Minimum unit pricing policy for alcohol saved lives in Scotland according to new research

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Ian Hamilton reviews a new controlled interrupted time series study published in The Lancet evaluating the impact of alcohol minimum unit pricing on deaths and hospitalisations in Scotland.

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Trans and gender diverse youth more likely to be admitted to hospital for suicidality and self-harm, according to US study

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Sarah Carr reflects on a recent US study that “perhaps tells us something deeper about the discrimination and stigmatisation in mental health that needs to be tackled.”

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Waiting for the verdict: service user experiences of Mental Health Act assessment

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Elena Opie considers a qualitative study exploring the experiences of vulnerable individuals being assessed under the Mental Health Act.

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Low intensity treatments for self-harm or suicidal behaviour: what’s the harm in trying?

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Millie Witcher and Sarah Rowe appraise a randomised controlled trial on the effect of low-intensity treatments for self-harm among people with suicidal ideation, which has some important findings.

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Long-acting injectable antipsychotics: more effective than oral medications at preventing hospitalisation and relapse in schizophrenia according to new review

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Joseph Pierre appraises a recent meta-analysis on long-acting injectable antipsychotics compared to oral antipsychotic medication for the maintenance treatment of schizophrenia.

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Involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation in children and young people: who is at higher risk?

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Alice Wickersham summarises a recent review exploring the clinical and social factors associated with involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation. The review finds that intellectual disability, psychosis, risk of harm to self and/or others, Black ethnicity, and older adolescence were strong predictors of involuntary versus voluntary hospitalisation in children and young people.

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‘The Expert’ and ‘The Patient’: analysing Parliamentary debates on the 2007 Mental Health Act

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Alison Faulkner writes about a discourse analysis of the House of Commons’ debates regarding the 2007 Mental Health Act, which is very relevant to the current White Paper consultation on the Reform of the Mental Health Act.

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Play in the pandemic

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Helen Dodd summarises a recent rapid review of the impact of quarantine and restricted environments on children’s play and health outcomes.

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Fluoride varnish for caries prevention in pre-school children

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This review of the effectiveness of fluoride varnish in reducing the risk of new caries in primary teeth included 20 studies suggesting modest effects in pre-school children.

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Antipsychotic efficacy measured by real-world observational study

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Tracey Roberts examines whether a retrospective observational study accurately investigates the effectiveness of second and first generation antipsychotics.

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