One of the criticisms that health professionals sometimes make of evidence-based research is that individual studies or reviews do not apply to the specific patient they are caring for. Of course, each patient is unique with their own values and preferences, as well as their own particular clinical characteristics, genetic make-up, biological markers and sociodemographic [read the full story…]
Young people with mental health problems often suffer from comorbidity, i.e. a complex mix of different conditions like depression, anxiety and conduct problems. Clinical research very often investigates specific treatments (e.g. CBT) for single disorders (e.g. depression) and guidelines and manuals are then developed for clinicians to help them treat these individual conditions. The problem [read the full story…]
Following the media coverage of the NHS statistics published last week that reported a large rise in antidepressant prescribing, Martin Brunet (a GP from Surrey and author of the excellent Binscombe Doctor Blog) has written an opinion piece that explores the positive and negative aspects of this complex story: “Are GPs prescribing antidepressants too readily?” [read the full story…]
The largest annual rise in prescriptions was seen in antidepressants according to figures published this week by the NHS Information Centre. 46.7 million prescriptions for antidepressants were dispensed in 2011, a rise of 3.9 million on 2010. This equates to a rise of 9.1% in the 12 month period, which is similar to that seen [read the full story…]
There is an increasing body of evidence showing that depression and anxiety are linked with other health conditions like cancer and cardiovascular disease. I’ve blogged about the link between depression and stroke, and there are a number of other studies that show an association between psychological distress (the symptoms of depression and anxiety) and mortality, [read the full story…]
Antidepressants and psychotherapies are the mainstay for treating depression, but another option is the benzodiazepine drug alprazolam, which is recommended for treating depression when anxiety is also involved. Some doctors prescribe a short course of benzodiazepines to help depressed and anxious patients, but this is not supported by NICE guidance. High-potency tranquillisers like alprazolam are [read the full story…]
Computerised cognitive behavioural therapy is a popular topic for research at the moment. We’ve seen a number of systematic reviews and large scale trials published over recent years, but the vast majority focus on adults with depression, so it’s hard to know how applicable the results are to adolescents. Of course, most young people are [read the full story…]
This week in The British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers in Norway have published results from their randomised controlled trial studying the effects of vitamin D on depressive symptoms in otherwise healthy adults. The study, directed by Dr Marie Kjaergaard and a team of doctors out of the University Tromsø in Norway, found that vitamin D [read the full story…]
Citalopram (brand names: Cipramil and Celexa) is an antidepressant drug in the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It was one of the first SSRIs to come onto the market over 20 years ago and is available as tablets and as oral drops that are taken in a juice drink. There are lots of antidepressants [read the full story…]
It seems logical that people who work long hours and have a stressful job are more likely to suffer from depression, yet epidemiological studies that have investigated the links between long working hours and depression have reported inconsistent findings. The Whitehall II prospective cohort study followed nearly 3,000 British staff from across 20 civil service [read the full story…]
