The 2023 Barbie movie became an unexpected touchstone in my clinical practice. In the months after the film’s general release, children, young people and adults quoted from the film’s comedic moments and inspirational monologues, using them as a shorthand for complex emotional experiences, and to identify struggles and experiences of care and recovery. The film’s playful tone and layered themes allowed for moments of humour alongside serious introspection. This paper describes an exploration of the Barbie movie as a shared cultural language that facilitated therapeutic conversations and provided a narrative framework for self-exploration. Drawing upon concepts from narrative medicine, psychoanalytic theory and the enduring cultural symbolism of Barbie, this discussion positions the Barbie film as a displacement object, a transitional space, a narrative tool and a fitting metaphor for adolescent development as well as recovery. I consider the impact of the film’s rich cineliteracy on clinical practice, against a background of historical psychiatric discourses around the Barbie doll, and her enduring cultural symbolism. Fictionalised clinical encounters illustrate how young people engaged with Barbie to explore issues of gender, trauma and institutional structures. This paper argues that an openness to integrating popular media into psychiatric practice expands the scope of assessment and therapeutic engagement, allowing children, young people and adults to express their experiences through culturally familiar, accessible narratives.

Shame is a pervasive, multidimensional emotion influencing brain, body and social life. While shame can foster accountability, its toxic forms drive stigma, withdrawal and mental illness. We call for systemic, culturally sensitive interventions to transform phatological shame into healing, fostering empathy, accountability and psychological safety in care, education and policy.

This commentary examines Thomas Adeoye Lambo’s seminal 1955 article ‘The Role of Cultural Factors in Paranoid Psychosis among the Yoruba Tribe,’ published in the Journal of Mental Science, as the British Journal of Psychiatry was then known. Seventy years later, this groundbreaking work remains profoundly relevant to contemporary psychiatric practice and research.

Clozapine is the only medication specifically recommended for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, but research suggests that it is universally underprescribed, particularly among children and adolescents. This article discusses clinicians’ reluctance to prescribe clozapine for all age groups, and outlines its benefits for treatment-resistant schizophrenia in young people. It summarises guidelines on clozapine therapy for adults, including initiation, monitoring and adverse and side-effects, and describes how they can be applied to a younger population. Psychiatrists who care for younger people have consistently highlighted a wish for more learning opportunities focusing on clozapine, such as the content of this article.

Little has been written regarding the experience of training in medicine with a diagnosis of a personality disorder. The stigma of personality disorders, evidenced even within psychiatry, potentially marginalises affected students and resident doctors. This article provides a first-hand account of the lead author’s (E.M.) lived experience of being a medical student with a diagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD). Challenges that have been faced include a lack of understanding, limited literature about medical students and doctors with personality disorders, and derogatory attitudes. Despite this, the positive aspects of the diagnosis are recognised, through enhanced resilience and heightened emotional sensitivity, which can benefit patients.

Scull’s Madhouse gives a meticulously researched account of the actions of Dr Henry Cotton, a psychiatrist working in the New Jersey State Hospital at Trenton in the early 20th century. Cotton believed that mental illness resulted from undetected infection in various parts of the body, and with the aim of eradicating said infections, he and his team operated on hundreds of patients, with significant rates of resulting morbidity and mortality. This article gives a summary of Professor Scull’s book, as well as a series of learning points from the book that can be used to guide reflective practice.

Numerous symposia and conferences have been held to discuss the promise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Many center on its potential to transform fields like health and medicine, law, education, business, and more. Further, while many AI-focused events include those data scientists involved in developing foundational models, to our knowledge, there has been little attention on AI’s role for data science and the data scientist. In a new symposium series with its inaugural debut in December 2024 titled AI for Data Science, thought leaders convened to discuss both the promises and challenges of integrating AI into the workflows of data scientists. A keynote address by Michael Pencina from Duke University together with contributions from three panels covered a wide range of topics including rigor, reproducibility, the training of current and future data scientists, and the potential of AI’s integration in public health.

This paper describes and analyses the ways in which women are disadvantaged in the Australian apprenticeship system. While women make up 47.9% of the Australian workforce, only 28.0% of apprentices and trainees are women.

‘Traditional trade’ apprenticeships are still predominantly undertaken by men. The newer ‘traineeships’, introduced in the 1980s to provide apprenticed training to more occupations and to allow equal access to women, receive less funding and fewer training resources. The paper traces the developments by analysing government reports, participation data by gender in the apprenticeship system, and apprentice/trainee funding rates for the main occupations. The paper also shows how post-COVID developments in the economy have been harnessed to favour male-dominated occupations in the apprenticeship system. The paper argues that the encouragement of women into trade apprenticeships has moved from an ‘equity’ argument to a ‘national interest’ argument, paralleling the conscription of women to fill the gaps left by men during the Second World War.

The discussion shows that the disadvantaged status of women is largely consistent with existing theories on gender and work, but there are some points of departure. The paper argues that more research into traineeships is needed to inform developments. It would provide a voice for feminised occupations and would assist in countering the monopolisation of the debate by masculinised interest groups.

While the data are Australian, the issues potentially apply to all countries which have apprenticeship systems, but have the most relevance for women in countries where male-dominated occupations are privileged in apprenticeship policy.

Clinical academics in psychiatry face several inequities, many of which are specific to women academics and intersectional in nature. We characterise the current state of UK academic psychiatry utilising findings of the annual Medical Schools Council clinical academic survey, and consider initiatives seeking to address gaps in supporting the career journeys of women academics.

Only a minority with mental disorders worldwide receive treatment with negligible coverage of interventions to prevent associated impacts, prevent mental disorders or promote mental well-being. Reasons include insufficient public mental health (PMH) skills and training. An electronic search found limited availability of PMH courses globally. Improved access to PMH training informed by a core curriculum will support sustainable reduction of mental disorders, promotion of population mental health well-being and broad associated impacts across sectors. Regular assessment of PMH training coverage and impact will support sustainable progress.

To provide a useful contextual backdrop to an exhibition at the Royal College of Psychiatrists this summer, we used a question and answer format to summarise the thoughts of its curator, Gavin Miller. Gavin has chosen 12 books published by Penguin between 1949 and 1975 to illuminate the relationship between psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists and the British media. He reflects on the opportunities and pitfalls that come with the association, the motivations of previous writers and provides practical advice for any media psychiatrists considering such a role in the future. The exhibition is open to visitors to the College building in London.