Lucy Foulkes Explained

Lucy Foulkes
Occupation:Academic, writer, science communicator
Website:https://www.lucyfoulkes.com/
Alma Mater:University of Birmingham
University College London
Discipline:Psychology
Sub Discipline:Mental health and social development in adolescence, negative consequences of mental health awareness
Workplaces:University College London
University of York
University of Oxford
Main Interests:Adolescent mental health
Notable Works:What Mental Illness Really Is (…and what it isn’t)
Coming Of Age: How Adolescence Shapes Us

Lucy Foulkes is a British academic psychologist and writer, specialising in adolescent mental health and social development. She is currently a Prudence Trust Research Fellow at the Department of Experimental Psychology of the University of Oxford.[1]

Biography

Foulkes completed her PhD (2011–2015) and postdoc (2015–2017) at the University College London, before moving to the University of York for a lectureship, and later to the University of Oxford. Besides her research at Oxford, she is also an honorary lecturer at University College London and a senior research fellow for the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. Her main interests are adolescent mental health, the unintended effects of mental health awareness, and self-diagnosis of mental health problems and its relationship to adolescent identity development.[2] She also researches the effectiveness of school mental health interventions.[3] [4]

She has argued that mental health awareness may in some cases increase mental health problems.[5] In a publication with Jack Andrews, she has laid out the Prevalence Inflation Hypothesis, which reasons that awareness can lead to overinterpretation of mild distress as a major mental health problem.[6] [7]

Foulkes contributes to public science communication and public discourse on adolescent mental health, through media appearances, news articles, podcasts, interviews and books.[8] [9] Her first book, What Mental Illness Really Is (…and what it isn’t), was released in 2021.[10] Her second book, Coming Of Age: How Adolescence Shapes Us, was released in 2024.[11] [12] [13]

Books

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Barry . Ellen . 2024-05-06 . Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health? . 2024-12-01 . The New York Times.
  2. Web site: Rumbelow . Helen . 2024-06-18 . The psychologist who says no, our teens aren't all harmed by social media . 2024-12-01 . www.thetimes.com . en.
  3. Web site: Barker . Irena . 2024-06-12 . Pupil mental health: what works in schools and what doesn't . 2024-12-02 . www.tes.com . en.
  4. Foulkes . Lucy . Stringaris . Argyris . 2023-02-27 . Do no harm: can school mental health interventions cause iatrogenic harm? . BJPsych Bulletin . 47 . 5 . 267–269 . 10.1192/bjb.2023.9 . 2056-4694 . 10764817 . 36843444.
  5. Foulkes . Lucy . 2024-10-14 . The problem with mental health awareness . The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Science . 225 . 2 . 337–338 . 10.1192/bjp.2024.106 . 1472-1465 . 39399916.
  6. Web site: Sears . Richard . 2023-03-21 . Mental Health Awareness Campaigns May Actually Lead to Increases in Mental Distress . 2024-12-02 . Mad In America . en-US.
  7. Foulkes . Lucy . Andrews . Jack L. . 2023-04-01 . Are mental health awareness efforts contributing to the rise in reported mental health problems? A call to test the prevalence inflation hypothesis . New Ideas in Psychology . 69 . 101010 . 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2023.101010 . 0732-118X.
  8. Web site: de Lange . Catherine . 2023-09-19 . Why being more open about mental health could be making us feel worse . 2024-12-02 . New Scientist . en-US.
  9. Web site: Chivers . Tom . 2023-04-22 . Your teens should be on the phone . 2024-12-02 . Semafor.
  10. Web site: Sutton . Jon . 2022-03-18 . 'That's not about money, that's about basic respect and compassion' . 2024-12-02 . The British Psychological Society . The Psychologist . en.
  11. News: Womersley . Kate . 2024-06-30 . Coming of Age: How Adolescence Shapes Us by Lucy Foulkes review – deep dive into the teenage mind . 2024-12-01 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  12. Web site: The Week . UK . 2024-08-01 . Coming of Age by Lucy Foulkes: 'wise and revelatory' guide to the teenage mind . 2024-12-02 . The Week. en.
  13. Web site: McBain . Sophie . 2024-07-10 . Inside the teenage mind . 2024-12-02 . New Statesman . en-US.

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