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Maudsley Debates - 51st to 60th

01 January 2020

The Maudsley Debates take place three times a year at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN). Topics generally focus on issues that have a direct impact on mental health services, service users and mental health professionals.

59th Maudsley Debate: Self-binding Directives

February 2023

Self-binding directives: This house believes that people should be able to commit themselves to future involuntary treatment.

Speakers

Supporting the motion were:

Dr Tania Gergel, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow, Psychological Medicine, IoPPN, King’s College London

Professor Allen Frances, Professor & Chair Emeritus of Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University

Speaking against the motion were:

Dr Arun Chopra, Medical Director at Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland

Dr Theo Van Willigenberg, Research Fellow Faculty of Religion and Theology VU University Amsterdam

Download the 59th Maudsley Debate video

58th Maudsley Debate: PTSD

July 2019

This house believes that PTSD has become overdiagnosed in western society

Speakers

Supporting the motion were:

Dr Andrew Johns, Forensic Psychiatric Consultant, SLaM

Dr Sharon Stevelink, Lecturer in Epidemiology, IoPPN

Speaking against the motion were:

Dr Stephanie Lewis, Clinical Research Training Fellow, IoPPN

Dr Gerard Drennan, Head of Forensic Psychology, SlaM

Download the 58th Maudsley Debate video

57th Maudsley Debate: ECT

September 2018

This house believes that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has no place in modern medicine

Speakers

Supporting the motion were:

Professor John Read,Clinical Psychologist, University of East London

Dr Susan Cunliffe

Speaking against the motion were:

Professor Declan McLoughlin, Psychiatry, St Patrick’s University Hospital and TCIN

Dr Sameer Jauhar, Consultant Psychiatrist, SLaM

Download the 57th Maudsley Debate video

56th Maudsley Debate: Mental Health Act

November 2017

This house believes that fundamental reform of the Mental Health Act is required to reduce discrimination and unnecessary detention

Speakers

Supporting the motion were:

Rt Hon Norman Lamb MP, British Liberal Democrat politician and solicitor

Professor George Szmukler, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Society, IoPPN

Speaking against the motion were:

Professor Scott Weich, Mental Health, University of Sheffield

Professor Annie Bartlett, Reader in Forensic Psychiatry, St George's London University

Download the 56th Maudsley Debate video

55th Maudsley Debate: Who needs Athena Swan?

October 2016

“Who needs Athena Swan? This house believes that UK universities already offer equal opportunities for all

Speakers

Supporting the motion were:

Dr Joanna Williams, Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, University of Kent, author of “Academic Freedom in an age of Conformity"

Belinda Brown, Co-founder of the Gender Equity Network, UCL

Speaking against the motion were:

Professor Clare Gerada MBE, Former Chair, Royal College of General Practitioners

Femi Otitojou, Founder and Training Director, Challenge Consultancy

Download the 55th Maudsley Debate video

54th Maudsley Debate: CG178 Psychosis and Schizophrenia in Adults

May 2016

This house believes that NICE guideline "CG178 Psychosis and Schizophrenia in Adults" is unbiased and evidence based

Speakers

Supporting the motion were:

Professor Sonia Johnson, Social and Community Psychiatry, UCL

Professor Steve Pilling, Clinical Psychology & Clinical Effectiveness, UCL

Speaking against the motion were:

Dr Mark Taylor, Head of Social Work, Goldsmiths University

Professor Clive Adams, Co-ordinating Editor, Cochrane Schizophrenia Group, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Nottingham University

Download the 54th Maudsley Debate video

53rd Maudsley Debate: To ban or not to ban smoking in psychiatric hospitals?

November 2015

This house believes that smoking should be banned in psychiatric hospitals

Speakers

Supporting the motion were:

Professor Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists

Deborah Arnott, CEO of ASH (Action on Smoking and Health)

Speaking against the motion were:

Christopher Snowdon, author and freelance journalist @Sectioned_, service user and (micro)blogger

Download the 53rd Maudsley Debate video

52nd Maudsley Debate: More harm than good?

May 2015

The house believes that the long-term use of psychiatric medications is causing more harm than good

Speakers

Supporting the motion were:

Professor Sami Timimi, Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist; Director of Postgraduate Education, NHS Lincolnshire; Visiting Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Lincoln

Professor Peter Gøtzsche, Director, The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Denmark

Speaking against the motion were:

Professor Allan Young, Professor of Mood Disorders, IoPPN

John Crace, Journalist, The Guardian

Download the 52nd Maudsley Debate video