Mental health apps for people in crisis: helpful or harmful?

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Wouter van Ballegooijen summarises a review of the ‘best apps’ for mental health, which finds very little support for people experiencing a mental health crisis.

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In children aged 4-5 with relatively poor language skills, the Nuffield Early Language Intervention improved their language scores

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Douglas Badenoch helps us prepare for another CAMHS Around the Campfire session by exploring a recent cluster RCT on early language screening and intervention using the Nuffield Early Language Intervention.

Follow #CAMHScampfire on Twitter at 5pm BST on Monday 13th September for an online journal club discussing this paper. Or sign up now to join the free webinar hosted by ACAMH.

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The best terminology to describe self-harm: “There is more that unites us than divides us”

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Angharad de Cates reviews a recent study which examined international definitions of English-language terms for suicidal and self-harm behaviours.

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Reading skills and mental health difficulties: what’s the link?

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Francesca Bentivegna summarises a recent review which suggests that schizophrenia, “personality disorders” and psychopathy may be linked to reading skills deficits in some people.

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Language matters: how should we talk about suicide?

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In her debut blog, Charlotte Huggett summarises a recent online survey which explored views on the language we should use to discuss suicide. The study concludes that the most acceptable phrases are currently: “attempted suicide”, “took their own life”, “died by suicide” and “ended their life”.

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Improving language development: read, play, discuss

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Julia Badger critiques and summarises a recent randomised controlled trial testing the Let’s Talk intervention for improving children’s language development.

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Is schizophrenia a by-product of human evolution?

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Muzaffer Kaser writes his debut elf blog on a recent study, which looks at evolutionary modifications in human brain connectivity associated with schizophrenia.

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Cognitive functioning in psychosis: is neuropsychological decline continuous, generalised, and specific to schizophrenia?

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Emmeline Lagunes Cordoba and Derek Tracy explore a case control study that looks at cognitive change in people with schizophrenia and other psychoses in the decade following the first episode.

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Are humans like monkeys? MRI scanning suggests similarities and differences that might help future research

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Does a mouse think like a human? Does a cat? Does a macaque monkey? These are fascinating questions to ask on a philosophical level, but they are also of immense practical importance. Current regulations on drug development mean that animal research plays a huge role in deciding what substances might be safe and beneficial to humans.  [read the full story…]

NHS Confederation publish definitions for mental health services

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In mental health there has not been a consistent set of definitions that describe what is meant by an inpatient bed. This has led to difficulty in benchmarking and understanding patterns of performance. Understanding how inpatient beds and community services can best be utilised as part of a reshaped pathway, and whether the number of [read the full story…]