The COVID-19 pandemic is harming our mental health, and it’s affecting some more than others

When interpreting the results from this study, the recruitment method and representativeness of the sample need to be considered.

In his debut blog, Christian Dalton-Locke reviews a recent longitudinal (online survey) study, which looks at mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research finds that women, young adults, those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, and people with pre-existing mental health problems were affected worse than others.

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Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for action for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic mental health #AntiRacistMHResearch

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Today, following the #AntiRacistMHResearch webinar (11/5/21) on Achieving Equity in Mental Health Research with Dr Lade Smith, we publish the full version of a letter written by Dr Smith and colleagues to The Lancet Psychiatry last year.

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Race, ethnicity, and disparities in mental health experiences and outcomes #AntiRacistMHResearch

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As we prepare for the next instalment in our “How to be an anti-racist mental health researcher” webinar series, Kam Bhui considers research ethics and how we must disrupt and transform mental health research if we are serious about tackling inequalities and racism.

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Psychotic disorders among migrants and minority ethnic groups in Europe: a rising and concerning incidence

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Aggelos Stamos reviews findings from the multi-national EU-GEI study on the incidence of psychotic disorders among migrants and minority ethnic groups in Europe.

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Not all wealth is health: how does parental wealth affect children’s cognitive ability, mental and physical health?

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Vishal Bhavsar reviews a cohort study which finds that greater parental housing wealth was associated with fewer emotional and behavioural problems in children.

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Social security? Evidence about benefits and mental health

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Andy Bell summarises a collection of recent academic research papers that have sought to understand the impact of a range of changes to the UK benefits system on people’s mental health.

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Who do we help after an opiate overdose?

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Ian Hamilton reviews a recent US study exploring the incidence of treatment for opioid use disorder in people following a non-fatal opiate overdose.

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Mental health and benefits insecurity

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Consultant psychiatrist Dr Dieneke Hubbeling critically analyses a recent study looking at mental health benefits insecurity, and concludes that it is important for clinicians to realise that there is probably no such thing as benefits security.

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The ‘syndemics’ theory: a better explanation for ethnic disparities in the incidence and prevalence of psychosis?

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Today Bibire Baykeens looks into ethnic disparities in psychotic experiences explained by area-level syndemic effects; a brand new paper in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

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Poverty causes mental illness and vice versa: how can we end this vicious cycle?

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Andy Bell summarises a new international report that presents the causal links and mechanisms of action between poverty, anxiety and depression.

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