The University of Birmingham partnered with mental health charity Mind in Camden to develop new resources addressing hearing voices and suicidality. These materials, including a short film and a practical booklet, challenge stigmatized assumptions about these experiences and were co-created with people with lived experience.

According to the project leaders, hearing voices “is not always harmful and can sometimes be an adaptive response to distress.” The resources encourage supporters to prioritize “listening, curiosity and understanding” rather than imposing assumptions about what someone else’s experience means.

“When hearing voices and suicidal thoughts both happen together, this anxiety can intensify and cause panic,” said Professor Lisa Bortolotti, who worked on the project. Fiona Malpass, a collaborator on the resources, added: “Being able to co-create resources rooted in lived experience…has been an important step towards challenging stigma.”

The booklet recommends reframing questions, opening conversations without assumptions, and balancing safety with autonomy when supporting someone who hears voices or has suicidal thoughts. The project draws on a broader body of research examining what the researchers describe as the “obstruction of expertise” that people with lived experience of mental health conditions can face when their own understanding of their experiences is dismissed by professionals and supporters, published in the journal JME Practical Bioethics.

Journal: JME Practical Bioethics
DOI: 10.1136/jmepb-2026-000169
Article Title: Obstruction of expertise performance as epistemic injustice: the case of lived-experience experts in mental health