Antidepressants for bipolar depression: weighing up the benefits and harms

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Murtada Alsaif considers a recent systematic review on the safety and efficacy of adjunctive second-generation antidepressant therapy with a mood stabiliser or an atypical antipsychotic in acute bipolar depression.

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Does taking antidepressants during pregnancy harm the child? Here are the facts

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Ian Jones summarises a number of studies that consider the benefits and harms of antidepressants during pregnancy, including a recent cohort study that found that exposure to antidepressants in the womb is associated with a modest increased risk of speech and language disorders.

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Time to stop prescribing antidepressants to young people with depression?

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Andrew Shepherd considers the implications of a recent network meta-analysis of the efficacy and tolerability of antidepressants for children and adolescents with depression.

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The side-effects of antipsychotics: let’s systematically assess, discuss and act! #NPNR2016

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A live blog published at the 22nd International Network for Psychiatric Nursing Research conference in Nottingham.

Written by John Baker, Lucy Brazener, Wendy Cross, Vanessa Garrity, Andrew Grundy, Cher Hallett, Ben Hannigan, Elaine Hanzak and Alan Simpson.

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Adding antidepressants to antipsychotics in schizophrenia: do they work, for what, and are they safe?

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Alex Langford explores the emerging findings from a recent meta-analysis looking at the efficacy and safety of antidepressants added to antipsychotics for people with schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like psychosis.

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Have the EAGLES landed? Safety of varenicline, bupropion and NRT in smokers with and without mental illnesses

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Paul Christiansen presents the results of the EAGLES RCT into the neuropsychiatric safety and efficacy of varenicline, bupropion, and nicotine patches in smokers with and without psychiatric disorders.

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Acupuncture for mild cognitive impairment: rubbish in, rubbish out

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Edzard Ernst shines a light on the unfounded claims presented in a meta-analysis published today on acupuncture for amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

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ITI-007 for schizophrenia

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Murtada Alsaif summarises a recent 4-week long phase II randomised controlled trial of ITI-007 for the treatment of schizophrenia, which contains some positive results for this novel intervention.

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People’s experiences of taking antidepressants

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Alison Faulkner reflects on the findings of a qualitative study from New Zealand that explores users’ diverse experiences of taking antidepressants.

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Do prompts help sustain engagement with digital interventions?

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Sarah Knowles considers the findings of a recent systematic review looking at the effectiveness of prompts to promote engagement with digital interventions.

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