Robert Howard

I'm standing for RCPsych President in next March's election. I'm still speaking and listening to friends and colleagues, but you can learn about me and what I would want to do if successful in the election here: profrobhoward.com

@Foreman1David I love this picture of Alzheimer, Kraepelin, Gaup and Nissl on a fun outing and clearly prepared for rain. Kraepelin (who generously coined "Alzheimer's disease" for his student's discovery), looks very much the relaxed and supportive boss.

@Foreman1David Happily, my experience of that generation was that he wasn't at all typical. Raymond Levy, who was my mentor and really didn't like Roth at all, was always encouraging and funny with those of us who trained with him. I have tried my best to pass this on to my own trainees.

One of many adults that Bertie Wooster was terrified of and a psychiatrist.

My morning cappuccino tastes better from my "Proudly sponsored by Big Pharma" mug The years of shilling have paid off, obvs

@Foreman1David Perfect!

@ProfRobHoward Or, as Wodehouse put it

@Foreman1David I only spoke to Roth once. He came to a conference talk I gave on brain imaging in late paraphrenia (a term coined by Roth) and I was proudly excited to learn his reaction. He paused for a moment and said: “Nothing of any value has come out of the Maudsley in the past 25 years”.

@ProfRobHoward A case of life imitating art imitating life?

@DrAnnieHickox Obviously, he’d be unbeatable.

@ProfRobHoward Is Glossop running for president of the RCoP?

No evidence ADHD is overdiagnosed in the UK, says @CorteseSamuele et al study independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n… via @ellapickover

Psychiatry too But the usual suspects always say there are enough beds despite increasing demand and inadequate community services

A message of the guidance on suicide clusters is that in some settings - eg schools & universities - we need to act on 1st incident. One death & the full preventive response should follow. gov.uk/government/pub…

There’s something I’ve been reflecting on recently. As a society, we’ve rightly moved away from the days where people with mental health issues were simply locked away. The shift toward care in the community was built on compassion, dignity, and human rights—and that matters. But I’m not sure we ever fully delivered the “care” part. What we often see now is a difficult reality: people who are vulnerable themselves, but whose behaviour can also cause real and ongoing harm to others—sometimes to other vulnerable people. And this is where things seem to become unbalanced. Systems can feel heavily focused on protecting the rights of the person causing harm, whilst victims—especially where harm is persistent but “low-level”—can feel dismissed, unheard, or even blamed. The cumulative impact of that kind of harm is very real, even if each individual incident doesn’t meet a formal threshold. This isn’t about removing compassion or going backwards. It’s about balance. We need systems that: -recognise vulnerability on both sides -take cumulative harm seriously -support individuals who need help -but also protect victims from ongoing distress Support without boundaries doesn’t work—for anyone. A more honest and balanced approach would acknowledge that someone can be both vulnerable and causing harm—and that both realities need to be addressed properly. If we get that balance right, outcomes improve for everyone.

@AshCurryOcd I know….

@ProfRobHoward You think that’s bad ! It’s just the tip of the iceberg

Rustling in the shed this evening indicates that everyone has made it through hibernation. Nights now in the kitchen (my wife is very understanding) and sunny days in the garden until the risk of frosts has safely passed.

@JFr4ser It's always such a relief when they wake up OK, isn't it?

@ProfRobHoward Since it’s much colder and wetter in Glasgow we do fridge method with our tort. Woken up last weekend. Enjoyed a short stretch outside in the sunshine yesterday. They are lovely animals

@CJBob9 @WhippGary He's a Leopard Tortoise - a non-hibernating species. He lives in the house during the winter and in the garden with the others in the summer. We inherited or were given all of our tortoises.

@ProfRobHoward @WhippGary May I ask if there’s any health risk to the one who chooses not to hibernate ? Really interested in why he doesn’t but the others do

@AshCurryOcd Oh dear.

@ProfRobHoward I suspect during the EU vote that they voted romaine

@WhippGary Not yet….

@ProfRobHoward My old school friend's maiden name was Howard. You've not got the Howard's tortoise from Nunhead?

@Larkspurr44 They add so much to our enjoyment of the garden in the summer and early autumn.

@ProfRobHoward Wonderful creatures!

@WhippGary South London is great for tortoises. When I looked after the older people of south Southwark, it was amazing how many of them would proudly show me their tortoises.

@ProfRobHoward That's wonderful. An old school friend's grandparents moved into a house in Nunhead in the 1930s and took on the resident tortoise. It was still alive when the friend's Dad died just a couple of years ago. It's still going, as far as I know, at the same location.

@WhippGary One has a history going back to the 1930s. One is about 10 and the other is at least 60. We have another that doesn’t hibernate who is in his 30s.

@ProfRobHoward How old are they?

@FionaNaylor2 Sorry Fiona!

Today is hard tweeps…no reason, just the usual existential guilt…😔