The NICE guideline for depression in children and young people was published way back in September 2005. Any elf worth his salt will tell you that a whole heap of evidence has been published since then, so it’s good to see an evidence update appear this week from NICE, which brings together research published from 17th [read the full story…]
I wonder if the timing of this publication was planned to be so close to the release of DSM-5, but this debut guidance on social phobia (now known as social anxiety disorder) is certainly going to ruffle some feathers. It fuels the discussion about the medicalisation of human personality traits and some will see it [read the full story…]
Depression is such a widely known issue now that it barely needs introduction. It’s something we Elves have covered with interest, looking at the effectiveness of various treatments, like psychotherapy, medication and exercise. For older adults though, there remains a somewhat hazy picture of what treatments work best. Most of the evidence base for the [read the full story…]
The CoBalT trial was published last week in the Lancet. This important randomised controlled trial (RCT) examined the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as an add-on treatment to usual care for people with treatment resistant depression. Previous studies have shown that only around one third of people with depression respond well to treatment with [read the full story…]
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a condition that is usually associated with obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviour. It’s one of the most common mental health problems in young people, with an estimated 5% of children and teenagers suffering from the chronic condition. Studies have shown that SSRI antidepressants and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) are both [read the full story…]
Children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are often prescribed antidepressant drugs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors – SRI), but many only partially respond to this treatment. This randomised controlled trial conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, examined the effects of augmenting the antidepressant medication with cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). The trial was quite [read the full story…]
Research shows that using antidepressants (serotonin reuptake inhibitors, SRIs) to treat obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in young people is sometimes problematic. Patients often do not respond to the drugs and so other therapies are necessary to augment the treatment. One such therapy is CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). This 12-week randomised controlled trial took 124 paediatric [read the full story…]
