What’s the relationship between stressful life events and psychosis?

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Kris Deering considers a 2-year prospective observational study published in the Lancet Psychiatry which found strong links between stressful life events and relapse in first-episode psychosis.

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Genetic risk for schizophrenia is associated with changes in heart structure and function

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Nadine Parker and Ole Andreassen summarise a recent UK population-based cohort study, which looks at the impact of polygenic risk for schizophrenia on cardiac structure and function in over 32,000 people.

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South Asia’s silent struggle: people with severe mental illness suffer high burden of physical illness

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An international group of experts from the University of York CADA Implementation Science Summer School summarise a recent study on the prevalence of physical health conditions and health risk behaviours in people with severe mental illness in South Asia (Bangladesh, India and Pakistan).

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Mapping the trajectory of psychiatric diagnoses: Danish study finds that mental health diagnoses may change over time

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In her latest blog, Dona Matthews summarises a recent publication in The Lancet Psychiatry, which mapped the psychiatric diagnostic trajectories of 184,949 Danish patients over a 10-year period.

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Psychosis and loneliness: overcoming the practical, social and emotional barriers to better relationships

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Hosana Tagomori and Dafni Katsampa review a qualitative study exploring the experience of loneliness among people diagnosed with psychosis.

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Is trauma a transdiagnostic risk for mental health problems? Recent umbrella meta-analysis suggests yes

Mental health services worldwide operate using discrete categories, but significant symptom overlap between different mental health disorders suggests that transdiagnostic approaches may be plausible.

In her debut blog, Megan Bailey summarises an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses on whether psychological trauma can be considered as a transdiagnostic risk factor for mental health disorders.

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Blood-based inflammatory markers in acute vs chronic schizophrenia

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Éimear Foley summarises a recent meta-analysis, which looks at alteration patterns of peripheral concentrations of cytokines and associated inflammatory proteins in acute and chronic stages of schizophrenia.

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People with severe mental health difficulties are more likely to have poor dental health and dental disorders

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Masuma Pervin Mishu summarises an umbrella review on the prevalence of dental disorders among people with severe mental illness.

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Optimal antipsychotic dosing in first-episode schizophrenia: how much is too little, too much, or just right?

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Joe Pierre reports on the first published study exploring the relationship between antipsychotic dose and risk of relapse in first episode schizophrenia, which suggests that standard antipsychotic dosing is best for relapse prevention.

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Uncertainties about stopping or reducing antipsychotics as shared by families

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Amelia Talbot considers a qualitative study that explores family members’ perspectives on reducing or discontinuing antipsychotic medication.

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