Do antipsychotics slow down thinking? New evidence from healthy volunteers

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New research reveals how antipsychotic medications affect working memory speed in healthy adults, providing crucial insights into the cognitive side effects of these widely prescribed drugs.

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Treating ADHD, preventing harm: can medications help with non-core ADHD symptoms?

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ADHD medication associated with reduced rates of suicide, substance misuse, transport accidents and criminality in Swedish study of 148,581 people.

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Mental health admissions to medical wards: 65% increase in a decade for young people

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Mental health admissions to acute medical wards rose 65% for young people in England (2012-2022), with eating disorder admissions up 515% and anxiety admissions doubling in 10 years. Self-harm admissions accounted for more than half of the total. Adolescent girls by far the biggest group affected.

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“It’s not all in your head”: Sexual assault raises risk of functional somatic disorders

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Sexual assault survivors face six-fold increased risk of multiorgan functional somatic disorder (unexplained physical symptoms like chronic pain and fatigue).

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Cardiovascular screening for people with severe mental illness: still missing the full picture

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Only 35% of people with severe mental illness received all six cardiovascular risk factor checks within one month in this UK primary care study. Financial incentives temporarily increased comprehensive screening but effects were uneven and short-lived. Young men of non-White ethnicity were most likely to miss screening, highlighting persistent inequalities.

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Internet-delivered CBT for depression: real-world evidence shows similar benefits to face-to-face therapy

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This Finnish study of 5,834 healthcare records found therapist-guided internet CBT showed similar depression improvements to face-to-face therapy, providing real-world evidence beyond selective RCT populations.

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Trauma and homelessness: Can we address the impacts of trauma without ensuring the home?

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This co-produced systematic review of 27 studies found that homelessness involves traumatic experiences affecting mental health, substance use, and leading to desensitisation. However, lived experience reviewers question whether the findings are new knowledge and critique the limited scope, inadequate explanation of co-production processes, and failure to address housing policy as the root cause of homelessness.

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Consensus reached on the meaning of relapse in schizophrenia, or is it?

Variability in relapse definition make comparison across studies harder

A systematic review and Delphi study creates a new consensus statement on the meaning and measurement of relapse in schizophrenia, but until voices of lived experience are more fully engaged, there remains some way to go in reaching a valid consensus.

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Is depression a cause or consequence? Using genetics to untangle causal relationships

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This study used Mendelian randomisation to test potential causal relationships between depression and 137 traits. Depression liability was linked to somatic diseases, inflammation, suicide risk, insomnia, lower cognitive function and functional impairments, though findings require validation.

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Mental health impacts of sexual violence in older adults: a qualitative study

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This qualitative study interviewed 15 older adults (aged 70+) who had experienced sexual violence during their lifetimes. Participants reported anxiety, guilt, shame, disrupted identity and interpersonal distrust, yet most did not associate mental health difficulties with their trauma.

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