Antidepressant withdrawal or depression relapse? International guidelines on antidepressant discontinuation are unclear

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Adele Framer summarises a systematic review which finds that major guidelines on antidepressant discontinuation only give clinicians vague guidance on distinguishing withdrawal from relapse.

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Mental health apps for people in crisis: helpful or harmful?

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Wouter van Ballegooijen summarises a review of the ‘best apps’ for mental health, which finds very little support for people experiencing a mental health crisis.

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Reducing loneliness and social isolation in migrants and ethnic minorities: new insights on interventions

Hannah Cocker and Ross Nedoma summarise a recent review which explores loneliness and social isolation in migrants and ethnic minorities.

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How can psychedelics treat mental illness? #PsilocybinMedicine

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Catherine Bird writes her debut elf blog on a recent opinion review by Robin Carhart-Harris entitled: How do psychedelics work?

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Preventing mental health problems: what can we do?

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Josefien Breedvelt explores a brand new review looking at preventive strategies for mental health problems, published yesterday in The Lancet Psychiatry.

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The burden of musculoskeletal disorders

Reviewing the burden of musculoskeletal disorders

This blog is a review of the global and regional prevalence, disability and overall burden and costs for common musculoskeletal disorders including low back and neck pain, hip and knee osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout and other conditions.

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What do acute mental health nurses do?

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John Baker considers the findings of a recent meta-synthesis of research looking at the role of acute mental health nurses from the perspective of the nurses themselves. He concludes that, whilst this viewpoint is important, it’s also vital that we consider what service users think nurses should provide.

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Art therapy for schizophrenia: an effective add-on treatment?

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The MATISSE trial in 2012 concluded that group art therapy did no better than standard care at improving symptoms for people with schizophrenia. A new critique of that RCT from the British Association of Art Therapists says the therapy can be more useful.

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No evidence that behavioural therapies are any better than other psychological therapies for depression

Depression is a big problem.  In fact, it’s the third leading cause of disease burden worldwide (WHO, 2004 – as cited in Shinohara et al, 2013) and the largest source of nonfatal disease burden in the world (Ustun, 2004 – as cited in Shinohara et al, 2013).   What’s more, the number of people affected by it [read the full story…]

New report about supporting people with schizophrenia back into the labour market

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Back in November 2012, the Schizophrenia Commission reported that people with schizophrenia are being badly let down by the health and social care system and by the employment market. The final report of the commission (I blogged about it here) concluded that people with schizophrenia face a lifespan 15-20 years shorter than the general population and [read the full story…]