Dr Jay Watts
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shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Dr Jay Watts
@shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
10K followers 1.3K following 1.3K posts
Consultant psychotherapist/ disability activist/ bluestocking. Former Lived Experience Worker, future failed poet. Will question ideology for cake ❤️🥄💜🎭🦓🥄🏳️‍🌈

#MadSky #TraumaNotPD #Disability #Neurodivergent #Mad https://t.co/83d2Ztwpp2
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shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Alt text: A cartoon-style illustration shows a man in a turquoise polo shirt on a city street, wide-eyed and pointing frantically at the sky. Floating all around him are dozens of Mercedes and BMW logos, even though no actual cars are visible. A large speech bubble above his head reads, “Motability cars! Motability cars everywhere!!” The image satirises the false belief that disabled people frequently receive luxury cars through the Motability scheme.
October 17, 2025 at 6:56 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Alt text: A protest-style graphic with a bold red background and large white block letters reading “STOP OXEVISION.” Below, black text on a white background reads: “The continued use of Oxevsion is not safe or ethical. Rights abuses are happening right now. The Lampard Inquiry is not due to publish its final report and recommendations until 2027. This is too late. We call on all mental health trusts using Oxevsion to immediately suspend its use on the basis of safety and legality concerns.” — National Survivor User Network (NSUN), October 2025, following evidence from the Stop Oxevsion Campaign at the Lampard Inquiry.
October 17, 2025 at 6:43 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Work coaches do not belong in GP surgeries.
October 17, 2025 at 4:57 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Silly psy cartoon for the weekend!
black-and-white cartoon shows a therapy session. A patient lies on a couch while the therapist sits in a chair taking notes. The caption reads: “It’s not strange at all—lately, a lot of people are reporting that their faith in humanity is riding entirely on whether or not Pedro Pascal is as nice as he seems.
August 30, 2025 at 8:44 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
London, just now.
Handwritten chalk message on a grey pavement slab reads: “It took a lot of pain to be this soft.” followed by the Instagram handle @losinglxve. At the bottom of the image, a pair of white trainers are visible.
August 30, 2025 at 7:10 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Silly psy cartoon for the weekend!
The image is a black-and-white cartoon showing a bull sitting on a couch in a therapist’s office, speaking to a woman therapist who is taking notes. The bull appears frustrated, gesturing with one hand. The therapist is seated across from him with a notepad in her lap. A lamp sits between them. The caption underneath reads: “I mean, I know it’s coming and I think to myself ‘hold it together, man…’ But then he waves that red cape and I just lose it!”
July 20, 2025 at 9:56 AM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
LORDS REVIEW UNIVERSAL CREDIT BILL ON TUESDAY

THE Lords can't stop UC Bill BUT every speech in our support builds legal case and hopefully will encourage support for Baroness Bennett's fab 'motion to regret'.

📧 Please email the template or your version to speaking Lords: shorturl.at/VsJNE
📩 Lords Email Template: Stop the 1-in-9 Scandal Subject: 1.6 Million Disabled People at Risk – Scrutiny of Universal Credit Bill Dear [Peer's Name], I'm a disabled person writing with urgency ahead of the Universal Credit Bill's Second Reading on 22 July 2025. The proposed changes will gut support for 1.6 million disabled people, slashing the health element from £97 to £50 a week for new claimants—those applying for Universal Credit after April 2026—a £2,444 yearly loss plunging hundreds of thousands into poverty, and stripping vital legal safeguards (Labour's 2025 Impact Assessment, DWP). These cuts will mean choosing between food or medication, as poverty spirals into hunger, mental despair, and even suicide (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2024). It really will destroy lives. Only 1 in 9 new claimants who would currently qualify for full Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) support—extra payments for those too ill or disabled to work or prepare for work—will got
July 18, 2025 at 4:02 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Silly psy cartoon for the weekend!
A cartoon showing a dog lying on a therapist’s couch, looking up at the therapist, who is sitting nearby in an armchair with a notepad. The therapist, wearing glasses and a suit, says to the dog: “You only think you’re barking at nothing. We’re all barking at something.
July 13, 2025 at 1:15 AM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Good morning. Yesterday’s vote was devastating and we’re all feeling bruised and burnt. But I’ve never experienced the disability movement so strong in mutual support and solidarity. We’re going to build from this - but first, spoons time. Go gentle on yourselves. Much love - Jay
A row of six colourful plastic spoons arranged vertically on a bright blue background. The spoons vary in size and colour, including purple, orange, dark blue, cream, pink, and light blue.
July 10, 2025 at 5:20 AM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
🇺🇳 BREAKING: The UN is demanding answers from the UK over welfare reforms.

The Universal Credit Bill risks breaching disabled people’s rights—again.

No impact assessment. Cuts called “regression.” Demonising disabled claimants.

Deadline for U.K to respond: 11 Aug
#BinUCBill

LET YOUR MPs KNOW PLS
A letter on United Nations Human Rights letterhead, dated July 7, 2025. The UN Committee requests information from the UK government about the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill and the Pathways to Work Green Paper. It asks for details on impact assessments, effects on disabled people, tightening eligibility for benefits, the risk of poverty, consultation with disabled people, limited scrutiny of the Bill, and public statements portraying disabled people as frauds or burdens. The deadline for the UK to respond is August 11, 2025 Continuation of the UN letter. It recalls previous reports and recommendations, including the 2017 Concluding Observations and the 2016 Inquiry, which found grave and systematic violations of disabled people’s rights. The Committee reminds the UK to carry out cumulative impact assessments, consult disabled people, and ensure reforms uphold human rights. It highlights that little progress has been made to improve the situation The final page of the UN letter. It states that credible information suggests the proposed Bill will deepen regression of disabled people’s rights. The UN Committee requests a response by August 11, 2025, ahead of the Committee’s 33rd session in Geneva. Contact information for the Secretary of the Committee is provided
July 8, 2025 at 5:14 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Here’s alt text you can use for this image: Alt text: Yellow background with bold white and black text. Heading: “Last 24 Hours ✦ To Save UC Health!” Subheading: “We’ve been campaigning for so long. This is the final push.” Text: “If you have any spoons left, please act today:” Then two green checkmark icons with “Tweet your MP” and “Email your MP.” Warning triangle icon followed by: “Don’t gut Universal Credit Health.” Smaller text: “If this passes, hundreds of thousands will lose vital support. One action today can protect hundreds of thousands.” At the bottom, blue link icon and the text: “Template tweets & emails: https://t.co/rMFP6UjBV3.”
July 8, 2025 at 7:16 AM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Silly psy cartoon for the weekend!
A black-and-white cartoon shows a man lying on a couch in a therapist’s office, hands folded anxiously over his chest. Across from him, sitting upright in a chair, is a large dog wearing a vest labeled “THERAPY DOG.” The dog is speaking to the man and says, “We’ll start you off slow, beginning behind the ears, then increase treatment to include head pats, back scratches, then finally, rubbing my belly.” A framed certificate on the wall features a paw print, emphasizing the humorous reversal of roles where the dog is the therapist
July 5, 2025 at 9:58 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
We have a very real chance of getting the UC Health two-tier disaster that remains in the Universal Credit paper dropped. If you haven't already, and have the spoons, please send this email or your own version to your MP. If you do your own, pls mention the amendments👇#BinUCBill tinyurl.com/4ktaftk2
Subject: End Discriminatory Universal Credit Cuts to Disabled People Dear [MP’s Name], The Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) in the Universal Credit and PIP Bill is a crisis, slashing vital support for hundreds of thousands of disabled people. I urge your urgent action before the Third Reading on 9 July 2025. From April 2026, the SCC will cut the health element for new claimants from £97 per week to just £50—a loss of £2,444 a year. Only those with a terminal illness (under 12 months to live) or severe, lifelong conditions will keep the higher rate, protected from inflation. Existing claimants have transitional protection, but new claimants face a cruel divide. The SCC’s discriminatory rules will exclude eight in nine current support group claimants, despite disabling barriers. To qualify for the full £97-a-week health element, claimants must: Meet the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity criteria, proving significant disability. Have a constant, unchanging impair
July 5, 2025 at 5:45 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
A large mural painted on a brick wall depicts the four members of the band Black Sabbath in a purple and blue palette. Each band member is portrayed from the shoulders up with realistic detail, surrounded by stars and cosmic imagery. At the bottom, the words “Black Sabbath” are written in large, gothic-style letters in blue with crosses forming part of the letters. Between the text is a large skull rendered in shades of red and purple. There are various smaller symbols and geometric shapes interspersed throughout the mural. A red car is parked in front on the left side.
July 5, 2025 at 3:53 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Sorry, could we take a moment to register the cruelty of the Shadow Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, Helen Whateley, who has proposed an amendment to the UC & PIP Green Paper excluding from PIP assessment those with “mild depression, anxiety or #ADHD”? Won’t happen, but…
Image description (alt text): A screenshot of a legislative document titled “Committee Stage” dated Monday 7 July 2025. The page shows proposed amendments to the Universal Credit and PIP Green Paper, all tabled by Helen Whately. Amendments shown: 1. Amendment 1 (Clause 5, page 4, line 23): • Inserts new subsections into Regulation 4 of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013. • Subsection (A1) requires that any assessment under paragraph (1) must be carried out by an employee of the Secretary of State. • Subsection (A2) brings this into force one year after the Act is passed. 2. Amendment 2 (Clause 5, page 4, line 23): • Inserts new text specifying that: “C is, however, ineligible for an assessment if C’s mental condition which has caused them to apply for an assessment is **mild depression, anxiety or ADHD.” • This would take effect six months after the Act is passed.
July 4, 2025 at 9:04 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
SEVERE CONDITION CRITERIA

The Green Paper is diminished, but please lobby against the ‘severe condition criteria’—a dangerous, discriminatory UC change that will push new claimants into financial + psychological precarity.

Video cuts off due to Bluesky length but ends: please lobby!

#TakingThePIP
July 4, 2025 at 7:00 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
No one claims disability benefits because they are entitled. Applying is dehumanising and involves not only a stack of evidence that disability is well established, but also intrusive, very often triggering questions about very intimate parts of our lives. I shall be complaining.
A screenshot of an article by Emma Duncan in The Times, published on July 3, 2025, at 7:27pm. The headline reads: “Britain can’t afford this sense of entitlement.” The subheading states: “Boom in disability benefits reflects a society in denial about its precarious financial position.” Underneath is a photo of Emma Duncan, a woman with shoulder-length hair wearing a light-coloured top. The first paragraph begins: “With Personal Independence Payments at the heart of the debacle that has destroyed the government’s authority, I became curious about how to claim them. I found the forms on the government website and a woman on YouTube who says she has been chronically ill for years, has filled them in many times,” followed by more text cut off by the screenshot
July 3, 2025 at 8:29 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn launch new political party!
Sure—here’s clear alt text for the image you shared: ⸻ Alt text: A statement from Zarah Sultana MP with the headline: “Today, after 14 years, I’m resigning from the Labour Party.” She says she and Jeremy Corbyn will co-lead a new party with other Independent MPs, campaigners, and activists. She describes Westminster as broken, with inequality and poverty worsening, and criticises the two-party system for offering only managed decline. She explains she was suspended from Labour for voting to abolish the two-child benefit cap and lift 400,000 children out of poverty, and for voting against scrapping winter fuel payments for pensioners, and that she would do it again. She says the government wants to make disabled people suffer but cannot decide how much. She criticises Labour for failing to improve people’s lives and accuses them of smearing those who oppose genocide in Gaza. She calls the government an active participant in genocide, saying the British people oppose it. She writes, “We are not going to take this anymore,” and argues Britain is “an island that’s suffering,” needing homes and public spending, not elite enrichment and endless wars. She ends by saying: “In 2029, the choice will be stark: socialism or barbarism.” She urges people to join, writing: “Join us. The time is now.” Signed: Zarah Sultana MP MP for Coventry South ⸻ If you’d like, I can also help reformat this as plain text for accessibility.
July 3, 2025 at 7:50 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Er, Angela Rayner has forever lost the trust of disabled people.
A screenshot of an article from The Independent website. The headline reads: “Only Angela Rayner has emerged from the welfare debacle with her reputation intact” Subheading: It took the intervention of the deputy prime minister to persuade the prime minister that the game was up – now some Labour MPs are wondering if she’ll replace him, writes John Rentoul. Published date and time: Wednesday 02 July 2025 15:05 BST Below the text, there are icons to share the article on social media (Facebook, WhatsApp, Email). There is a video ad playing at the bottom, showing three people—two men and a woman—looking at something, with the caption “Claim what’s rightfully yours.” The phone status bar at the top shows
July 3, 2025 at 7:29 AM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
A MESSAGE FOR MPs.

As a consultant clinical psychologist, I must be clear: this Green Paper will cost lives, deepen despair, and worsen inequality. Vote no to #DisabilityBenefits cuts.
June 28, 2025 at 12:57 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Starmer in the press today saying he 'deeply regrets' his warning that uncontrolled immigration risks turning Britain into an 'island of strangers'. He said neither he nor his speechwriting team knew the Enoch Powell speech. How is it possible politicians wouldn’t know that?
Black and white photograph of a sign mounted outdoors among plants and a wooden post. The sign displays the quote by George Santayana in white capital letters: “THOSE WHO DO NOT REMEMBER THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT I
June 27, 2025 at 8:04 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Bit of a coincidence, isn’t it? Labour say too many people are diagnosed with anxiety and depression—then bring in the 4+ rule, which cuts more people with anxiety and depression from PIP than any other group. Almost like the policy matches the prejudice.
A table titled “Volume of PIP claimants in receipt of Daily Living component” lists 19 health condition categories, ranked by the proportion of claimants awarded less than 4 points in all daily living activities. Three columns are shown: 1. Volume of PIP Claimants in receipt of Daily Living component 2. Volume awarded less than 4 points 3. Proportion in each condition group Top entries include: • Back pain: 194,000 claimants, 154,000 with under 4 points (79%) • Arthritis: 279,000 total, 214,000 under 4 points (77%) • Anxiety and depression: 587,000 total, 282,000 under 4 points (48%) • Learning disabilities: 188,000 total, only 7,000 under 4 points (4%) The table highlights a trend where high proportions of people with musculoskeletal and pain conditions are receiving less than 4 points, while much lower proportions are seen in claimants with learning disabilities, autism, psychotic disorders, and ADHD.
June 16, 2025 at 11:08 AM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Silly psy cartoon for the weekend!
Alt text: A black-and-white cartoon shows a therapist sitting in an armchair, taking notes with a serious expression. In front of him is a classic psychoanalytic couch, but instead of a patient lying on top, a pair of legs is sticking out from underneath it, as if someone has fallen and is trapped beneath. A framed diploma on the wall reads “PSYCH.” The therapist, unfazed, says, “That’s interesting – what exactly do you mean by ‘thump’?” The cartoon humorously critiques the therapist’s detached overanalysis in the face of a clear physical mishap.
June 15, 2025 at 5:09 AM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Put another post up on LinkedIn in an attempt to galvanise more health professionals to make noise agaisnt these deadly #DisabilityBenefits cuts. Professionals cannot, via silence, enable Labour to #TakethePIP.
As a disabled person and a consultant clinical psychologist, I am writing—highly unusually for me—on LinkedIn to ask your help in stopping disability benefits cuts. What the government proposes to do with PIP, Universal Credit LCWRA and ESA is not a “reform.” It is an abandonment. It will cost lives, force people deeper into poverty, and destabilise those who are just about holding on. PIP isn’t a luxury. It helps people eat, stay warm, stay clean, work, get to hospital appointments, and hold any kind of dignity. It also unlocks vital support for unpaid carers—many of whom are disabled themselves. Universal Credit's LCWRA 'support group' helps ensure that those who would be at 'substantial risk' of a deterioration in their health, or risk to life, aren't pressured by 'claimant commitments' to work. But now, over a million people could lose that help—and the government keeps pointing to alternative options which, as a consultant, I can tell you just aren’t there. We are already seein
June 14, 2025 at 5:36 PM
shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
Yes, I take my Matcha with a teddy bear.
Yes, I don’t do age-appropriate.
Alt text: A hand holding a dark green takeaway coffee cup with a green straw. On the straw is a bear-shaped macaron or biscuit, with chocolate detailing for the ears, eyes, and nose. The cup has branding on it that reads “KARUTO COFFEE” and features a small bear illustration. The background is a wood-paneled wall with soft lighting. The person has a pink-tipped manicure.
June 14, 2025 at 9:51 AM