Should we wait until age 13 before giving our kids a smartphone?

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Two new studies from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development cohort find that the younger a child is when they get a phone, the higher their risk of depression, obesity and insufficient sleep over the following year. For families whose children already have a phone, the most actionable levers are limiting daily use and keeping the device out of the bedroom at night.

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Do prescribed opioids increase self-harm and suicide?

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Study of 3 million Australian adults prescribed opioids, 84% of self-harm events and 81% of suicides didn’t involve opioids. Challenges belief that prescribing increases self-harm risk.

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Physical health side effects of psychotropic medication: holistic prevention and management

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From weight gain to heart rhythm changes, sexual dysfunction to sleep problems — the physical side effects of psychiatric drugs are vast, complex, and often overlooked. This blog distils key insights from a new Lancet Commission published today; to help clinicians and patients make safer, more informed prescribing decisions.

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AWARE and INSPIRE: school mental health trials show mixed results and unexpected harms

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The Education for Wellbeing programme, funded by the Department for Education, was one of England’s largest school-based mental health research initiatives. It included two major trials (AWARE and INSPIRE) testing universal mental health approaches in schools between 2018 and 2024. What did these big studies really find?

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“They referred to one of the consumers as a BPD c**t”: uncomfortable narratives of borderline personality disorder

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Keir Harding looks at an Australian qualitative study that reveals difficult and harmful narratives around people given a diagnosis of ‘borderline personality disorder’.

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Antidepressants and suicide – it’s complicated…

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Rina Dutta and Alina Cuhraja summarise a network meta-analysis on antidepressants, suicidal ideation and suicidal behaviours, which suggests that SSRIs may reduce suicidal ideation in the short-term, but this is not sustained even to week 8 of treatment.

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When care causes harm: a systematic review of adverse experiences in mental health wards

By addressing the full spectrum of adverse experiences, mental health services can make strides towards environments that not only prevent harm but actively contribute to the wellbeing and recovery of individuals in their care.

Jessica Griffiths and Una Foye explore a recent qualitative review of adverse mental health inpatient experiences, which proposes a strategic approach to improving service design and delivery, advocating for environments that prioritise patient safety, dignity and respect.

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Conversion practices: the PRIDE study explores harms experienced in the LGBTQIA+ community

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Vanessa Coeli summarises the PRIDE study on the experiences of conversion practices and mental health symptoms in sexual and gender minority adults in the US.

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Psychotropic medication during pregnancy: new umbrella review finds no convincing evidence of adverse health outcomes for the baby

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Flo Martin summarises a recent umbrella review which finds that we still have limited knowledge about the safety of psychotropic drug use in pregnancy.

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The impact of risk management on recovery in psychiatric hospitals: a patient-centred study

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Sahar Seidl summarises a qualitative study on the ontological insecurity of inattentiveness, which looks at how risk management processes in acute psychiatric care can have a negative impact on patient recovery.

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