Adam Phillips is a leading psychoanalyst and author. Phillips was educated at Clifton College and studied English Literature at Oxford University. He trained to be a psychoanalyst at the Institute of Child Psychology. Across the course of his professional career, he has worked at Guys Hospital, with a school for 'maladjusted children', at…

If mental health has become a reactionary concept, much like the notion of public health in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, then how can critical theory best elaborate a concern for well-being which includes both a psychic and social dimension? This article proposes the concept of existential health to grasp the salubrious zest for life that has…

We are regularly told that mental health problems are becoming more and more prevalent today, a trend exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. This way of conceiving what might rather be called people's--and particularly young people's--distress has several sources. Medical science has made spectacular progress over the last 50 years, encouraging…

Educational institutions are moving to apply mental health interventions in their classrooms. This is in many ways seen as a preventative public health intervention. However, the application of psychiatry to the classroom must be carefully considered, as there are risks to this that are not appreciated by the psychiatric establishment. Deep…

Much of Western media has promoted the idea that we are facing an epidemic of mental illness and psychiatric emergencies in contemporary Western society and worldwide, and that young people are a particularly vulnerable group. Schools have become a prominent site of concern and focus for this discourse as mental health problems are said to start…

Much thinking in psychology and related forms of psychotherapy is in the grip of a conception of inner-outer relationships that distorts the reality of our lives and world. In his later work, and in the last years of his life especially, Wittgenstein battled against this. In the course of his criticism, he developed vivid images that challenge…

Despite the convergence of approaches to mental health in schools, criticisms have been levelled about the triviality of mindfulness and the reluctance of teachers to encourage more personal expression in the classroom, relying instead on a mixture of ancient practices and modern cognitive behavioural therapy. Furthermore, there are still real…

In this paper, I will begin by charting some of the conceptions of mental health in young people today, paying particular attention to recent mental health education policies in England. I will focus on the concept of 'resilience' as central to these policies, and how this represents an impoverished understanding of mental health, what it means to…

Sanah Ahsan is an award-winning poet and a qualified clinical psychologist. Ahsan has a growing profile in the public conversation about mental health. She is currently building anti-racism as a core competence into clinical psychology training. Her work has been featured by the BBC, Channel 4, Shakespeare's Globe and Southbank's WoW festival. She…

This paper addresses the question of mental health, in particular the manner in which it finds its way into education. Increased attention to mental health in education should be welcomed, but often the focus is on 'problem-solving', which in turn confines the 'solution' within the spectrum of preventive and corrective intervention. Often it is…

A recent production of "Romeo and Juliet" at the Globe Theatre in London has foregrounded the themes of mental health and a sick society. My essay begins by exploring the controversial reception of the 2021 production. But Shakespeare's play has a number of key features that are undecidable, by design. These are directly relevant to the…

In 2017, the Departments of Health and Education in the United Kingdom initiated a national mental health agenda that includes new curriculum interventions and mandatory training courses for teachers. While the stated goal is to support children and young people with mental health difficulties, there are deeper economic and political forces…

The common factors hypothesis holds that therapy's effectiveness is not found in features of specific therapeutic methods, but rather that therapy is helpful due to the presence of three general features that all therapeutic modalities share: positive clinician traits, commitment to a common practice to achieve a common goal and effective…

In this article, we provide a critical philosophical analysis of contemporary early childhood education practices on emotions and well-being. We develop our argument against the backdrop of an intensifying preoccupation, since several decades, with the psychological, social and emotional well-being of pupils and students. Our focus is on one…

As part of the recent 'therapeutic turn' in education, schools are now commonly seen as a place for mental health guidance and support. This often involves "interventions"--special curricula of lessons or activities (e.g. counselling sessions), which aim to either prevent mental health problems or manage those that have already started.…