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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In her debut blog, Poppy Ellis Logan summarises a longitudinal study which finds rates of ADHD prescription increased in Ireland between 2005 and 2015.
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In her debut blog, Delia Ciobotaru explores a network meta-analysis which finds that psychological treatments are effective in reducing PTSD symptoms experienced by people with complex trauma.
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Deenan Edward and Suhana Ahmed summarise a Scottish study of prescribing for bipolar disorder between 2009-2016, which identified a clear trend towards decreasing lithium use.
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Join us at 2-3pm on Wednesday 18th May for the #UCLJournalClub, which will be live broadcasted on YouTube and live tweeted by the @LearningDisElf
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John Baker summarises a review of commonly prescribed medication that covers seven psychiatric drugs, including antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, methylphenidate and cholinesterase inhibitors.
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Andrew Jones summarises a large Finnish population-based cohort study, which finds that childhood adversities strongly predict the use of psychotropic drugs (such as antidepressants and antipsychotics) in adulthood.
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Amy Green appraises a systematic review of CBT for insomnia (CBTi) in people with comorbid mental illness, which concludes that cognitive behaviour therapy could be an effective alternative to hypnotics. However, concerns about the review methodology cast some doubt on the findings.
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Out in the woodland we are pleased that recent advances in medical care mean that more patients are surviving critical illnesses within intensive care units (ICU). “But what does that have to do with the Mental Elf?” I hear you say. Well, we Mental Elves are wondering whether this advancement in medical technology and technique are actually putting people [read the full story…]
The Scottish Government have published their annual summary of prescribing statistics for mental health drugs. The report shows increases in the prescribing rates for all groups of drugs over the last 12 months. The prescribing costs of some groups of drugs have also risen (ADHD, dementia, depression) although other groups have seen a decline (insomnia [read the full story…]
