Psychiatric disorders: what’s the significance of non-random mating?

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Marcus Munafo considers the implications of a recent Swedish population study, which explores patterns of non-random mating within and across 11 major psychiatric disorders.

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Perinatal mental health difficulties: does the internet have the answer?

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Jane Iles summarises a recent systematic review of digital interventions for perinatal mental health, which highlights a mixed bag of heterogeneous studies in this field.

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Cannabis and mental illness: it’s complicated!

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Suzi Gage considers the findings of a big new US cohort study, which investigates the relationship between cannabis use and various substance use, mood and anxiety disorders.

The blog also features a podcast interview with Suzi Gage talking about this new study and her own work in this field, plus a short conversation with Ian Hamilton highlighting his forthcoming #CannabisMatters event.

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Implementation intentions: helping people achieve their goals

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Alan Underwood highlights a new meta-analysis, which suggests that people with mental health problems can benefit if they are prompted to form if-then plans, which specify when, where and how they will achieve their goals.

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Virtual reality as a treatment for persecutory delusions

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Suzanne Dash considers the findings of a promising new small randomised controlled trial, which aims to reduce delusional conviction in people with schizophrenia who experience persecutory delusions.

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The harms of psychotherapy: are BME and LGBT communities more at risk?

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Keith Laws and Samei Huda mull over a recent national survey looking at patients experiences of the harms of psychotherapy. The study reports that both black and minority ethnic people and lesbian, gay and bisexual people reported higher rates of long-lasting negative effects of psychotherapy.

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Psychotherapy for people with learning disabilities: the views and experiences of IAPT practitioners

Psychological therapists and occupational therapists were not included in this qualitative study of 27 mental health staff, which is a shame.

Reed Cappleman critiques a recent study of IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Treatments) practitioners’ experiences of providing therapy to people with intellectual disabilities.

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Collaborative care for depression: acceptable, effective and affordable

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Ben Hannigan writes his debut blog on the CADET cluster RCT, which investigates the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of collaborative care for depression in UK primary care.

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Personality disorders, IAPT treatment and recovery from depression and anxiety

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Mark Smith reviews a recent prospective cohort study, which considers the impact of comorbid personality problems on response to IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) treatment for depression and anxiety.

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Will it hurt? Chronic pain and psychological functioning

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Kirsten Lawson examines a recent meta-analysis of psychological functioning in people living with chronic pain. She discovers that anxiety is more common than depression in people with chronic pain and that practitioners should prioritise psychological functioning when caring for patients suffering from chronic pain.

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