Raphael Underwood reports on the findings of a recent RCT of group body psychotherapy for negative symptoms of schizophrenia, which finds that body psychotherapy did not have a clinically beneficial effect on reducing emotional withdrawal or improving social functioning.
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Ian Anderson on a recent diagnostic accuracy meta-analysis, which shows that the Whooley questions for depression are effective at ruling out the condition, but that false positives are common.
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Marcus Munafo considers the implications of a recent Swedish population study, which explores patterns of non-random mating within and across 11 major psychiatric disorders.
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John Baker summarises an updated Cochrane review on ‘as required’ PRN medication regimens for seriously mentally ill people in hospital, which finds no randomised controlled trials that support this widely used intervention.
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Matt Field presents new evidence on the risks and benefits of nalmefene in the treatment of adult alcohol dependence, which casts further doubt over the controversial recommendations made by NICE and the European Medicines Agency.
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Mark Monaghan writes his debut Mental Elf blog about a systematic review on psychological and psychosocial interventions for cannabis cessation in adults. Part of our #CannabisMatters series, this review suggests that CBT and Motivational Interviewing may improve outcomes in a self-selected population of cannabis users.
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Ian Hamilton presents the findings of a recent Cochrane review, which finds that despite the large number of cannabis users seeking treatment, we still know relatively little about the best psychosocial interventions for cannabis use disorder.
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Dave Steele appraises a systematic review that reports music therapy combined with standard therapies is effective for treating depressive symptoms in older adults. He’s unconvinced by these claims and would like a bit more harmony in the evidence-base before striking up the band.
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Emily Currell writes her debut Mental Elf blog about a recent Lancet Psychiatry systematic review, which reports that childhood maltreatment is associated with an unfavourable course of bipolar disorder in adult years.
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Mandy Johnstone writes her debut Mental Elf blog on a recent Nature study, which identifies a set of genetic variations that are strongly associated with the risk of developing schizophrenia.
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