Volume 224 - Issue 4 - April 2024
Artists work several days a week at the supported art studio above Outsider Art Gallery in the Hermitage Amsterdam. This studio and gallery were set up in 2016 for people with mental and learning disabilities by care organization Cordaan, Museum Hermitage Amsterdam and Museum of the Mind Haarlem.
Cordaan has various initiatives to involve its residents and clients in art and culture.
With the Art & Care programme, we use music, dance, theatre, poetry, literature, heritage and visual arts to improve the quality of life of residents and to connect participants to society.
The focus is not so much on the disabilities, limitations and possible disorders of a person but rather on the ‘sane’ and vital part that all people have: development and celebration of artistic talent, connection with society through art.
Ben Becker (Amsterdam, 1971)
Ben Becker has been affiliated with the Outsider Art Studios since 2019. His artwork shows a fascination for visual language and typography. International soccer clubs such as Ajax and FC Barcelona have his particular interest besides the epic space opera Star Wars and other subjects. The strong, colourful and rhythmic lines and composition make his paintings an adventure to watch.
In his painting ‘Welcome to the Amsterdam jungle’ several animals are depicted: a snake, a bird and a grasshopper. The head in the middle is an indigenous person from the jungle, with makeup and feathers. Ben says: ‘Animals are beautiful and I like them. I wanted to paint something with animals and indigenous people. I depicted the coat of arms of Amsterdam because the painting is made in Amsterdam and I was born in Amsterdam. I don't want to paint only one subject because I like variety. When I was a young adult I attended a graphical school where I learnt how to make technical drawings. I started to make drawings for myself in sketch books. The care workers who help me at home saw my drawings and said I should do something with that. So that's how I came to the studio, where I paint now three days a week. I want to keep on developing myself. When I paint I feel relaxed and inspired. All sorts of thoughts pop up in my mind, but I also take inspiration from books.’
We are always looking for interesting and visually appealing images for the cover of the Journal and would welcome suggestions or pictures, which should be sent to Dr Allan Beveridge, British Journal of Psychiatry, 21 Prescot Street, London, E1 8BB, UK or [email protected].
BJPsych Editorial
Mental health at work: societal, economic and health imperatives align; it's time to act
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- 12 March 2024, pp. 115-116
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BJPsych Editorial
What impact could the legalisation of recreational cannabis have on the health of the UK? Lessons from the rest of the world
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- 25 January 2024, pp. 117-118
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Original Article
The experience of felt presence in a general population sample
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- 12 March 2024, pp. 119-121
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Long-term efficacy of a continuity-of-care treatment model for patients with severe mental illness who transition from in-patient to out-patient services
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- 05 February 2024, pp. 122-126
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Participatory translational science of neurodivergence: model for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism research
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- 16 February 2024, pp. 127-131
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Assessment of perinatal anxiety: diagnostic accuracy of five measures
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- 25 January 2024, pp. 132-138
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Letter
Mental health of heterosexual women married to homosexual men: a major but neglected issue
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- 12 March 2024, p. 139
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Book Review
Neuropsychology of Depression Edited by Shawn M. McClintock and Jimmy Choi Guilford Press. 2022. £62.99 (hb). 464 pp. ISBN 9781462549276
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- 12 March 2024, p. 140
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The First Resort: The History of Social Psychiatry in the United States By Matthew Smith Columbia University Press. 2023. £25 (pb), 424 pp. ISBN 9780231203937
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- 12 March 2024, pp. 140-141
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Extra
Memory Ball – Poem
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- 12 March 2024, p. 138
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Front Cover (OFC, IFC) and matter
BJP volume 224 issue 4 Cover and Front matter
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- 12 March 2024, pp. f1-f3
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Back Cover (IBC, OBC) and matter
BJP volume 224 issue 4 Cover and Back matter
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- 12 March 2024, p. b1
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