Bariatric surgery can help improve depression, says new meta-analysis

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Emily Stapley reports on a new JAMA meta-analysis, which finds that mental illnesses such as depression and binge eating disorder are common among patients seeking and undergoing bariatric surgery.

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Smoking and chronic mental illness: what’s the best way to quit or cut down?

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Meg Fluharty considers the findings of a BMJ State of the Art review, which looks at the evidence for smoking cessation in people with chronic mental illness such as schizophrenia, unipolar depression, bipolar depression, anxiety disorders and PTSD.

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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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The scars of modern slavery: trafficked people with severe mental illness

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Yesterday was #AntiSlaveryDay, so today we are publishing a blog by Mina Fazel who considers the findings of an historical cohort study in the Lancet Psychiatry, which explores the characteristics of trafficked people with severe mental illness.

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Is exposure necessary to treat PTSD?

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Rachel Brand appraises an RCT of interpersonal psychotherapy for PTSD, which asks if exposure to trauma related memories or cues is necessary for the patient to be treated effectively.

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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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Trauma-focused psychotherapies for PTSD in people with experiences of psychosis: A change in the status quo?

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Clinical Psychologist and Researcher Rachel Brand publishes her debut blog on a recent RCT of Prolonged Esposure vs Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing vs Waiting List for patients with PTSD and psychosis.

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Pharmacotherapy for PTSD: an update on the evidence finds some efficacy but small effect sizes

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Patrick Kennedy-Williams summarises a recent systematic review of pharmacotherapy for PTSD, which compares antidepressants with placebo for post-traumatic stress disorder. [Please note: this blog was amended on 7/5/15].

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Psychotherapy for UK military veterans: demographics and clinical outcomes

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Mark Smith reports on a study of psychotherapy for UK military veterans, using an IAPT service, which focuses on the demographic characteristics and clinical outcomes of early service leavers and veterans.

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Mental health therapy for refugee and asylum seeking children: a small evidence base for a big problem

Refugees face a substantially higher risk of psychotic disorders compared to non-refugee migrants [see previous blog].

Laurence Palfreyman considers the very small and mixed evidence base of mental health interventions for refugee and asylum seeking children presented in a well conducted systematic review from last year.

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