Help us gather a snapshot of psychiatry in 2026
In 2026, we are marking 100 years since we were awarded a Royal Charter - one way we are celebrating is to undertake this special project capturing a picture of psychiatry and mental health care in the current day.
Background
For background on this exciting project, please read our recent blog posts on the subject:
- Dr Graham Ash writes about the history of observation projects: Mass observation - from ‘Worktown’ to your working life in 2026
- Dr Harriet Stewart explains how this project seeks to involve the entire membership to celebrate the varied lives of psychiatrists across the United Kingdom and around the world: Collecting a snapshot of psychiatry in 2026
Get involved
As part of the College’s celebration of 100 years since receiving its Royal Charter, we would like to record a snapshot of what psychiatry is like in 2026. To do this, we need your help!
Society generally excels at recording the decisions of institutions and the lives of famous people. It is less successful at capturing the lives of ordinary people, particularly those quietly getting on with rather extraordinary roles, like psychiatrists. We know the minutiae of Freud’s life but not so much about those of contemporary doctors treating people with mental disorders on a daily basis.
Mass observation projects aim to rectify this and record the kind of information otherwise skipped over. The original Mass Observation project began in 1937 and was resurrected in 1981 by the University of Sussex. It has recorded people’s unfiltered feelings on events and topics including: the abdication of Edward VIII, sexual behaviour, and the Blitz.
We first ran this project between the 9–13 March 2026, over the date of the centenary itself, but on the strength of the submissions and a desire to create an even bigger archive, we have decided to repeat this once a quarter throughout 2026.
The additional snapshot windows are as follows:
- 22–26 June
- 14–18 September
- 7–11 December
Rather than sharing a submission at any point in the year, we would encourage you to submit during the ‘snapshot windows’ to help us gather a moment in time and an invaluable record of psychiatry in 2026.
A reminder, you can use whatever medium you like: a selfie, a journal entry, a reel or a picture of your workplace.
We know our members do amazing work, often in difficult circumstances, and we want future generations to know that too.
With thanks to Dr Harriet Stewart, Dr Claire Hilton, Dr Graham Ash, and the History of Psychiatry Special Interest Group (HoPSIG) for their invaluable help with this project.