The great unknown? Assessing suicide risk in trials of psychological interventions for depression

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Derek de Beurs explores a meta-analysis which finds that randomised controlled trials of psychological interventions for depression rarely report assessments of suicide.

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Keep on movin’… Even small doses of physical activity can lower our risk of depression

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Elli Kypraiou considers a systematic review published in JAMA Psychiatry, which suggests that relatively small doses of physical activity were associated with substantially lower risks of depression.

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Risk factors for depression relapse while on long-term maintenance antidepressant treatment

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In her debut blog, Asha Ladwa discusses a secondary analysis of data from the ANTLER trial, which investigated the clinical factors associated with relapse in primary care patients on long-term maintenance antidepressants.

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Using the highs to combat the lows: ketamine-assisted therapy for anxiety and depression

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In her debut blog, Gabrielle Williams reviews a US study on the safety and effectiveness of ketamine-assisted therapy (a digital intervention combining psychotherapy, journaling and ketamine) for moderate to severe anxiety and depression.

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Long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression: not cost-effective compared to treatment as usual

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In her debut blog, Ella Tuominen considers the Tavistock Adult Depression Study (TADS), which evaluated the cost-effectiveness of long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy for treatment resistant depression compared to treatment as usual.

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Everyday discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic: the toll on mental health

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A group of UCL MSc students summarise a US study on the association of everyday discrimination with depression and suicidal ideation during the pandemic.

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Psilocybin for ‘treatment-resistant depression’: an island of hope in an ocean of uncertainty?

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In this blog, UCL MSc students consider an RCT published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which suggests that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy may help reduce depression in people with severe and enduring illness, but side effects are common and more research is needed to look into longer term effects.

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Parents’ depression can be linked to children’s emotional difficulties

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Lisa Lloyd summarises a new paper in the BJPsych, which focuses on parental depression symptoms in both mothers and fathers, and how they are linked with emotional difficulties in their children.

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Detection of depression in primary care settings in low- and middle-income countries

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Lucy Barrass considers a systematic review exploring the detection of depression in primary care settings in low- and middle-income countries.

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Is cognitive behavioural therapy the best we’ve got for depression?

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Camilla Babbage and Maria Loades summarise the largest meta-analysis to date on the effectiveness of CBT for depression.

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