Mental health campaigner Becki Luscombe killed herself at psychiatric unit in Sparkhill

A mental health campaigner who convinced supermarkets to withdraw offensive Halloween ‘mental patient’ costumes from their stores killed herself at a psychiatric unit, an inquest has found.

Work by Rebecca Luscombe, known as Becki, went national in 2013 when she successfully started a Twitter campaign which resulted in the outfits being taken off supermarket shelves.

‘Now food is for more than consoling myself’: cooking for mental health

It’s not so much “you are what you eat”, but it’s now acknowledged that choosing the right kinds of foods can inspire a positive change in mental health. It is thought that 20% of the brain consists of naturally fatty acids such as omega-3 and omega-6, for instance. Blood sugar levels and caffeine intake have long since been known to affect mood, while low levels of B vitamins have been found to exacerbate the symptoms of schizophrenia.