The antidepressant effects of ketamine are confirmed by a new systematic review and meta-analysis

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Helge Hasselmann summarises a new systematic review and meta-analysis, which confirms the antidepressant effects of ketamine.

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Medication versus placebo for anorexia nervosa: antidepressants, antipsychotics and hormonal therapy

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In her debut blog, Nicola Coop summarises a recent meta-analysis looking at the use of antidepressants, antipsychotics and hormonal therapy for people with anorexia nervosa.

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Antidepressant withdrawal syndromes: time to grasp the nettle?

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Andrew Shepherd appraises and summarises a systematic review of antidepressant withdrawal symptoms after SSRI discontinuation, which leads him to reconsider his own clinical practice.

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Pharmacotherapies for reducing cannabis dependence

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Kathryn Walsh reports on a recent Cochrane systematic review of pharmacotherapies for cannabis dependence, which concludes that there is a lack of evidence for all medications reviewed.

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ECT for depression in the elderly

Depression and anxiety are quite common in people with dementia and mild cognitive impairment.

Andrew Shepherd reports on a post-hoc analysis of pre-existing trial data, which does little to convince him that ECT is a safe and effective treatment option for older people with severe depression.

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Childhood adversity linked to psychotropic drug use in later life

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Andrew Jones summarises a large Finnish population-based cohort study, which finds that childhood adversities strongly predict the use of psychotropic drugs (such as antidepressants and antipsychotics) in adulthood.

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Helping people with depression return to work

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Meg Fluharty reports on a new Cochrane review of interventions to improve return to work in depressed people. The review finds moderate quality evidence for a range of work-directed and clinical interventions that can help people with depression return to work.

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Folic acid for depression: results of the FolATED study

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Susie Johnson reports on the FolATED RCT and economic evaluation of folic acid for depression. The study finds no evidence that folic acid is clinically effective or cost-effective in augmenting antidepressants and speculates instead that methylfolate may be a better candidate for future research.

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Medication for the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder

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Elena Marcus summarises a recent network meta-analysis published in The Lancet of the comparative efficacy and tolerability of medication for the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder.

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Collaborative care for depression: psychological interventions, alone or in combination with medication, offer additional benefits

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Ioana Cristea reviews a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of collaborative care for depression, looking to identify factors predicting improvements. The study finds that collaborative care successfully improves both patient outcomes and the process of care for depression.

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