This year’s “Mental Health Today Wales” conference, which will be held in Cardiff on 20th May, will explore “Mental Health and Poverty” by looking at the impact of poverty, in all its forms, on the mental health of Welsh citizens of all ages.

Our Spring 2014 journal is out now and it’s a treatments special focusing on medications and psychological therapies. Check out the journal for info on:

Professor Stephen Bazire, Consultant Pharmacist, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust talks to us about patient empowerment, how to choose a medication and the availability of talking therapies

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a new report claiming that mental health issues cost the UK around £70 billion every year, or roughly 4.5% of GDP, in lost productivity at work, benefit payments and health care expenditure. Better policies and practices by employers and the health system are needed to help people deal with mental health issues and get back to work, according to the OECD report.

We are seeking volunteers from Wales to join the RCPsych Service Users and Carers Fora in London and the RCPsych in Wales.

Hafal has produced a policy briefing for Assembly Members to consider when they debate the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Bill this week. The briefing highlights a number of improvements that need to be made to the Bill which was introduced by Gwenda Thomas, Deputy Minister for Social Services last January.

Earlier this week the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) warned that there has been a rise in the number of young people with mental health problems since the recession – and that doctors are not being given the right training to identify and treat those problems.

A new study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry suggests that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has little impact on the symptoms of schizophrenia even though it is recommended as a treatment by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).