Smoking cessation for people with severe mental illness? “Oh yes they can!” SCIMITAR+

stop-4036139_1280

David Shiers and Peter Byrne summarise the new SCIMITAR+ trial out today in The Lancet Psychiatry, which evaluates a bespoke smoking cessation intervention for people with severe mental illness.

[read the full story...]

Pregnancy and bipolar disorder: international prescribing consensus?

Pregnant woman with drugs

Dean Connolly looks at an international study which asks: Is there consensus across evidence-based guidelines for the psychotropic drug management of bipolar disorder during the perinatal period?

[read the full story...]

Physical activity participation in severe mental illness: one step closer? #ClosingTheGapSMI

rist-art-345630-unsplash

Suzan Hassan writes her debut elf blog on a recent research paper that highlights the factors associated with regular physical activity participation among people with severe mental illness.

Today sees the launch of the new Closing The Gap Network in York. Follow #ClosingTheGapSMI on Twitter for live updates throughout the day.

[read the full story...]

Digital interventions for psychosis or bipolar disorder: we don’t know very much at all

bogdan-glisik-780672-unsplash

Mark Brown mulls over a new systematic review on factors affecting the implementation of digital health interventions for people with psychosis or bipolar disorder, and their family and friends.

[read the full story...]

Physical health inequalities in primary care

list-not-equals

Andy Bell from Centre for Mental Health and the Equally Well UK collaborative, calls for action in response to the Public Health England briefing on severe mental illness and physical health inequalities.

[read the full story...]

Medical cannabis for mental illness: current use is not supported by research #MHQT

sharon-mccutcheon-798864-unsplash

As we prepare for our Cannabis #MHQT event on Wed 26 Sep, Luke Sheridan Rains dissects a narrative review that asks: Is cannabis treatment for anxiety, mood, and related disorders ready for prime time?

His answer is that current evidence does not support the use of medical cannabis for mental illnesses such as anxiety or depression.

[read the full story...]

Panic disorder in people with bipolar disorder: very common, but treatment options limited

40933137154_a00a57d606_k

Tobias Rowland writes his debut elf blog on a recent systematic review and meta-analysis, which finds that panic disorder is highly prevalent in people with bipolar disorder, but there are very limited treatment options.

[read the full story...]

Poorer cardiovascular screening, diagnosis and management if you have a mental illness

nick-fewings-532590-unsplash

Joanne Wallace summarises a systematic review that highlights disparities in the management of cardiovascular risk factors in people with mental illness.

[read the full story...]

Sexual function matters to people living with serious mental illness

bryan-apen-567698-unsplash

Rudiger Pittrof and Elana Covshoff from SHRINE (Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, Inclusion and Empowerment) explore a recent review, which looks at the impact of severe mental disorders and psychotropic medications on sexual health and its implications for clinical management.

[read the full story...]

How valid are hospital psychiatric diagnoses?

equalizer-2818803_1280

Vishal Bhavsar explores a recent study that uses data linkage to electronic patient records to assess the validity of selected mental health diagnoses in English Hospital Episode Statistics.

[read the full story...]