The 2010/11 British Crime Survey reported that levels of lifetime partner abuse were 27% in women and 17% in men. The survey concluded that women experience more domestic violence than men and the abuse is more severe and prolonged in women. The Home Office is planning to redefine domestic violence in the coming months, to [read the full story…]
Dear readers, I’m going to be busy delivering festive cheer to all and sundry over the next few days, so won’t be posting any blogs now until the New Year. As you relax with your mince pies and mulled wine, spare a thought for us elves galavanting around. We’ve only got little legs! I’d like [read the full story…]
I look at a lot of databases, journals, websites and feeds to find the evidence that goes into the Mental Elf. There are about 500 separate sources in total and I sift through 200-300 items each day to find the single golden nugget of evidence that I highlight. You can read more about this process [read the full story…]
Greetings pop pickers! In this pre-Xmas week, it’s time to take stock and consider the most popular blogs on the Mental Elf in 2012. These are the movers and shakers, chosen by you (the readers) as you’ve clicked your way around the site: Here is the evidence for exercising if you are depressed (11 Jun [read the full story…]
The reduced life expectancy (15-20 years less) often faced by many people with schizophrenia is frequently a result of cardiovascular disease. Lifestyle choices (smoking, lack of exercise and poor diet) can increase the risk of these diseases, but people who take antipsychotic drugs often have the additional problem of weight gain that is caused by [read the full story…]
This article originally appeared on the Binscombe Doctor blog on 14 Dec 2012 and is reproduced with kind permission from Dr Martin Brunet. There’s an old joke about a Pastor and an Evangelist going on a bear hunt. Once they have arrived at their log cabin hunting lodge the Pastor starts to unpack their supplies [read the full story…]
Back in 2010, NICE published an updated edition of their schizophrenia guideline, to guide the treatment and management of patients with schizophrenia in primary and secondary care. The National Schizophrenia Audit is a new initiative led by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and involving 8 other partner organisations including various professional membership organisations and 2 [read the full story…]
People who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often have nightmares that relive the experience and these can sometimes be as terrifying as the original trauma. These nightmares can be very difficult to treat effectively as there are few options available. A team of researchers from the Mayo Clinic have published a systematic review that [read the full story…]
Nearly a year ago I blogged about a promising but small RCT, which showed that Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy may help young children with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The blog generated a fair bit of feedback from readers and so I’ve been on the look out ever since for a systematic review that brings [read the full story…]
The CoBalT trial was published last week in the Lancet. This important randomised controlled trial (RCT) examined the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as an add-on treatment to usual care for people with treatment resistant depression. Previous studies have shown that only around one third of people with depression respond well to treatment with [read the full story…]
