Childhood bullying and mental illness in young adulthood

The risk of psychotic experiences was found to be increased for both self-reported bullies and victims at age 8 and 10.

Jasmin Wertz appraises a recent Finnish cohort study, which explores how different forms of children’s bullying involvement are associated with mental illness and use of specialised psychiatric services in young adulthood.

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What factors can ameliorate cognitive ageing?

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Raluca Lucacel summarises a systematic review of individually modifiable risk factors to ameliorate cognitive ageing. The study included Mediterranean diet, Tai Chi, Soy isoflavones, B Vitamins and Vitamin D.

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Biological pathways, antipsychotics and schizophrenia

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Murtada Alsaif summarises a small cohort study that uses shotgun mass spectrometry proteomic profiling to unravel the molecular pathways involved with antipsychotic response in people with schizophrenia.

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Psychosocial suicide prevention in youth: is the evidence strong enough?

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Rachel Upthegrove appraises a recent systematic review of psychosocial suicide prevention for youth, which leaves her calling for better evidence to support investment in universal school-based interventions.

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Does QOF reduce hospitalisation for people with severe mental illness?

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Andres Fonseca appraises a regression analysis looking at the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) and the impact it has on psychiatric admissions in people with severe mental illness.

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Can MDMA and compassionate imagery therapy help increase self-compassion?

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Paul Christiansen reports on a small naturalistic experimental study of MDMA (Ecstasy) and compassionate imagery therapy to increase self-compassion and reduce self-criticism. He concludes that existing UK drug laws make this a challenging environment in which to create an evidence base.

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Mindfulness-based interventions in primary care: absent but successful

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Ioana Cristea appraises a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of mindfulness in primary care. She finds that the evidence is insufficient to draw any reliable conclusions about the actual effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in primary care settings.

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Top mental health blogs in 2015

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André Tomlin presents his review of 2015, the year when the Mental Elf came of age. He highlights our top mental health blogs, showcases the #WeCATS and #ElfCampfire activities and explains how the new National Elf Service website can help you engage more with relevant and reliable research.

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Can social networking alleviate loneliness in later life?

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Farhana Mann appraises a cross-sectional survey of social networking site usage, loneliness and mental health in community-dwelling older adults.

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Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)

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Sally Adams summarises a meta-analysis of specialty substance use disorder services following brief alcohol intervention, which finds a lack of evidence for SBIRTs despite the widespread public health support for this type of programme.

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