Research publications, writing projects & policy contribution
I have contributed to a significant body of work in the fields of mental health research, policy and practice - from international outcome measures and national clinical guidelines to qualitative research and conceptual analysis.
Below is a list of publications - if you need access to any of these, please just drop me an email.
I am highly experienced in providing specialist advice in areas such as writing research grant applications, project supervision, and patient and public involvement. I've also presented my work nationally and internationally, and am happy to be asked to speak at events of provide training. If you would like to collaborate, I am always open to connecting with new ideas.
Publications list
2025
Downs J. (2025) Beyond the methodological binary: coproduction as the third pillar of mental health science. BMJ Mental Health, 28:e301807. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjment-2025-301807
Downs, J. (2025). A shift or a substitution? On naming, exclusion, and co-production in longstanding eating disorders: matters arising from Lubieniecki et al. (2025). Journal of Eating Disorders, 13, 196. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01375-y
Jewell, T., Smith, I., Downs, J., Carnegie, A., Kakar, S., Meldrum, L., ... & Allen, K. L. (2025). Agreeing a set of biopsychosocial variables for collection across the UK Eating Disorders Clinical Research Network: a consensus study using adapted nominal group technique. BMJ mental health, 28(1). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjment-2025-301760
Downs J. (2025). Do we need novel treatments for anorexia nervosa? A patient perspective. The British Journal of Psychiatry. Published online https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2025.10314
Downs, J. and Kelly, C. (2025) ‘Medical management and differential diagnosis of restrictive eating disorders in men: a case study report with co‑produced recommendations’, Journal of Eating Disorders, 13(124).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337‑025‑01250‑w
Downs, J., & Adams, M. (2025). Re-imagining connection: The role of late autism diagnosis in eating disorder recovery and social support. Journal of Eating Disorders, 13(120), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01271-5
Downs, J. (2025). Alternatives to A&E for mental health risk reinforcing a dangerous divide between body and mind. BMJ, 389(0), r1233. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.r1233
Downs, J., & Kelly, C. (2025). Improving understanding, recognition and treatment for men with anorexia nervosa. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 0(0), 1–15.
https://doi.org/10.12968/hmed.2024.0643
Schlegl, S., Hirler, F., Gerich, A., Hojlund, M., Stice, E., Wade, T., Wilfley, D., Downs, J., Voderholzer, U., Perry, J., Haas, V., Solmi, M., & Correll, C. (2025). Comparative efficacy and acceptability of interventions for universal, selective and indicated prevention of eating disorders: Study protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Journal of Eating Disorders, 13(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01244-8
Downs, J. (2025). From laboratory to life: Integrating diverse ways of knowing in mental health science. Brain and Neuroscience Advances, 9(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1177/23982128251327709
Downs, J. (2025). Rethinking patient motivation for more inclusive mental healthcare. Journal of Patient Experience, 12. https://doi.org/10.1177/2374373525132383
Brown, R., Murphy-Morgan, C., Downs, J., et al. (2025). A call for strategy on eating disorders: The need for a comprehensive eating disorder strategy in England and specific guidance for the remote delivery of eating disorder services. Journal of Eating Disorders, 13(54). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01224-y
Quinton, M. L., Shepherd, K. L., Cumming, J., Tidmarsh, G., Dauvermann, M. R., Griffiths, S. L., Reynard, S., Skeate, A., Fernandes, A., Choucair, T., Downs, J., Harrison Dening, K., McDonough, M. H., Mitchell, L., Rhind, D. J. A., & Tresadern, C. (2025). Best practices for supporting researchers’ mental health in emotionally demanding research across academic and non-academic contexts. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 20(1), 246438. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2025.246438
Downs, J. (2025). Furthering the benefits of DBT for eating disorders: A lived experience correspondence on McColl et al. Journal of Eating Disorders, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01216-y
Downs, J. (2025). Eating disorders, dentistry, and the need for shared learning: A lived experience commentary on Gidlund et al. Journal of Eating Disorders, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01189-y
Downs, J., Adams, M., Federici, A., Sharpe, S. L., & Ayton, A. (2025). Equity in eating disorders: A dialectical approach to stigma, expertise, and the coproduction of knowledge. Journal of Eating Disorders, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-024-01176-9
Downs, J. L. (2025). Redefining prevention and early intervention to include longstanding and severe eating disorders. Journal of Eating Disorders, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01203-3
Downs, J. (2025). Beyond cause and consequence: Addressing the complexities of mood disorders and circadian rhythms by including lived experience. Cambridge University Press (CUP). https://doi.org/10.33774/coe-2025-cdzmb
Ayton, A., Downs, J., & Ibrahim, A. (2025). Addressing unmet needs in eating disorders requires systemic change and co‐production: A commentary on Ali et al. (2024). International Journal of Eating Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24377
2024
Downs, J. (2024). Restoring and re-storying the possibility of recovery. The Lancet Psychiatry, 11(10), 794–795. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(24)00283-9
Downs, J. (2024). The body is not just impacted by eating disorders – biology drives them. Trends in Molecular Medicine, 30(4), 301–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmed.2024.02.008
Downs, J. (2024). Whose trauma is it anyway? Creating more equitable mental healthcare in a system that harms. BJPsych Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2024.103
Downs, J. (2024). Not niche: Eating disorders as an example in the dangers of over-specialisation: Commentary, Downs. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 225(4), 462–463. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2024.64
Downs, J. (2024). Care pathways for longstanding eating disorders must offer paths to recovery, not managed decline. BJPsych Bulletin, 48(3), 177-181. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2023.38
Downs, J., Baker, S., & Carnegie, A. (2024). Eating disorders: Meeting the need for a data driven and coproduced response to pandemic disruption. BMJ, 385, q1403. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q1403
Downs, J. L. (2024). Hypervisibility. In C. Nwuba & B. Spin (Eds.), Eating disorders don’t discriminate: Stories of illness, hope and recovery from diverse voices (pp. 171–176). Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Birch, E., Downs, J., & Ayton, A. (2024). Harm reduction in severe and long-standing anorexia nervosa: Part of the journey but not the destination—A narrative review with lived experience. Journal of Eating Disorders, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-024-01063-3
Elwyn, R., Adams, M., Sharpe, S. L., Downs, J., & et al. (2024). Discordant conceptualisations of eating disorder recovery and their influence on the construct of terminality. Journal of Eating Disorders, 12, Article 70. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-024-01016-w
O’Shea, J., Downs, J., & Hudson, L. (2024). Prevalence, severity and risk factors of psychiatric disorders amongst sexual and gender diverse young people during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104524122975
O’Shea, J., Jenkins, R., Nicholls, D., Downs, J., & Hudson, L. (2024). Prevalence, severity and risk factors for mental disorders among sexual and gender minority young people: A systematic review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-024-02552-1
Stewart, A., Combe, G., Moran, P., Yardley, L., Penton-Voak, I., Shackshaft, L., Slater, M., Biddle, L., Bould, H., Chapman, L., Ford, T., Rothwell, E., Downs, J., & Grant, A. (2024). Co-design of a virtual reality café with people with an eating disorder. OSF Registries. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/G3HZK
Viljoen, D., King, E., Harris, S., Hollyman, J., Costello, K., Galvin, E., Stock, M., Schmidt, U., Downs, J., Sekar, M., Newell, C., Clark-Stone, S., Wicksteed, A., Foster, C., Battisti, F., Williams, L., Jones, R., Beglin, S., Anderson, S., Jebarsan, T., Ghuys, V., & Ayton, A. (2024). The alarms should no longer be ignored: Survey of the demand, capacity, and provision of adult community eating disorder services in England and Scotland before COVID-19. BJPsych Bulletin, 48(4), 212–220. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2023.57
2023
Downs, J., Ayton, A., Collins, L., Baker, S., Missen, H., & Ibrahim, A. (2023). Untreatable or unable to treat? Creating more effective and accessible treatment for long-standing and severe eating disorders. The Lancet Psychiatry, 10(2), 146–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(22)00400-X
Austin, A., De Silva, U., Ilesanmi, C., Likitabhorn, T., Miller, I., Sousa Fialho, M. da L., Austin, S. B., Caldwell, B., Chew, C. S. E., Chua, S. N., Dooley-Hash, S., Downs, J., El Khazen Hadati, C., Herpertz-Dahlmann, B., Lampert, J., Latzer, Y., Machado, P. P. P., Maguire, S., Malik, M., … Richmond, T. K. (2023). International consensus on patient-centred outcomes in eating disorders. The Lancet Psychiatry, 10(12), 966–973. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(23)00265-1
Ayton, A., Ibrahim, A., Downs, J., Baker, S., Kumar, A., Virgo, H., & Breen, G. (2023). From awareness to action: An urgent call to reduce mortality and improve outcomes in eating disorders. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 224(1), 3–5. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2023.133
Bartel, H., & Downs, J. (2023). Opening a new space for health communication: Twitter and the discourse of eating disorders in men. In Masculinities and Discourses of Men’s Health (pp. 77–99). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38407-3_4
Branley-Bell, D., Talbot, C. V., Downs, J., Figueras, C., Green, J., McGilley, B., & Murphy-Morgan, C. (2023). It’s not all about control: Challenging mainstream framing of eating disorders. Journal of Eating Disorders, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-023-00752-9
Brooks, H., Devereux-Fitzgerald, A., Richmond, L., Downs, J., et al. (2023). Exploring the use of social network interventions for adults with mental health difficulties: A systematic review and narrative synthesis. BMC Psychiatry, 23, 486. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-04881-y
O’Connor, R. C., Worthman, C. M., Abanga, M., Athanassopoulou, N., Boyce, N., Chan, L. F., Christensen, H., Das-Munshi, J., Downs, J., Koenen, K. C., Moutier, C. Y., Templeton, P., Batterham, P., Brakspear, K., Frank, R. G., Gilbody, S., Gureje, O., Henderson, D., John, A., … Yip, P. S. F. (2023). Gone too soon: Priorities for action to prevent premature mortality associated with mental illness and mental distress. The Lancet Psychiatry, 10(6), 452–464. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(23)00058-5
Richmond, L., Caton, N., Downs, J., Newton, A., Devereux-Fitzgerald, A., & Brooks, H. (2023). Creating positive experiences of involvement in mental health research. The Lancet Psychiatry, 10(3), 220–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(22)00430-8
2022
Downs, J., & Mycock, G. (2022). Eating disorders in men: Limited models of diagnosis and treatment are failing patients. BMJ, 376, o537. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o537
Brooks, H., Devereux-Fitzgerald, A., Richmond, L., Caton, N., Newton, A., Downs, J., Lovell, K., Bee, P., Cherry, M. G., Young, B., Vassilev, I., Rotheram, C., & Rogers, A. (2022). Adapting a social network intervention for use in secondary mental health services using a collaborative approach with service users, carers/supporters, and health professionals in the United Kingdom. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08521-1
Brooks, H., Devereux-Fitzgerald, A., Richmond, L., Downs, J., et al. (2022). Assessing the effectiveness of social network interventions for adults with a diagnosis of mental health problems: A systematic review and narrative synthesis of impact. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 57(7), 907–925. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-022-02242-w
2021
Downs, J. (2021). Please see the whole picture of my eating disorder. BMJ, 372, m4569. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4569
Downs, J. (2021). Wellbeing in the body: Yoga and movement in recovery from eating disorders. Clinical Psychology Forum, 343, 22–26. British Psychological Society.
Downs, J. (2021). Equality and diversity workshop: How can eating disorder services be more inclusive? European Eating Disorders Review, 29(6), E12-E12. Wiley.
Downs, J. (2021). Chapter 1. Being interviewed: The psychiatric assessment as a co-constructed relationship in A Guide to Psychiatric Examination. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Downs, J. (2021). James Downs in the Book of Hope. Bluebird; Main Market edition.
Downs, J., Hopfenbeck, M., Lewis, H., Parker, I., & Schnackenberg, N. (Eds.). (2021). The practical handbook of eating difficulties. Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd.
Downs, J. (2021). Finding the middle ground: Building a life worth living with Dialectical Behaviour Therapy in The practical handbook of eating difficulties (J. Downs, M. Hopfenbeck, H. Lewis, I. Parker, & N. Schnackenberg, Eds.). Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd.
Downs, J., & Smith, L. (2021). What’s sexuality got to do with it? Considering eating difficulties in the LGBTQ+ community in The practical handbook of eating difficulties (J. Downs, M. Hopfenbeck, H. Lewis, I. Parker, & N. Schnackenberg, Eds.). Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd.
Franklin-Smith, M., & Downs, J. (2021). Enacting change: The role of dramatherapy in the treatment of eating difficulties in The practical handbook of eating difficulties (J. Downs, M. Hopfenbeck, H. Lewis, I. Parker, & N. Schnackenberg, Eds.). Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd.
Lewis, H., … & Downs, J. (2021). Disclosure and reasonable adjustments in the workplace in The practical handbook of eating difficulties (J. Downs, M. Hopfenbeck, H. Lewis, I. Parker, & N. Schnackenberg, Eds.). Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd.
Robinson, P., & Downs, J. (2021). The role of the psychiatrist in caring for people with eating difficulties in The practical handbook of eating difficulties (J. Downs, M. Hopfenbeck, H. Lewis, I. Parker, & N. Schnackenberg, Eds.). Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd.
Solmi, F., Downs, J. L., & Nicholls, D. E. (2021). COVID-19 and eating disorders in young people. The Lancet. Child & Adolescent Health, 5(5), 316. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(21)00094-8
2019
Owen-Jones, E., Lowe, R., Lown, M., Gillespie, D., Addison, K., Bayer, T., Downs, J., ... & Butler, C. C. (2019).Protocol for a double-blind placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of probiotics in reducing antibiotics for infection in care home residents: The Probiotics to Reduce Infections iN CarE home reSidentS (PRINCESS) trial. BMJ Open, 9(6), e027513. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027513