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Helping more than an extra million people with mental health problems is laudable (NHS vows to transform mental health services with extra £1bn a year, 15 February). But only if treatment is effective. Illness of the mind is inherently more difficult to diagnose than illness of the body. And treatment outcomes are more uncertain. For example, the much vaunted talking therapies can only work if counsellor and patient hit it off (over the years I have had one positive score from six attempts). Drug therapy is certainly effective, but it normally takes weeks to work and often makes people a lot worse before they start to get better, leading some to stop taking the pills too soon. It is not clear that GPs’ training yet gives them an adequate grounding in mental health. Psychiatric inpatient treatment is obviously worthwhile, but in my experience if you get 20 minutes a week of your consultant’s time and then only on weekdays you are doing well; and acute pressure on … [Read more...] about The scale of the UK’s mental health challenge has been underestimated

They suggested she put out an album of soul covers: she refused, telling them she wanted to write her own material, even though she had never written a song in her life, only short stories (albeit short stories influenced by Raymond Carver, her favourite author "when I was a kid") and had no idea what she wanted her music to sound like. "They were pretty open-minded about it," she shrugs, as if a major record label taking orders from a 12-year-old who doesn't seem to have a clue what she's doing is the kind of thing that happens all the time. "They got straight away that I was a bit weird, that I would not be doing anything I didn't want to do, and they completely went with that. I dunno," she says, noticing my faintly incredulous expression, "maybe it was because the record company was in New Zealand. Anyway, it's cool that they were cool with that, because if they hadn't been," she laughs, "it wouldn't have been a very good outcome." … [Read more...] about Lorde: ‘I’m just a freak’

And he's not the only one. Strawberry Switchblade, their manager and me, set off to find Bronski Beat's dressing-room but somehow end up in the kitchens. Instead, we nip into a little room where Gary Crowley interviews Rose and Jill for cable TV, and I have a word with Elaine Paige about what Prince said when she presented him with one of his awards: "Sounded like 'mumublemumblemumble' to me, and I was standing next to him." … [Read more...] about Neil Tennant on the 1985 Brits – a classic feature from the vaults

"Photos appearing in the tabloid press were often taken in a climate of continual harassment which induced in the person concerned a very strong sense of intrusion into their private life or even of persecution," it added. … [Read more...] about Princess wins landmark privacy ruling

She told Sky News: "If you went from being in the lower house to the upper house you would find that allegations followed you... the whole purpose is that complaints, including the Speaker of the House of Commons, could also be subject to that proper procedure". … [Read more...] about Speaker Bercow’s former chief clerk Lord Lisvane revealed to be behind fresh dossier of bullying allegations