Cheers Covid-19: Will we consume more alcohol during this crisis?

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Ian Hamilton reflects on the empty shelves in the Supermarket alcohol aisle and wonders how our relationship with alcohol might change during the Coronavirus pandemic.

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Mental disorders and intimate partner violence perpetrated by men towards women

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Anna Sri explores a recent longitudinal study exploring the links between mental disorders and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by men towards women, which finds that many psychiatric diagnoses were associated with an increased risk of IPV.

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Is reading for pleasure in childhood good for your health?

Although an association between reading for pleasure and healthy behaviours was identified, causation is still unclear.

Francesca Bentivegna summarises a recent study of the benefits of reading for pleasure in childhood, which finds an association 3 years later with consuming more fruit and being less exposed to both cigarette and alcohol use.

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The never-ending story: the problematic relationship between youth anxiety and later alcohol use

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Francesca Bentivigna summarises a systematic review that explores the associations of child and adolescent anxiety with later alcohol use and disorders.

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Toombak: A risk factor for oral leukoplakia and cancer

29 September 2013. El Fasher: A trader shows a tray with tombac (chewing tobacco) at the market in El Fasher, North Darfur. Tombac is one of North Darfur’s major cash crops. The traditional markets for tombac include South Sudan, Blue Nile and South Kordofan states. Farmers assure four million people in Darfur are dependent on the cultivation and sale of tobacco. They claim that tobacco had been produced in the region since 1850.  Originally, the production of tombac started in Tombouctou (Mali) and later it was imported to Egypt and Darfur.  Photo by Albert González Farran, UNAMID

This review of the association between toombak use and oral leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma included 8 observational studies suggesting a strong association.

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Prevalence of comorbid personality disorder and alcohol use disorder

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People diagnosed with “personality disorders” are likely to also experience alcohol problems.

Dean Connolly summarises a recent systematic review that confirms the very high prevalence of comorbid personality disorders and alcohol use disorders.

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We know how to reduce premature deaths from co-morbid mental health and substance use problems, so why aren’t we doing anything about it?

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Ian Hamilton looks at a Swedish 42-year follow-up study, which looks at the impact that psychiatric comorbidity can have on premature death in a cohort of patients with substance use disorders.

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Self-harm in older adults: a forgotten group?

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Karen Birnie, Haridha Pandian and Derek Tracy summarise a recent systematic review in the British Journal of Psychiatry on self-harm in older adults.

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Lifestyle training for schizophrenia: STEPWISE fails to make a difference

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Ben Janaway writes his debut elf blog on the STEPWISE RCT which is out today in the British Journal of Psychiatry: Structured lifestyle education for people with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and first-episode psychosis.

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Community action has little impact on harms from alcohol use disorder

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Natasha Clarke explores a systematic review of Whole of Community interventions to reduce population level harms arising from alcohol and other drug use.

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