Turn on, or tune out? Is psilocybin assisted therapy close to becoming a first-line treatment for depression?

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James Rucker and Sameer Jauhar summarise a recent RCT on the effectiveness of psilocybin assisted therapy versus escitalopram assisted therapy for major depressive disorder.

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Could a decision support tool help to guide mental health treatment in primary care?

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Linda Gask reviews a recent randomised controlled trial on the clinical efficacy of a Decision Support Tool (Link-me) to “guide the intensity of mental health care in primary practice”.

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Care farms: can they help with depression, anxiety and quality of life?

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In her debut blog, Sophie Large appraises a recent Campbell systematic review exploring the impact of care farms on quality of life, depression and anxiety among different population groups.

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Self-stigma and depression amongst sexual minorities: can mindfulness help?

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Brendan Dunlop summarises a recent Chinese cross-sectional study, which looks at how mindfulness may be useful in reducing self-stigma and depressive symptoms in lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

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New evidence on treatments for symptoms of depression in dementia

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Andrew Sommerlad appraises a recent review on the efficacy of interventions for depression in people with dementia, which identified several non-drug treatments that can have a meaningful effect on depressive symptoms in dementia.

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Neurodevelopmental conditions and mental health research: it’s time to #EmbraceComplexity!

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In her debut blog, Suzi Sapiets summarises a review exploring psychological treatment of depression in young people with neurodevelopmental conditions, which finds very limited evidence to help neurodiverse individuals. She also tells us that it’s time to #EmbraceComplexity and encourages people to join the Embracing Complexity Research Network.

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COVID-19 impact on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families and professionals supporting them

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A group of MSc students from UCL provide an empirical summary of the evidence exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with intellectual disabilities, their families and the mental health professionals supporting them.

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NHS-recommended e-therapies for depression, anxiety and stress: promising but limited

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Natalie Berry summarises a meta-analysis which finds a limited body of research exists to support the use of NHS e-therapies for depression, anxiety and stress.

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The COVID-19 pandemic is harming our mental health, and it’s affecting some more than others

When interpreting the results from this study, the recruitment method and representativeness of the sample need to be considered.

In his debut blog, Christian Dalton-Locke reviews a recent longitudinal (online survey) study, which looks at mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research finds that women, young adults, those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, and people with pre-existing mental health problems were affected worse than others.

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Multimorbidity: does depression predict the onset of physical illness?

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Lydia Poole reviews a recent Canadian study examining depression as a risk factor for physical illness and multimorbidity in a cohort with no prior comorbidity.

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