Employment opportunities for all? Social enterprises and mental health

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Martin Webber considers a Canadian study about social enterprises and employment opportunities for people with mental health problems such as psychosis.

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Early intervention in psychosis: how long is long enough?

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Rachel Brand looks at a recent RCT which investigates the optimal duration of an early intervention in psychosis programme for young people in Hong Kong.

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The scars of modern slavery: trafficked people with severe mental illness

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Yesterday was #AntiSlaveryDay, so today we are publishing a blog by Mina Fazel who considers the findings of an historical cohort study in the Lancet Psychiatry, which explores the characteristics of trafficked people with severe mental illness.

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What impact are psychotropic drugs having on our physical health?

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John Baker summarises the findings of a recent review of people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. The study looks at the adverse effects on physical health of psychotropic drugs (antipsychotics, antidepressants and mood stabilisers).

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Can fMRI measuring striatal connectivity help predict response to antipsychotics?

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Samei Huda steps into George Clooney’s shoes to discuss baseline striatal functional connectivity as a predictor of response to antipsychotic drug treatment.

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Common mental health disorders linked with increased risk of violent reoffending in ex-prisoners

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Ian Cummins considers the implications of a new cohort study of convicted prisoners in Sweden, which links psychiatric disorders with violent reoffending.

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Caring for people with severe mental illness: poor research means that carers get a raw deal

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Caroline Struthers is frustrated by the lack of high quality research identified by this recent review, which looks at interventions to improve the experience and well-being of those caring for people with severe mental illness.

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Does tobacco use cause psychosis?

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Marcus Munafo appraises a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective, case-control and cross-sectional studies, which finds that daily tobacco use is associated with an increased risk of psychosis and an earlier age at onset of psychotic illness.

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Mood Matters: mood instability is common and associated with poor outcomes

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Farhana Mann summarises an observational study of mood instability in people with mental illness, which explores its relationship with days spent in hospital, frequency of admissions, the likelihood of being sectioned and the chance of being prescribed antipsychotics and mood stabilisers.

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Switching antipsychotics in schizophrenia: the OPTiMiSE RCT

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Tracey Roberts summarises a recent paper that reviews the existing literature concerned with switching antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia, and goes on to present the ongoing OPTiMiSE RCT in this field, which is due to be published in 2016.

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