Medication for generalised anxiety disorder: new network meta-analysis

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A group of UCL Masters Students summarise a recent network meta-analysis of drug treatment for generalised anxiety disorder, which finds that Venlafaxine, Pregabalin, Escitalopram and Duloxetine are all viable alternatives to Benzodiazepines.

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Poor school attendance and anxiety: what’s the link?

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Lucinda Powell summarises a recent systematic review about the association between anxiety and poor attendance at school, which suggests links between anxiety and unexcused absences/truancy, and school refusal.

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Medical cannabis for mental illness: current use is not supported by research #MHQT

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As we prepare for our Cannabis #MHQT event on Wed 26 Sep, Luke Sheridan Rains dissects a narrative review that asks: Is cannabis treatment for anxiety, mood, and related disorders ready for prime time?

His answer is that current evidence does not support the use of medical cannabis for mental illnesses such as anxiety or depression.

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Transdiagnostic and disorder-specific anxiety disorder treatments have equivalent treatment effects #TransDX2018

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Jill Newby and Peter Norton blog an RCT on the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders compared with diagnosis-specific protocols for anxiety disorders.

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CBT for anxiety: new meta-analysis confirms significant improvements to target symptoms

CBT plus taper is effective at reducing benzodiazepine use in the short term (3 months) but this effect is not sustained at 6 months.

Inês Pote summarises a recent meta-analysis of randomised placebo-controlled trials of cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety and related disorders.

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IAPT: does improved access lead to increased complexity?

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Mark Smith presents the early findings of the PROMPT naturalistic cohort study, which looks at the clinical characteristics of patients assessed within an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service.

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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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Lifetime prevalence of anxiety disorders in people with bipolar disorder

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Alan Underwood appraises a recent meta-analysis that finds anxiety disorders are three times more common in people with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

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Experience sampling and ecological momentary assessment for studying anxiety disorders

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Alan Underwood publishes his debut Mental Elf blog on a narrative review of experience sampling and ecological momentary assessment for studying the lives of people with anxiety disorders.

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