Niamh Dooley explores a retrospective study of ‘real-world’ data on young people’s use of general practitioners for mental health support.
[read the full story...]What can GP records tell us about mental health throughout childhood?
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Antidepressant withdrawal or depression relapse? International guidelines on antidepressant discontinuation are unclear
Adele Framer summarises a systematic review which finds that major guidelines on antidepressant discontinuation only give clinicians vague guidance on distinguishing withdrawal from relapse.
[read the full story...]Substance use is higher and more excessive in transgender people: evidence, limitations and gaps
Ivan Ezquerra-Romano summarises a systematic review looking into the prevalence of substance use among transgender people compared to their cisgender counterparts.
Today we also announce the launch of a new survey that will help us understand alcohol use in UK transgender and non-binary people.
[read the full story...]Prescription drug misuse in women: US review inconclusive
Rob Poole writes his debut elf blog on a recent systematic review of trends in prescription drug misuse among women, which finds a mixed and complex picture with few conclusive findings.
[read the full story...]The US opioid crisis: quantifying the impact
Emma Wincup examines a recent US cross-sectional study that measures the burden of opioid-related mortality in the United States, which suggests that opioids (prescribed and illicit) could kill nearly half a million people across America over the next decade.
[read the full story...]Non-medical use of prescription drugs #NonMedicalDrugs
Ian Hamilton and Julia Buxton from the University of York preview the #NonMedicalDrugs event that will take place in York on Friday 16th March 2018.
The meeting will bring together people who can offer personal and professional insights of the extent of the issue and how we can support people who develop problems.
[read the full story...]Off-label antidepressants: limited evidence to support their use
John Baker reports on Canadian study looking at prescriptions of off-label antidepressants in primary care, which concludes that when antidepressants were used outside of their licence, there was usually not strong evidence supporting the respective indication.
[read the full story...]NICE one? Is NHS guidance on substance misuse fit for purpose?
Ian Hamilton explains why the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have missed a trick by not updating their 2007 guidance on psychosocial interventions for substance misuse.
[read the full story...]US policy on prescription drug abuse: tackling an unique and significant problem
The fact that drug overdoses are the second largest cause of premature death from unintentional injuries in the US (for example, in 2010 there was 38,329 drug overdose deaths) is not a surprising statistic. What may surprise readers is that of these deaths 22,134 were attributed to prescription drugs. Indeed, almost one and a half [read the full story…]
Psychiatric drugs make up a bigger proportion of all prescription costs than they did a decade ago
There continues to be a considerable amount of debate about the amount of psychiatric medication that is prescribed and how much it costs. Statistics from a number of countries have shown that many classes of drugs are being prescribed more and more, including antidepressants, antipsychotics and stimulants. Of course, as populations grow, people live longer [read the full story…]