⚠️ Views are my own 🧠 Interested in support networks, pets, mental health & self harm 🌱 Lived experience of bipolar & psychosis
Liverpool
Joined July 2021
- Tweets397
- Following249
- Followers650
- Likes738
Pinned Tweet
🧵 New paper out today in @FrontPsychiatry! 🐾
We know pets can support mental health. But how do they actually help?
We synthesised 24 qualitative studies to identify the therapeutic mechanisms behind these relationships.
🔗 doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1…
#MentalHealth #Pets
📣 New paper out today in @WellcomeOpenRes 🫂
#LivedExperience plays a vital and growing role in #MentalHealth research, but how do we measure and evaluate its impact?
At @BrainGenHub we've been developing an Impact Log to do just that.
🔗 doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeope…
Dr Emily Vicary retweeted
New #OpenAccess Research: "Beyond Ownership: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Pet–Owner Bond, Self-Harm, and Suicide Risk in UK Young People"
#HumanAnimalInteraction #Anthrozoology #Suicide
@OfficialUoM
@unisouthampton
doi.org/10.1080/08927936.202…
ALT Person wearing a chunky knit gray sweater holding a black and white kitten with a pink nose.
1️⃣1️⃣ Take-home message 🐾
The therapeutic value of companion animals doesn't arise simply because people own pets.
It emerges through a layered relational process that builds regulation, trust, routine, agency, identity and meaning over time.
1️⃣2️⃣
A huge thanks to my co-authors @aerogers1 and @Dr_HBrooks.
🔗 Full paper (OA): doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1…
If any of this resonates with you, Samaritans (116 123) and SHOUT (text 85258) are available across the UK, 24/7.
New paper out today in @AnthrozoosJ 🐾
We asked whether pet ownership is associated with self-harm and suicide risk in young people.
Funded by @SCASuk and with thanks to @camhelions 💛
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/08927936.202…
#MentalHealth #SelfHarm #Pets #OpenAccess
🏡 Take-home message
A pet asks for none of the things that make formal help inaccessible. There's no disclosure, no explaining yourself, no waiting list or eligibility. For a young person who finds those barriers impossible to navigate, that presence is exactly what's available.
A huge thank you to @SCASuk for funding this work; @camhelions for consulting with us; and to everybody who took part.
🔗Full paper: doi.org/10.1080/08927936.202…
If any of this hits close to home, Samaritans (116 123) and SHOUT (text 85258) are available in the UK, 24/7.
