Robin Ion

Likes books, music, dogs. Believer in reality

[Stella O'Malley @stellaomalley3]

I was just trying to organise myself for the livestream with @_CryMiaRiver (in 45 mins!!- see you there!) when I got the loveliest news- my first paper from my PhD has been published. It’s a systematic review of Parents Perceptions of Childhood and Adolescent Gender Dysphoria https://t.co/BEdnrcMp5z
I feel so embarrassingly proud

[Robin Ion @IonRobin24604]

Parents perceptions of childhood amd adolescent gender dysphoria- a systematic review

New paper with @stellaomalley3
Open access

https://t.co/I2hSZpyHrI

[RNLI @RNLI]

@Normanyodaism We're sorry to lose your support, Cyril. Our role is to go to the aid of people in danger on the water, without prejudice or exception, just as it has always been since 1824. If there is a risk to life, we will always launch.

[Robin Ion @IonRobin24604]

@sharrond62 A genuine superstar !

[louis appleby @ProfLAppleby]

This week sees #WorldSuicidePreventionDay, Sep 10.

Worldwide there are >700,000 suicides/year. 3/4 occur in low- & middle-income countries.

Key prevention measures include treatment of mental illness, ⬇️access to suicide methods, improving emotional health of young people.

[louis appleby @ProfLAppleby]

This weekend’s live football coverage stressed the commitment of premier league clubs to #suicideprevention to their audience of millions.

We should remember how far we’ve come - it was once unmentionable. #WorldSuicidePreventionDay

https://t.co/gMcdKxa1uu

[Genspect @genspect]

🇺🇸 A graduate student at Brandeis University is conducting a research study on identity change during transition. He is looking for participants who have detransitioned, are having doubts about their transition, or have had a change of identity during their transition process.

If you are interested and eligible, you can fill out his questionarre at the link in our replies ⬇️

[Robin Ion @IonRobin24604]

@JamesMelville Our city, Dundee, is blessed with trees. I'm always thankful to the people who planted them, knowing they would never see them mature, but also understanding how they'd look and the pleasure they bring

[Robin Ion @IonRobin24604]

@theannasu Disagree. The publisher should pay for the labour of reviewing

[Robin Ion @IonRobin24604]

@ThoughtfulTs I've been thinking of writing something on the inappropriateness of pushing ideology in the helping professions

[Sajid Javid @sajidjavid]

Today in The Times I’ve spoken about something deeply personal.

In 2018 my brother Tariq took his own life. He never told anyone, not his closest family and friends, what he was going through. Looking back, we believe stigma was a large part of it.

He isn’t alone. More than 7,000 people die by suicide every year in the UK, and over 70% were not in contact with the mental health services that might have saved them. It remains one of the biggest killers of young people.

I’m supporting this campaign because of Philip Pirie, who lost his son Tom in 2020 and has since rallied experts and politicians around the country to push for change. When he approached me, I was very happy to join forces with him.

Together we’re calling – alongside psychiatrists, charities and MPs from across the political spectrum – for a national public health campaign to reduce the stigma around suicidal thoughts and encourage more people to reach out for help.

Public health campaigns work: we’ve seen it with drink-driving and HIV/AIDS. And the evidence suggests this one would more than pay for itself. Every life saved spares a family unimaginable grief and the country real cost.

Giving people permission to speak saves lives.

If you’re struggling, or worried about someone who is, the Samaritans are there free, day or night, on 116 123.

https://t.co/fyCirbJDro

[marcus evans @marcuse99903226]

Thanks again, @nickwallis. It is so important that @thetimes continues to pursue this story. It has long been my view, too, that this is the greatest medical scandal of our generation.

For too long, some gender services adopted an ideologically driven model of care that paid insufficient attention to comorbidities, family trauma and the wider psychological difficulties underlying a young person’s distress. In too many cases, there was inadequate exploration of why a young person had come to experience their body as the problem, including the possibility of profound self-hatred.

Some detransitioners have described how mental health practitioners failed adequately to understand or explore their experiences before they underwent medical treatment. Others report that surgeons did not clearly explain how surgically constructed genitalia would differ from naturally developed anatomy, including the possibility of continuing complications and limitations in sexual function. These accounts raise serious questions about assessment and informed consent.

Instead, vulnerable young people were placed on a medical pathway involving powerful drugs and, in some cases, irreversible surgery. The @rcpch_president subsequently confirmed what many of us had been arguing for years: that these intrusive interventions, some with irreversible consequences, lacked an adequate evidence base.

Medical and political authorities also failed for years to confront what was happening. The most basic principles of responsible clinical care, including careful assessment, curiosity, caution and first do no harm, were subordinated to an approach that treated the belief that medical transition was the answer as something to be affirmed, rather than understood and thought about before any potentially irreversible and damaging action was taken.

That failure may have left some patients with lifelong consequences. It is shameful.

#CassReview #PatientSafety #FirstDoNoHarm #GenderMedicine

[Robin Ion @IonRobin24604]

@stephenRB4 Hardy - Jude the Obscure

[Gordon Brown @GordonBrown]

So enjoyed talking to @bbclysedoucet at the @edbookfest at the Edinburgh Futures Institute - never fail to be inspired by her reporting especially in Afghanistan where we both want to see girl's education restored.

[S Sebag Montefiore @simonmontefiore]

The tyrants of Iran - after massacring 30-40,000 innocent people -are now hanging innocent young people from cranes in public and in secret.
This is one of the great moral tests of our time.
Keep shouting about this. Keep remembering them.

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“The ideal subject of totalitarianism... is people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”

— Hannah Arendt

[Robin Ion @IonRobin24604]

@dan_warrender Many congratulations - very impressive

[Tami 🇮🇱 @roitele1]

“No lo haré. Pueden matarme si quieren.”

Auschwitz, 1943. Una médica francesa permanece firme frente a un grupo de mujeres judías aterrorizadas. A pocos pasos, un médico nazi acaba de dictar una instrucción clara:

“Tendrá que ayudar en los experimentos de esterilización.”

Adélaïde Hautval dirige la mirada hacia aquellas prisioneras. Ellas ya comprenden el horror que se prepara: tortura médica disfrazada de ciencia. Acto seguido, vuelve la vista hacia el oficial y pronuncia una palabra categórica:

“No.”

El silencio se vuelve absoluto. En la atmósfera de Auschwitz, nadie rechaza una orden directa sin arriesgar la existencia misma. Le advierten de inmediato que su negativa puede llevarla al paredón de ejecución.

Sin embargo, Adélaïde no cede. Se niega rotundamente a causar daño a esas mujeres y, contra toda lógica dentro del campo, los guardias no la matan.

¿Cómo terminó una médica francesa en medio de aquel infierno?

Un año atrás, en 1942, Adélaïde viajaba por la Francia ocupada cuando fue detenida al intentar cruzar la línea de demarcación. Durante su arresto, presenció el trato cruel que recibían los prisioneros judíos y protestó abiertamente contra las autoridades.

Aquel gesto de valentía fue visto como un desafío. Las fuerzas de ocupación la clasificaron como “amiga de los judíos”, un rótulo destinado a infundir vergüenza, pero que ella llevó con dignidad.

Fue encarcelada, trasladada por distintos centros de internamiento y, finalmente, en enero de 1943, deportada en un vagón hacia Auschwitz.

Al ser médica, los administradores del campo la asignaron a tareas sanitarias. Sin embargo, no dejaron de poner a prueba su lealtad, exigiéndole participar activamente en las agresiones:

“Participe en los experimentos.”

Adélaïde volvió a decir que no. Una y otra vez.

Durante todo su cautiverio, rehusó colaborar con los procedimientos médicos pseudocientíficos. En su lugar, utilizó su posición para atender a las prisioneras, proteger a mujeres judías en peligro y aliviar el sufrimiento en un entorno diseñado exclusivamente para la destrucción.

Cuando le imponían obediencia, respondía con su conciencia; cuando le exigían complicidad, elegía el riesgo personal. No poseía poder, libertad ni garantías de ver el mañana, pero conservaba un límite moral que se negó a cruzar.

Posteriormente fue enviada al campo de Ravensbrück, donde sobrevivió hasta la liberación en 1945.

Al finalizar la guerra, regresó a Francia y reanudó su profesión, buscando reconstruir su rutina cotidiana. Sin embargo, su voz se volvió imprescindible para la historia.

En 1964, acudió como testigo en un proceso judicial sobre los crímenes médicos perpetrados en Auschwitz. Frente a los intentos por minimizar o negar las atrocidades, Adélaïde se mantuvo firme: ella había estado ahí, lo había presenciado todo y se había negado a formar parte.

En 1965, la institución Yad Vashem la distinguió como Justa entre las Naciones, reconociendo su labor en la protección de prisioneros y el riesgo asumido al resistir.

Adélaïde jamás buscó notoriedad. Mantuvo siempre que solo había cumplido con su deber profesional y humano. Tras el reconocimiento, continuó su labor médica en el área de la psiquiatría, atendiendo a personas que cargaban con las secuelas de la guerra.

La doctora Adélaïde Hautval falleció en 1988, a los 82 años de edad.

Su historia invita a reflexionar: tenía motivos de sobra para ceder. Ya era prisionera, ya estaba marcada y su vida dependía de un régimen dispuesto a erradicarla en cualquier instante. Colaborar no le habría garantizado integridad, mientras que negarse ponía en riesgo su vida.

Aun así, eligió resistir. No en una sola ocasión, sino múltiples veces.

Transformó el único recurso que los administradores requerían de ella —su conocimiento profesional— en una herramienta de protección, dignidad y resistencia.

Adélaïde vivió para ofrecer su testimonio y consolidar la verdad histórica. Continuó su labor curativa durante el resto de sus días.

[David Baines MP @DavidBainesMP]

A working class hero. A gentleman. A leader. An inspiration. Rugby League’s first Knight.

His legend will only grow.

My thoughts are with his family at this desperately sad time.

Rest in peace, Sir Billy Boston.

[Genspect @genspect]

🇳🇿 Genspect NZ conference 17 October. Early bird registration closing 31 Aug. The event will be live streamed. Keynote speaker Dr Stella O’Malley, psychotherapist, author & founding director of Genspect @stellaomalley3 - registration - https://t.co/N8OHMSyVrQ