CBT for depression in primary care: gold standard, or one option among many?

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Does CBT really outperform other treatments for depression in primary care settings? A recent systematic review suggests patients may have more options than we think.

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Skin-picking as self-soothing: is emotion regulation the missing piece?

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A systematic review (of mostly cross sectional studies) explores whether difficulties regulating emotions play a role in skin picking disorder, and what this could mean for treatment.

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Can sleep and activity changes really predict mania in bipolar disorder?

A pair of open eyes lit but surrounded by darkness.

Alyson Dodd reports on a year long study of digital mood monitoring in people with bipolar disorder, which suggests that sleep and activity changes precede hypomanic episodes by three days. This data could be a useful clinical tool, but more research is needed.

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Is behavioural activation cost-effective for depression in older adults?

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Olga Lainidi summarises a recently Dutch RCT which asks: is behavioural activation a more cost-effective and accessible alternative to primary care treatments for older adults with depression?

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Violence against older people is strongly associated with poor mental health #16DaysOfActivism2024

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Sophie Carlisle explores the prevalence of violence against older people and how this relates to mental health. This is the third blog in our #16DaysOfActivism2024 series.

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Trauma affects how refugees feel about themselves and others, but how can clinicians help?

Person looking at the mirror. Abstract concept for psychological and personal traits like behavioral mindset, self esteem, confidence, identity and more. Editable Clip Art.

UCL MSc students consider a longitudinal study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, which explores the underlying cognitive mechanisms that could explain the association between trauma exposure, mental health and social engagement in refugees.

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Inflammation and depression: new insights into sex differences in adolescents

Illustration set of 9 different faces of all sexes and races . Also available in other sets.

Sophie Fairweather explores a recent paper which suggests that the inflammatory cytokines IL-2 and IL-6 are associated with both the risk of developing depression, and with depression severity, although this relationship is modified by sex.

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Watch yourself! Investigating the efficacy of remotely delivered video feedback in Cognitive Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder (CT-SAD)

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KCL Masters student Katherine Jolly considers a study on internet-delivered compared to face-to-face video feedback to update negative self-perceptions in iCBT for social anxiety disorder.

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If you’ve got a mental health problem, who you gonna call?

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In her debut blog, Cara McErlain summarises a recent qualitative systematic review exploring patients’ perspectives on barriers and facilitators to accessing mental health support through primary care services in England.

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Is anxiety a gateway to other mental health problems? Comorbidities with depression and other anxiety disorders

Results from the current study largely replicated findings from the NESDA dataset in demonstrating that those with comorbid anxiety and/or depression have more severe presentations that anxiety or depression alone.

Nina Higson-Sweeney summarises a study using data from the UK-based GLAD and COPING NBR cohorts to investigate factors associated with anxiety disorder comorbidity with anxiety and depression.

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