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Hel Spandler

@hspandler.bsky.social
255 followers 60 following 69 posts

Editor, Asylum the radical mental health magazine. Prof at University of Lancashire. Ambivalent mental health politics. Mad Studies. Madzines. They/them. ❤️🐶 🌈

PostsRepliesMedia
Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
BBC investigation into historic use of 'aversion therapy' on LGBT folk continues. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
'I was given electric shocks to knock the homosexuality out of my brain'
People who were subjected to electric shocks to change their sexuality demand the government apologises.
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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 27/08/2026
How have zines enabled mental health survivors to express their personal experiences? @hspandler.bsky.social explores the history of madzines and their centrality to the collective production of experiential knowledge.
historyworkshop.org.uk
From the personal to the political and back again?
Hel Spandler explores the evolution of madzines and considers why they should be recognised as a form of activism.
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Asylum Magazine @asylummagazine.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
The Summer 2026 Issue of the @asylummagazine.bsky.social is out Thank you for your contributions and your support 😊 Special thanks to Nicola Field and Max Pogrzeba for their help with the design & the overall look of the magazine 💜❤️
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Peter Tatchell Foundation @petertatchellfdn.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
📚 Someone actually tried to ban a book because it promotes the “ideology” of… coming out Yes, apparently, being honest about who you are is now a dangerous political agenda Truly, we are living in the golden age of nonsense
lgbtqnation.com
Someone tried to ban a book because it supports the "ideology" of coming out. They got shut down. - LGBTQ Nation
"When people look at the world through a filter that says there is a gay agenda, they will find one."
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Ethel Weapon @lousadzak.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
We know that this conversion practices are being built into the pathways for trans youth via the Cass model, via mandatory psych evaluations before allowing any referral, via the incorporation of conversion therapists and training materials.
transsafety.network
New Young People's Gender Clinic hires controversial Gender Exploratory Therapist
New educational lead at Great Ormond Street Hospital has previously trained psychiatrists to direct families to resources from conversion therapy groups
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Excellent programme - but media coverage, so far, is erasing the fact that this cruel 'treatment' was used to convert people's gender expression as well as their sexuality. Trans erasure 🙄 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
bbc.co.uk
BBC One - Shock Treatment
How electric shock therapies were used by the NHS to try to change victims’ sexuality.
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
LGB+T folk were subjected to cruel & harmful aversion therapy. Survivors demanding justice www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
LGBT survivors tell of 'barbaric' NHS electric shock therapy
More than 250 people were subjected to painful electric shocks in NHS hospitals, the BBC discovers.
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
We couldn't be in better company! @asylummagazine.bsky.social 😊
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John Adlam FRSA 🌈🌍 @johnadlam.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
'The technocrats / are taking over the asylums...' I am very glad my poem 'A psychiatric hospital is not a factory' is in the new issue of Asylum. Big thanks to @hspandler.bsky.social & all at @asylummagazine.bsky.social for supporting my work & for campaigning so consistently over so many years ❤️❤️
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Pleased to have a chapter about mental health activism in this exciting new book about Ambivalent Activism. Out now! bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/ambivalent-a... @brisunipress.bsky.social
bristoluniversitypress.co.uk
Ambivalent Activism
Ambivalent Activism - Working with Contradiction, Hesitation and Doubt for Social Change; What if doubt, hesitation and ambivalence weren’t barriers to activism but powerful tools for change? This bol...
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Bristol University Press @brisunipress.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
"Ambivalence is pervasive in #Activism but has far too long been neglected by scholars. This important and original collection explores the potential of ambivalence in a wide range of contexts." - Silke Roth, University of Southampton
buff.ly
Ambivalent Activism
Ambivalent Activism - Working with Contradiction, Hesitation and Doubt for Social Change; What if doubt, hesitation and ambivalence weren’t barriers to activism but powerful tools for change? This…
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Matthew Smith @healthhistory.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Amazing issue of Asylum Magazine out just now. So much valuable insight within its pages. If you don't experience mental illness, reading Asylum is one way to approach understanding it a little more. The only mag I subscribe to anymore. @asylummagazine.bsky.social
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Asylum Magazine @asylummagazine.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
www.thenorthernrose.com/p/the-northe... With a focus on the situation in Manchester, this podcast discusses how austerity in the UK has systematically decimated inpatient and community mental health care
thenorthernrose.com
The Northern Rose Podcast Ep.5: A National Scandal - Neglecting Our Most Vulnerable with Dr. John Mulligan
In this episode we're joined by Dr. John Mulligan, a Unite Representative and clinical psychologist to explain how over a decade of austerity has systematically abandoned society's most vulnerable.
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Asylum Magazine @asylummagazine.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
"Machines have no empathy" (Sherry Turkle) But if people say ChatGPT is kinder than almost every clinician they have come across, this says a lot about the quality of therapeutic alliances nowadays Brilliant blog by Wren Avez www.psychiatryisdrivingmemad.co.uk/post/chatgpt...
psychiatryisdrivingmemad.co.uk
The Silence feels Safer: Why I Trust ChatGPT More Than Mental Health Services
When ChatGPT becomes the mental health crisis care you wish you had all along
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Nadia Whittome MP @nadiawhittomemp.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Attacking the rights of a marginalised group isn’t a win for feminism. Demanding that women be defined by our biology isn't a win for feminism. The people driving this are not acting in the interests of women. They're taking us all backwards and ushering in the far right.
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Important thread "For as long as critical psychiatry fails to engage with critics, it can & never will be different" So many survivors are saying this. Its time to be taken seriously.
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The Canary @thecanaryuk.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
A disabled art activist has sent a powerful message to Labour over its DWP benefit cuts Dolly Sen is sending Labour a clear, and harrowing message that its DWP cuts will lead to countless more deaths of disabled people. www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2025...
thecanary.co
A disabled art activist has sent a powerful message to Labour over its DWP benefit cuts
A disabled art activist has sent a powerful message to Labour over its DWP benefit cuts from Canary on 21 March 2025
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Wherever we sit on the psychiatric culture wars, I think psy professionals & academics need to admit we've collectively failed to create a compelling, compassionate & unifying narrative about mental suffering (regardless of what damn words you use to describe it). Shame on us! 😟
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
How many times do we have to say it? *Austerity doesn’t work*. More cuts to public spending is economically illiterate and morally indefensible - people didn’t vote Labour to get more Tory austerity. FFS tax extreme wealth, don’t slash public services @patmillsuk.bsky.social
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Recovery in the Bin @ritb.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Professionals using their platforms to legitimise government oppression, whether deliberately or not, are a part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Richly well deserved 👏 If you haven't listened to this, I'd thoroughly recommened it
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Ruth Pearce @notrightruth.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
The good news is there is already a team of actual interdisciplinary experts putting together detailed advice around data collection on sex and gender, informed by medical science as well as feminist and trans perspectives. They are the MESSAGE project and you can learn more here:
messageproject.co.uk
Medical Science Sex & Gender Equity
The MESSAGE (Medical Science Sex and Gender Equity) project aims to improve the integration of sex and gender considerations across data collection, analysis and reporting in biomedical, health and ca...
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Good to see a more nuanced approach to simplistic & dangerous "overdiagnosis" debates www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Culture warriors see not sick Britain, but a plague of 'overdiagnosis'. How convenient | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Instead of dismissing huge swaths of the population, how about a nuanced conversation about neurodivergence and mental health, asks Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
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Recovery in the Bin @ritb.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
US study on sustainable menstruation products cancelled cos it *mentioned* that trans folk menstruate too. www.advocate.com/news/usda-sc...
advocate.com
Trump officials kill federal research on safer period products over mention of transgender men
The study is meant to improve health during menstruation.
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Co-authored a chapter on ambivalent mental health activism for this new book which will be out soon. Looks great. Looking forward to reading all the other chapters. bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/ambivalent-a...
bristoluniversitypress.co.uk
Ambivalent Activism
Ambivalent Activism - Working with Contradiction, Hesitation and Doubt for Social Change; What if doubt, hesitation and ambivalence weren’t barriers to activism but powerful tools for change? This bol...
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Asylum Magazine @asylummagazine.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Do join us tomorrow, if you want to know more about @StopOxevision or just hear some mad poetry come along. Register here us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Everyone is invited to the online launch of our spring issue. 
Meet our artists, authors, poets and guest editors Stop Oxevision and  supported by NSUN (National Survivor User Network). 

Date: Thursday 13th March
Time:  05.30 - 0630 Melbourne Time/ 00.00 - 01.00 Indian Time 18.30- 19.30 GMT /  13.30-14.30 Toronto Time

Register here https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/IdeFAw49RfSOcK-3GP4qzQ#/registration
Front cover of Asylum Magazine
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
This is a truly terrifying take on #MAGA, but despairingly plausible ...
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
"We mustn't let the narcissism of small differences prevent us from uniting to do what is required of us at this crucial historical juncture...Whether we will, as a society, choose solidarity or abandonment & whether we will meet suffering with care or with cruelty" newrepublic.com/article/1918...
newrepublic.com
RFK Jr.’s Mental Health Bait and Switch
The newly anointed HHS secretary is weaponizing legitimate anger at the failures of current psychiatric care to gut public services, abandon poor and disabled people, and expand the police state.
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Asylum has landed with subscribers! @asylummagazine.bsky.social @stopoxevision.bsky.social
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
I sense this issue will be as popular as our special BPD issue we published over 20 years ago & still coveted @stopoxevision.bsky.social @nsunnews.bsky.social @asylummagazine.bsky.social
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Using zines in critical mental health education Open Access paper www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Mad Zine pedagogy: using zines in critical mental health learning and education
This article explores how zines might be used as a medium for generating and communicating alternative forms of Mad-centered knowledge in diverse learning contexts. It draws on our research project...
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
Online launch of Spring issue of Asylum mag. It's gonna be another cracker..👍🏼🧨🎆 Hear from guest editors & contributors @stopoxevision.bsky.social Supported by @nsunnews.bsky.social @asylummagazine.bsky.social Register here for joining link: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regist…
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
A group of Kosvan mental activists inspired by @asylummagazine.bsky.social translated our first ever issue into Albanian. Chuffed to bits! 🤗
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Asylum Magazine @asylummagazine.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hospital-i...
eventbrite.co.uk
Hospital in the Mind: Film Screening
What does the therapeutic community approach have to offer us in 2025? Join us for a screening & discussion of this thought provoking film.
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Stop Oxevision @stopoxevision.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Excited for this to be out in the world! Please do subscribe to Asylum magazine to receive this special edition We will be at the launch event too!
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Spring issue of Asylum out soon! Special issue on surveillance guest edited by Stop Oxevision. @stopoxevision.bsky.social
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Just Treatment @justtreatment.org · 06/02/2025
We are Mad Youth Organise, and we demand: 🚫An end to fossil fuel extraction 💰Shell and Big Oil pay for the damage they’ve caused—including funding youth mental health care 🌱A just transition to community-owned green energy 🏛️A government that protects people, not polluters
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The Mental Elves @thementalelves.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
I've been harmed by both critical + standard psychiatry. Might I suggest rather than arguing about ideology, we focus back on the human suffering? Here's my wishlist: 1. Treat me as human 2. Be kind 3. Believe me & my experiences 4. Value my knowledge 5. Respect me 6. Honour my wishes
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Peter Tatchell Foundation @petertatchellfdn.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
💡 Good point! A name is identity, dignity & self-respect. For trans people, chosen names matter. Funny how Trump is obsessed with renaming the Gulf of Mexico but won’t respect trans people’s own names. Priorities. 🙄🏳️‍⚧️ #TransRights
advocate.com
If Trump can rename the Gulf, why can't we rename ourselves?
Your Lovable Trans Auntie offers heartfelt advice on navigating name changes, gender identity, and self-discovery. Submit your questions today!
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Patsy “Resistance Kitty” Evans Ph.D. @drharmony.net · 26/01/2025
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NipperMaddog @nippermaddog.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Total respect and admiration for the 3 brilliant survivors here, please share widely. It took huge courage #solidarity
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Dolly Sen @dollysen.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
A poster in black and pink saying: you are more likely to become disabled than a millionaire, so I don't understand why we are making the world easier for millionaires and billionaires and hurting disabled people
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Rick B @rickburgess.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
More no shit sherlock cos y’know, being killed is kind of unacceptable. Wanna know more- Deaths by Welfare deathsbywelfare.org The Department by @johnpring.bsky.social www.plutobooks.com/978074534990...
independent.co.uk
Disabled Britons suffering 'unacceptable treatment' at hands of DWP
The damning report comes ahead of Labour plans to cut disability benefit spending
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Hel Spandler @hspandler.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
"When the choice is between coercion and abandonment, it is unsurprising that many choose incarceration for their loved ones, but our collective inability to think beyond this dichotomy is an ethical, social, and clinical failure". We can do better.
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National Survivor User Network @nsunnews.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
A new parliamentary inquiry into the state of community mental health services is requesting written evidence from individuals and organisations by 4th February. Find out more about the committee and inquiry and access support on submitting evidence 👇 www.nsun.org.uk/news/inquiry...
nsun.org.uk
Inquiry into Community Mental Health Services: What is it and how to contribute
In December 2024, Parliament announced a new inquiry to examine the state of community mental health services. Here, we explain what the committee is, the purpose of the inquiry, and to offer support ...
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Shelley Lynn Tremain she/her/they @shelleytremain.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
I made a blog post about the conference that @drrobertchapman.bsky.social is organizing for June 2025. biopoliticalphilosophy.com/2024/12/19/c...
biopoliticalphilosophy.com
CFA: Critical Neurodiversity Studies: Directions/Intersections/Contradictions, Durham/Online, Jun. 24-26, 2025 (deadline: Feb. 28, 2025)
Critical Neurodiversity Studies: Directions/Intersections/Contradictions24–26 June 2025, Durham University, UKDeadline for submissions: 28 February 2025 While traditional theory describes the world…
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