are often used to help, trying to break

the cycle of negative thoughts. Other therapies might also delve

into past experiences. Antidepressants usually ascribed for

anxiety and depression, and antipsychotics, which affects

chemicals in the brain, are the other key tools. But as with

everything that involves the brain, much about mental health remains a

mystery. The idea of treating psychiatric illness by passing a

jolt of electricity through the brain was one of the most

controversial in 20th-century medicine. The youth of

electroconvulsive therapy has been condemned by critics as barbaric and

ineffective, but as Chris Buckler reports, it is used often without

consent, and is on the rise. Electroconvulsive area, therapy is

often associated with a different era. But it is still used today and

can be effective in tackling severe depression. The person will have had

a muscle relaxing and an anaesthetic and be completely asleep. This

helps, as an epileptic seizure is triggered. I have looked after many

individuals who have been profoundly unwell, to the point of to kill

themselves, not eating or or having florid delusions, who have responded

completely and got completely well after ECT. It is accepted that ECT

is not suitable for everyone who find themselves in a dark place.

Michael is an artist who was given the treatment without his consent,

and he says he is still having nightmares about the experience. To

think that this barbaric treatment still exists. Being strapped down to

a metal bed with a rubber sheet, getting an injection, and waking

up, and you just... You didn't want to be in your own body, it was like

this was not my own body. I came in he healthy, without my permission.

Michael was given ECT without his consent, in the Republic of Ireland.

In future that won't happen. The Irish government is in the process

of introducing legislation to stop the treatment in cases where the

patient is not give their permission. The idea of

unwillingness is unsavoury and something that should not be

involved. There should not be a situation where the state forces

treatment on somebody. But just across the Irish border in Northern

Ireland, as in the rest of the UK, consent is not always needed for a

patient to be given ECT, although it happens only in extreme cases and

with specific medical approval. Last year in Northern Ireland,

psychiatrists made more than 50 requests for people to be treated

without their consent. That is an increase of almost 50% on a few

years before, although it is not known if some of those requests were

refused. Those figures include both people who were unable to give

consent, as well as patients who see the refused to. There are some

psychiatrists wary of losing the option of ECT and all of those

cases. You would be eliminating a treatment that could be

life-saving. Scientists are still working to try to understand the

brain, and drugs are constantly being developed to tackle

depression. But until new, more effective treatments are found, that

once known as electroshock therapy will still have a place in modern

medicine. One of the most comprehensive

studies of mental healthcare in England ever conduct that has

severely criticised provision for men of African and Caribbean

heritage. The mental health task force reports there is evidence of

systemic failure, and that black men are nearly seven times more likely

to be detained under the mental health act or admitted as

inpatients, Ben Whiteman. Elaine Dunkley has been talking to some of

those who witnessed the tragic consequences.

We were devastated. Sean was just lying there, still, and I kissed him

on his forehead, and left the print of my lips. We all put our hands

together on top of one another over Sean and we said the Lord's prayer

and said we would promise what would find -- promised we would find out

what happened to him. Sean was a talented musician. In 2008, his

death at Brixton police station exposed the disproportionate dangers

faced by black men and people with mental health problems in police

custody. That is where Sean took his last breath, that is where Sean died

without his family, without his mother. There were systematic

failures by the mental health team. Had they done their job properly at

that time Sean would never have been in the hands of the police. By the

time he became so psychotic that he hallucinated, and was in a world of

his own. Sometimes I don't like to think about that, what could have

been going on in his mind at that time, and we will never know,

because he never lived to tell the tale. Devon Marston also believes

that his treatment was profoundly affected by the colour of his skin.

In the 1980s he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and says he

was often heavily medicated and rarely given counselling. It was

rife in the system when I got involved. I was so frightened, I was

struggling, I had my hands behind my back. I thought these people were

going to kill me. They would inject me with that medication, and I was a

different person. I lost myself and I can't find myself again. I have

lost my identity. The drugs they gave the affected me all through my

life and they still do now. I look at drugs are something like a

spiritual straitjacket to keep you within the system. A lack of trust

in services and the stigma around mental health often means that

people from black, Asian and minority ethnic grounds don't get

help until it reaches crisis point. But critically, culture also plays a

key role. Psychiatry are still very much a middle-class and quite white

dominated profession. As a black person, I know that if I go into a

shop, the likelihood is I will be followed around. But he find someone

with a mental health problem and they say that to my psychiatrist, in

all probability they will see that as paranoia, because they don't have

the lived experience. Can then come together and have a conversation...

In Birmingham, there is a simple solution in tackling anxiety through

talking. It is like a weight was lifted off me the moment I set it.

The recognition that those most in need of help are those hardest to

reach. Because of how men have been socialised, and the added pressure

of being a black man and society, this notion of showing emotion,

showing fear, it is not seen. I would say you need to foster

relationships and build relationships with people who

understand the community. The mental health task force report is calling

for a more targeted approach in treating people from minority ethnic

backgrounds, recognition that there is a need for the change in the

culture of mental health services. It is not only adults who experience

mental illness, children suffer as well. There is growing awareness

that infants of honourable to PTSD, especially if they have witnessed

domestic violence or abuse. Research suggests children show similar

changes in brain activity to soldiers who suffer PTSD in

Wallsend. But with therapy and good care, they can recover.

There are things seen in childhood we can spend

This is the story of how British scientists and therapists are

pioneering change in the treatment of childhood trauma.

It's estimated that about 50% of mental health problems begin

I'm reporting this story because I've seen the effects

I've experienced it myself, not just in war,

Back in the '60s, the only remedy offered to me was

medication, society was a long way from accepting that

children could be traumatised in the home as soldiers were at war.

a therapeutic revolution is taking place.

Eight-year-old Samuel witnessed extreme domestic violence.

When he came to his new adoptive family, he was deeply traumatised.

One day he said he's going to burn the house down.

So he was generally quite aggressive.

He couldn't see why life was the way it was.

He wasn't really nice to be around, initially.

We just knew he needed a second chance.

That second chance came about because he had

a new loving home but, critically, also through therapy.

In war, children are often treated for PTSD using art and storytelling,

as well as one-on-one therapy, like these in Syria.

Such techniques have brought about real changes in Samuel.

Less talking about the things that he'd witnessed

In the science of trauma there have also been extraordinary advances.

Researchers are studying the brains of traumatised soldiers and then

comparing them with children who've witnessed disturbing events.

Here, for example, we see changes in brain structure.

They found that part of the frontal section of the brain, which deals

with emotion, thins in the same way as soldiers traumatised in war.

Children who have been exposed to domestic violence and maltreatment,

we see that there is a thinner cortex in this region.

Can the damage that we see be reversed?

For many there's a long-term risk, but there is evidence of recovery

So although we see changes in the brain, we know the brain is

an incredibly plastic organ and is able to respond and adapt to

new influences and to positive influences across development.

If untreated, the trauma of childhood can haunt

adult life, leading to addiction, broken relationships, depression.

Psychotherapist Paul Barrett helps PTSD sufferers.

He was only diagnosed with the condition himself in middle age.

What really happened to me was, I was walking up

the road one day and I started getting flashbacks from childhood.

I didn't really know what was happening.

I walked round with a constant feeling of fear, but

According to one leading charity, 70% of children with mental health

problems haven't been treated at a young enough age.

Experts are calling for greater focus on and funding

Damaged children can grow up into damaged adults?

They very much do and of course a huge cost to society,

whether it's young offenders or children causing all sorts

That is costing society a great deal.

Of course, it's causing those children a huge amount of harm.

Samuel had the unluckiest of starts in life,

There's a great child locked up in that body, and it's coming out.

Would you tell your employer if you were diagnosed with a mental

illness? We asked 1000 people across the UK, and more than two thirds

said they would. A slightly higher proportion said they would tell

their friends, and more than nine in ten said they were told their

family. It is one snapshot of attitudes which appeared to show

that the stigma of mental health may finally be disappearing. Two women

have recorded their thoughts on taking on one of the last medical

taboos. Having a mental illness is being

like a puppet, controlled by a puppetmaster, because it is

just like having your own brain taken out and someone else's brain

being put in for a few months. I decided to blog about it because I

couldn't find any videos about It's quite a big deal for me to

come out and speak about this. It's like a snowflake - everyone has

a different experience. The main part

of it was my manic episode. Kind of like how you are normally,

but on a more extreme level. So if you are really upset,

then you are really upset, or if you are really happy then you're

running around dancing and singing. It's kind of like all of your

emotions being exaggerated. My memories from the psychiatric

ward are very strange and surreal. When I got there I was very

confused because I didn't I thought I was being watched

and that I was on some sort of TV programme and someone was playing

a joke on me. I was in a very delusional state

of mind and I was imagining things were happening that weren't actually

happening. I was imagining that I was

someone that I wasn't. You've still got people dressing up

for Halloween and using words like mental and psycho to describe

really negative things. Talking about it and opening up

about it is really helpful for breaking down stigmas

and actually telling people what it I have been making YouTube videos on

and off for about four years now. The reason I do it is to show the

honest nature of my illness, into what my life with this illness is

like. I have done some weird things, including harming myself quite

severely, to a life-threatening point. If I was always to be well in

my videos, it would be inaccurate. I make myself do it and try to as

always. Schizoaffective disorder is being absolutely fine one day, and

then a week later being just in the grips of psychosis, being so

depressed that I'm contemplating suicide, to a week later being

absolutely fine again. I can hear voices in my head, see things such

as shadows or people. Sometimes animals. I no longer know who I am,

where I am. I believe is a connection with reality is just

shattered. Sectioning is not something that is widely talked

about because of the stigma attached to it. Technology Internet and the

way things are now has really helped the conversation about mental

health, and people like me are able to upload a video to YouTube. It can

help spread awareness, information. Hello, everyone. I have had people

message to say my videos have prompted them to seek help from

professionals. That makes me feel fantastic. That was the sole reason

I set up my channel. Didn't even think I would achieve that so it

just makes my day. Mental health campaigner Laura Nuttall. There is

more on the mental health season on the BBC website. Including details

of where you can find help if you have been

of where you can find help if you have been affected, and you can

follow coverage and social media as well. That is all from this special

edition of bull reporters this week. Goodbye for now.

It will remain quite unsettled, certainly on Sunday.

Cloud and outbreaks of rain thanks to this ribbon