Psychotropic medication in pregnancy: new evidence may help achieve a safe balance

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Joanne Wallace considers a recent health technology assessment on the risks and benefits of psychotropic medication in pregnancy, which supports previous associations between valproate and adverse child outcomes.

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Smokescreen: smoking in the movies and initiation of smoking in adolescents

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Sally Adams on a new systematic review and meta-analysis which suggests that smoking imagery in films may increase the risk of smoking initiation in young people.

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Perinatal mental health difficulties: does the internet have the answer?

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Jane Iles summarises a recent systematic review of digital interventions for perinatal mental health, which highlights a mixed bag of heterogeneous studies in this field.

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Cannabis and mental illness: it’s complicated!

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Suzi Gage considers the findings of a big new US cohort study, which investigates the relationship between cannabis use and various substance use, mood and anxiety disorders.

The blog also features a podcast interview with Suzi Gage talking about this new study and her own work in this field, plus a short conversation with Ian Hamilton highlighting his forthcoming #CannabisMatters event.

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Implementation intentions: helping people achieve their goals

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Alan Underwood highlights a new meta-analysis, which suggests that people with mental health problems can benefit if they are prompted to form if-then plans, which specify when, where and how they will achieve their goals.

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Antipsychotics for treatment-resistant schizophrenia

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Murtada Alsaif summarises a recent network meta-analysis, which looks at the efficacy, acceptability and tolerability of antipsychotics for treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

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Virtual reality as a treatment for persecutory delusions

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Suzanne Dash considers the findings of a promising new small randomised controlled trial, which aims to reduce delusional conviction in people with schizophrenia who experience persecutory delusions.

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Searching for solutions: a new brief intervention for comorbid substance misuse in acute psychiatric inpatients

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Ian Hamilton presents the findings of a recent pilot randomised trial of a brief intervention for comorbid substance misuse in psychiatric inpatient settings.

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Web-based guided self-help can prevent or delay major depression

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Ioana Cristea is impressed by a large German randomised controlled trial published yesterday in JAMA, which shows web-based guided self-help to be effective in preventing or delaying the onset of major depression.

This blog also features a podcast interview with the lead author of the research, Professor Pim Cuijpers.

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Prognosis of brief psychotic episodes

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Samei Huda presents the findings of a new meta-analysis, which explores the prognostic significance of competing ways of defining and measuring brief psychotic episodes.

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