The Social Psychiatry Research and Interest Group is devoted to research, action and knowledge translation that can improve the lives of people with mental health issues. In pursuance of this task, much of our work revolves around two related concepts, recovery and stigma. The overall mission of the Social Psychiatry Research and Interest Group is to conduct research and take action that ultimately promotes recovery and diminishes stigma. Our work aims to help all people who suffer from mental health issues, but in recent years much of our work has focused on groups who under-utilize mental health services, including (i) immigrants; (ii) military veterans; and (iii) men.

Recovery

We have conducted numerous externally funded studies examining recovery from mental illness, with a focus on barriers and facilitators. Our research suggests that recovery is much more than traditional clinical notions of symptom remission, with recovery better framed as a process rather than an outcome. Our research suggests that factors such as employment, education, rewarding social relations, religion/spirituality and contributing to society are key facilitators of recovery. Contrariwise, barriers to recovery include unemployment, financial strain and stigma.

Stigma

Much of our research indicates that stigma is the single most important barrier to recovery for people with mental health issues. It directly reduces their quality of life and psychological well-being. Stigma is often based on misperceptions, myths and inaccurate stereotypes. Our research suggests that stigma can be reduced through various methods, including educating the public and key stakeholders, as well as empowering people with mental illness. We continue to work with journalists and the media in various projects to improve coverage of suicide and mental illness.

Rob Whitley is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry (McGill University) and a researcher at the Douglas Research Centre. He is also a Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé Distinguished Research Scholar, and an Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

He is particularly interested in research that can help promote recovery, reduce stigma and prevent suicide. He has published over 150 academic papers on these topics, and he is the author of several books including Men’s Issues and Men’s Mental Health (Springer, 2021) and La santémentale au masculin – Notions essentielles (Robert Laffont, 2024)

Whitley is the founding director of RADAR Mental Health, a well-established collective of videographers with lived experience of mental illness. RADAR has created documentaries and videos for a variety of different organizations on topics including suicide prevention, stigma reduction and mental health recovery promotion. Additionally, Whitley has written over 100 mental health related articles for lay audiences in national and international media including the Globe & Mail, the National Post and La Presse.

He has also collaborated with parliamentarians from diverse countries including Canada, Spain and the UK to help develop mental health policy. He has given expert testimony to Committees of the Canadian Senate and the UK House of Commons, and has presented his research at the European Parliament. In 2022, he was awarded the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medallion for “service to Canada”.

Whitley has a special interest in research that can be used to improve mental health in the Caribbean and Latin America. Indeed, he has successfully collaborated with researchers in Jamaica, Chile and Mexico to advance understandings in those jurisdictions. To this end, his new book La salud mental del varón: aspectos socioculturales en el mundo actuel (Psimatica, 2024) was recently released in Spanish.

Whitley is open to the supervision of students, who should send him a letter of inquiry, CV and university transcript(s)

FRQ-S Chercheur-Boursier Mérite (2023-2027)
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medallion (2022)
FRQ-S Chercheur-Boursier Senior (2019-2023)
FRQ-S Chercheur-Boursier Junior 2 (2016-2019)
CIHR New Investigator Award (2011-2016)
FRSQ Chercheur-Boursier Junior 1 (2011-2015)
Leverhulme Trust Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2003-2005)
U.K. Medical Research Council Ph.D. Scholarship (1999-2002)

PhD Students

• Justin Muthaih

Medical Students & Residents

• Eliana Rohr
• Adam Caplin

Research Staff

• Juliette Careau
• Karen Arias Escobar

Consultants and collaborators

• Malka Reich
• Lara Antebi
• Derreck Roemer
• Richard Dirrado
• Stanley Chase
• Juan Pablo Carrasco Picazo
• Mario Aguiló

Key publications

1. Whitley R (2024) La santé mentale au masculin : notions essentielles. Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, France.
2. Whitley R (2024) La salud mental del varón en la cultura actual. Editorial Psimática, Madrid, Spain.
3. Rohr E, Jarvis GE, Antebi L, & Whitley R (2024) “Sheltered and secure”: facilitators and barriers towards recovery for Haredi Jewish women with mental illness. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal.
4. Rohr, E., & Whitley, R. (2024). Into the looking glass on cultural and religious competent care: optimizing healthcare for Haredi individuals with mental illness. The International Journal of Whole Person Care, 11(1S), S19-S20.
5. Whitley, R., Jarvis, E., Le Blanc, M. N., & Rohr, E. (2023). Barriers and facilitators towards recovery and health service utilization among Haredi Jews with mental illness. European Psychiatry, 66(S1), S344-S345.
6. Whitley R (2023) Männerthemen und psychische Gesundheit von Männern, Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland.
7. Whitley R & Saucier AM (2023) An analysis of media coverage of the transition from military to civilian life, with a focus on health and well-being. Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health 9(4): 111-121.
8. Carrasco JP, Saucier AM, & Whitley R (2023) Spanish media coverage of youth mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Psychiatry 23(1): 579.
9. Grandón P, Fernández Vega D, Sánchez Oñate, A A, Vielma Aguilera A V, Villagrán Valenzuela L, Vidal Gutiérrez D, Inostroza Rovengno C & Whitley R (2022) Mental disorders in the media: A retrospective study of newspaper coverage in the Chilean press. International Journal of Social Psychiatry 68(7):1351-1362.
10. Lewis SP, Kenny TE, Pritchard TR, Labonte L, Heath NL & Whitley R (2022) Self-injury during COVID-19: Views from university students with lived experience. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 210(11): 824-830.
11. Whitley R (2021) Men’s Issues and Men’s Mental Health: An Introductory Primer. Springer, New York, NY.
12. Whitley R, Sitter K C, Adamson G & Carmichael V (2021) A meaningful focus: Investigating the impact of involvement in a participatory video program on the recovery of participants with severe mental illness. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 44(1): 63-69.
13. Ibrahim A & Whitley R (2021) Religion and mental health: A narrative review with a focus on Muslims in English-speaking countries. BJPsych Bulletin 45(3): 170-174.
14. Whitley R & Zhou J (2020) Clueless: An ethnographic study of young men who participate in the seduction community with a focus on their psychosocial well-being and mental health. PLOS ONE 15(2): e0229719.
15. Whitley R, Sitter K C, Adamson G & Carmichael V (2020) Can Participatory Video reduce mental illness stigma? Results from a Canadian action-research study of feasibility and impact. BMC Psychiatry 20(16).
16. Whitley R, Fink D S, Santaella-Tenorio J, & Keyes K (2019) Suicide mortality in Canada after the death of Robin Williams, in the context of high-fidelity to suicide reporting guidelines in the Canadian media. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 64(11): 805-812.
17. Whitley R, Shepherd G & Slade M (2019) Recovery colleges as a mental health innovation. World Psychiatry 18(2): 141-142.
18. Boucher M-E, Groleau D & Whitley R (2019) Recovery from severe mental illness in Québec: The role of culture and place. Health & Place 56: 63-69.
19. Affleck W, Thamotharampillai U, Jeyakumar J, & Whitley R (2018) ‘If one does not fulfil his duties, he must not be a man’: Masculinity, mental health and resilience amongst Sri Lankan Tamil refugee men in Canada. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 42(4): 840-861.
20. Affleck W, Carmichael V & Whitley R (2018) Men’s mental health: Social determinants and implications for services. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 63(9): 581-589.