Racial disparities in bipolar disorder diagnosis and treatment: time to talk about racism

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Syeda Akther writes her debut elf blog on a recent review looking at racial disparities in bipolar disorder treatment and research. She argues that we need to start having serious conversations about racism that go beyond unconscious bias.

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Compulsory detention under the Mental Health Act: significantly more likely if you come from a BAME or migrant group

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Ian Cummins explores a recent international systematic review and meta-analysis, which highlights ethnic variations in compulsory detention under the Mental Health Act.

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The impact of racism on mental health

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Alison Faulkner considers a recent report on racism and mental health by the Synergi Collaborative Centre, which covers the impact of interpersonal racism, the multidimensional nature of disadvantage, structural disadvantage and mental illness, and pathways to mental health care.

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

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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.

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Lifestyle training for schizophrenia: STEPWISE fails to make a difference

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Ben Janaway writes his debut elf blog on the STEPWISE RCT which is out today in the British Journal of Psychiatry: Structured lifestyle education for people with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and first-episode psychosis.

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Preventing mental illness, at long last

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Peter Byrne, the Public Mental Health lead at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, welcomes a new BMA report entitled: “Tackling the Causes – promoting public mental health and investing in prevention”.

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Police killings and the mental health of black Americans

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Ian Cummins provides the context and perspective to consider the implications of a population-based, quasi-experimental study of police killings and their spillover effects on the mental health of black Americans.

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Physical health inequalities in primary care

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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.

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The burden of mortality and morbidity carried by marginalised populations

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Noortje Uphoff appraises a systematic review and meta-analysis of morbidity and mortality in homeless individuals, prisoners, sex workers and individuals with substance use disorders in high-income countries.

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

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

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