Dr Jay Watts

If you’re lonely today and want someone to talk to in the U.K.:

• Call Samaritans 116 123 – 24/7
• Text SHOUT to 85258 – free, 24/7 text support
• 55+: The Silver Line 0800 470 8090 – friendship and listening, 24/7
• Under 19: Childline 0800 1111 or chat online

We are here on bluesky too🩷

Just a reminder: you are NOT unusual, weird, or unlovable if you have:

- no one to see on Christmas Day,
- no presents, or
- no contactable relatives.

Very few people live the idealised version on TV. Those of us who live differently—whether by choice or trauma—matter as much.

A person outdoors on a winter morning, bundled tightly into a bright orange hooded coat pulled up over their mouth and nose, eyes squinting against the cold. Bare trees blur in the background, and the overall impression is of bracing wind and near-Arctic chill

Going for my Christmas Day swim at the lido — or about to embark on a deep-sea fishing mission in the Arctic? You decide.

Sending solidarity and love to everyone in the Mad/traumatised/neurodivergent community in pain or lonely tonight x

The 'Avoiding Avoidance' Trap How Britain's Welfare Policy Weaponizes Therapy.

New from the brilliant @shrinkatlarge.bsky.social

substack.com/inbox/post/1...

Thank you so much xx

The 'Avoiding Avoidance' Trap How Britain's Welfare Policy Weaponizes Therapy.

Thank you for this @shrinkatlarge.bsky.social

"the real avoidance isn’t on the part of those struggling to survive. It’s governmental: the avoidance of the real, the avoidance of the structural, and—most crucially—the cynical avoidance of justice."

substack.com/inbox/post/1...

This needs shouting from the rooftops "the real avoidance isn’t on the part of those struggling to survive. It’s governmental: the avoidance of the real, the avoidance of the structural, and—most crucially—the cynical avoidance of justice."

Thank you so much 💜💜💜

The 'Avoiding Avoidance' Trap How Britain's Welfare Policy Weaponizes Therapy.

Incredible article, dissembling the Governments floored Welfare plans by leading Psychotherapist and Activist @shrinkatlarge.bsky.social substack.com/inbox/post/1...

Aw thank you so much x

Request #8538 to @bsky.app:

I would love to use Bluesky regularly, but I can’t.

Why? No locked/private accounts.

This isn’t a nice-to-have feature. It’s a safety essential that excludes many in Mad and Disabled communities who face real risks posting publicly.

Please sort this Out.

🩷🩷🩷

The DWP have absolutely no place in a GP surgery, or anywhere people access healthcare, health-related support, mental health support.

Many people who claim disability benefit experience a hyper-vigilance over the DWP 'checking up' on them, and it is not unfounded.

People avoid things

Alt text: A cartoon-style illustration shows a man in a turquoise polo shirt on a city street, wide-eyed and pointing frantically at the sky. Floating all around him are dozens of Mercedes and BMW logos, even though no actual cars are visible. A large speech bubble above his head reads, “Motability cars! Motability cars everywhere!!” The image satirises the false belief that disabled people frequently receive luxury cars through the Motability scheme.

Alt text: A protest-style graphic with a bold red background and large white block letters reading “STOP OXEVISION.” Below, black text on a white background reads: “The continued use of Oxevsion is not safe or ethical. Rights abuses are happening right now. The Lampard Inquiry is not due to publish its final report and recommendations until 2027. This is too late. We call on all mental health trusts using Oxevsion to immediately suspend its use on the basis of safety and legality concerns.” — National Survivor User Network (NSUN), October 2025, following evidence from the Stop Oxevsion Campaign at the Lampard Inquiry.

Work is not a health outcome. It’s a social determinant — and sometimes a damaging one. Putting DWP work coaches in GP surgeries turns healthcare into a branch of welfare policing.

“Yeah but I saw on the internet that if you fill out a form you get a free BMW!”

I’m sure you did, babe. I also saw on the internet that I can make tens of millions from a timeshare pyramid scheme.

Personally, I think “We’re all people with lived experience” is just the ableist cousin of “we all have mental health.” It takes a phrase born to centre marginalised voices and uses it to erase the difference that made it necessary in the first place. But then I'm moody.

Work coaches do not belong in GP surgeries.

black-and-white cartoon shows a therapy session. A patient lies on a couch while the therapist sits in a chair taking notes. The caption reads: “It’s not strange at all—lately, a lot of people are reporting that their faith in humanity is riding entirely on whether or not Pedro Pascal is as nice as he seems.

Silly psy cartoon for the weekend!

Can’t believe this needs saying in 2025 but:
Human rights are good for humans.

The folk shouting about “protecting women and girls” as they form gangs are the very same who, in another century, would have lit the pyres for any woman even vaguely deviant — branding her a witch and burning her alive. Groupthink and violence has always worn the mask of virtue.

The Centre for Social Justice has just released a report called ‘Wasted Lives’ which is being picked up by the media and recommends withdrawing: “UC Health and PIP from those with milder anxiety, depression or ADHD, equivalent to around 1.1 million people”. Why is this wrong? 🧵

If folk are so keen on ‘protecting women and girls’, how about campaigning on the conviction rate for reported rape which is 2%?

I can’t tell you how many parents’ MENTAL HEALTH problems are CAUSED and EXACERBATED by the pressure of trying to get any—let alone decent—SEND SUPPORT. If the GOVERNMENT want to reduce DIAGNOSIS, they should make SEND FUNDING easier and more RELIABLE to get, not CUT it.

Dear @teamlabouruk.bsky.social

Having to publish three impact assessments — none of which would pass GCSE level scrutiny — because you got thrashed by the disability movement is not “extensive” impact assessment. Nor was dropping the PIP changes. Stop lying to the United Nations.

Dr Jay

Far more troubled by #AngelaRayner’s betrayal of millions of disabled people than where her primary residence is, to be honest.

Handwritten chalk message on a grey pavement slab reads: “It took a lot of pain to be this soft.” followed by the Instagram handle @losinglxve. At the bottom of the image, a pair of white trainers are visible.

London, just now.

Fearing abandonment when one has a history of being abandoned doesn’t a personality disorder make.