Life after leaving hospital: when does a duty of care end?

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Sally McManus writes her debut elf blog on a recent national cohort study of multiple adverse outcomes following first discharge from psychiatric care, which finds that mental health inpatients are more likely to experience all types of adversity after leaving hospital.

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Higher doses of antidepressants “not optimal”, according to new review

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Jonathon Tomlinson considers his options as a GP supporting people with depression and complex needs, after reading a new systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis, which suggests that higher doses of antidepressants bring maximum side effects with only marginal gains.

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Antidepressant withdrawal: slower and lower tapering of SSRIs

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A group of UCL Masters Students summarise a recent personal view by Mark Horowitz and David Taylor about tapering of SSRI treatment to mitigate antidepressant withdrawal symptoms.

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Daily skunk cannabis use associated with a 5-fold increase in psychosis risk

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Luke Sheridan-Reins explores a recent paper on the contribution of cannabis use to variation in the incidence of psychotic disorder across Europe.

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Improving care for people with bipolar disorder: meeting unmet needs

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Leela Sathyaputri and Jess Fiedorowicz write their debut elf blog on a narrative review of the recent bipolar disorder literature entitled: “Areas of uncertainties and unmet needs in bipolar disorders: clinical and research perspectives”.

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Compulsory detention under the Mental Health Act: significantly more likely if you come from a BAME or migrant group

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Ian Cummins explores a recent international systematic review and meta-analysis, which highlights ethnic variations in compulsory detention under the Mental Health Act.

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Smoking cessation for people with severe mental illness? “Oh yes they can!” SCIMITAR+

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David Shiers and Peter Byrne summarise the new SCIMITAR+ trial out today in The Lancet Psychiatry, which evaluates a bespoke smoking cessation intervention for people with severe mental illness.

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Community supported discharge service for teenagers leaving psychiatric hospital

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Robyn Murphy summarises an RCT that compares the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an intensive community supported discharge service versus treatment as usual for adolescents with psychiatric emergencies.

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Hope for recovery: REFOCUS-PULSAR recovery training in specialist mental health care

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Simon Bradstreet welcomes the positive findings of the REFOCUS-PULSAR trial, which evaluated recovery-oriented practice training in specialist mental health care.

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Compulsory Community Treatment does not reduce readmissions or length of stay in hospital

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John Baker explores a systematic review of compulsory community treatment to reduce readmission to hospital and increase engagement with community care in people with mental illness.

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