Andrew Jones reports on a recent systematic review and network meta-analysis of the efficacy and tolerability of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in severe mental illness, which finds a promising but low quality result for bupropion and varenicline.
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Caroline Leah publishes her debut blog on crisis care for people with mental health issues, which concludes that better quality evidence is needed to support the overall effectiveness of crisis care interventions.
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Joanne Wallace considers a recent health technology assessment on the risks and benefits of psychotropic medication in pregnancy, which supports previous associations between valproate and adverse child outcomes.
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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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John Baker presents a systematic review of preferences for medication-associated outcomes in mental disorders, which concludes that we just don’t know what value mental health service users place on the different outcomes that come from taking psychiatric medication.
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Emily Stapley reports on a recent study of the timing of general population and patient suicide in England. She discovers that Springtime, Mondays and New Year’s Day are all associated with peaks in suicide incidence.
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Murtada Alsaif considers the challenges facing psychiatrists in diagnosing bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder. He reports on a recent qualitative study that explores the practical experience of psychiatrists and nurses and concludes that clinical diagnostic practice cannot reliably distinguish the two conditions.
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John Baker is struck by the lack of evidence for crisis intervention for people with severe mental illness, highlighted by a recently updated Cochrane systematic review.
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Guy Goodwin reviews a new paper in the Lancet Psychiatry by Jauhar, McKenna and Laws, that calls into question the trustworthiness of the NICE bipolar disorder guidance.
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Michael Ostacher considers the findings of the CEQUEL trial, which asks: Does lamotrigine treat bipolar depression when added to quetiapine, and does adding folic acid help any more?
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