Is anxiety a gateway to other mental health problems? Comorbidities with depression and other anxiety disorders

Results from the current study largely replicated findings from the NESDA dataset in demonstrating that those with comorbid anxiety and/or depression have more severe presentations that anxiety or depression alone.

Nina Higson-Sweeney summarises a study using data from the UK-based GLAD and COPING NBR cohorts to investigate factors associated with anxiety disorder comorbidity with anxiety and depression.

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How can we provide integrated care for people with co-occurring addiction and severe mental health problems?

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Akansha Naraindas considers a new review which offers insights to support the evaluation and restructuring of services for people with comorbid severe mental problems and substance use conditions.

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Mental health service pathways for children and adolescents with depression: do we have the data?

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In her debut blog, Emiliana Tonini summarises a recent study exploring the healthcare pathways of children and adolescents seeking support for depression, from referral through to discharge.

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The healthcare cost of multimorbidity in people with mental health diagnoses in Denmark

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Kitty Saunders and Silke Vereeken explore the individual and population level healthcare costs of multimorbidities in people with at least one mental health diagnosis in Denmark.

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Genetic risk for schizophrenia is associated with changes in heart structure and function

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Nadine Parker and Ole Andreassen summarise a recent UK population-based cohort study, which looks at the impact of polygenic risk for schizophrenia on cardiac structure and function in over 32,000 people.

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Smoking and bipolar disorder: the physical and mental health impact of tobacco cessation

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Hannah Walsh explores the clinical and research implications of this French cohort study on bipolar disorder and smoking status, and how risks differ for current, former and never smokers.

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Parental mental illness a key risk factor for offspring mental illness: new evidence from Australia

The prevalence of developmental vulnerabilities in children increased with the number of parental comorbidities, with overall stronger associations for mothers compared to fathers.

Francesca Zecchinato summarises a new study which suggests that children of parents with experience of mental illness comorbidities represent a vulnerable population and should be prioritised in prevention and intervention efforts.

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Addressing premature mortality in mental illness: the “Gone Too Soon” framework

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Alvin Richards-Belle and Humma Andleeb review the Gone Too Soon framework, published yesterday in The Lancet Psychiatry, which suggests priorities for action to prevent premature mortality associated with mental illness and mental distress.

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People with severe mental health difficulties are more likely to have poor dental health and dental disorders

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Masuma Pervin Mishu summarises an umbrella review on the prevalence of dental disorders among people with severe mental illness.

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Does a diagnosis of severe physical illness elevate suicide risk?

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Dona Matthews reviews a retrospective cohort study of 47 million people exploring the risk of suicide after diagnosis of severe physical illness, such as low-survival cancers, chronic ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and degenerative neurological conditions such as Huntington’s disease.

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