Hello! I'm the Mental Elf. Subscribe to my newsletter to keep up to date with the latest reliable mental health research.
Most important mental health research from the last two months: the Mental Elf Newsletter
From safer tapering to voices from detention: the latest mental health research that mattersThis month's evidence spans the clinical and systemic: slow antidepressant withdrawal works, therapeutic activities reduce restrictive practices, and lived experience reveals institutional racism's toll. Five new mental health research papers worth your time. Read the most popular blogs below and don't forget to follow us wherever you get your research updates on social media! π Top 5 blogs this month1. How do you safely stop taking antidepressants?This network meta-analysis of 76 trials found that slow tapering (over 4 weeks) combined with psychological support was most effective for preventing relapse when stopping antidepressants. Abrupt discontinuation and fast tapering substantially increased relapse risk and should be avoided. π€ Read the BLOGβ π£οΈ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATIONβ 2."Who's got the obs sheets?" Improving therapeutic engagement during observations.This large-scale quality improvement project across 55 mental health wards tested Board Relay, Zonal Observations, and Life Skills activities to improve therapeutic engagement. Results showed promising reductions in aggression, restrictive practices, and staff sickness. π€ Read the BLOGβ π£οΈ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATIONβ 3. Antipsychotics slow working memory speed in healthy adultsNew research reveals how antipsychotic medications affect working memory speed in healthy adults, providing crucial insights into the cognitive side effects of these widely prescribed drugs. π€ Read the BLOGβ π£οΈ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATIONβ 4. Racialised experiences of detention under the Mental Health Act: a PhotoVoice studyThe Co-Pact study uses powerful images and narratives from 48 people to reveal how compulsory admission under the Mental Health Act is experienced by racially minoritised communities. Participants described coercive care, institutional racism, and being βvoicelessβ, but also what could prevent crisis admissions. π€ Read the BLOGβ π£οΈ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATIONβ 5. Does teenage body dissatisfaction actually cause eating disorders and depression?This twin study of nearly 14,000 UK adolescents found that body dissatisfaction at age 16 was linked to eating disorder symptoms at 21 and depression at 26. Comparing twins helped researchers show these were likely causal relationships, not just correlations, though genetics also played a substantial role. π€ Read the BLOGβ π£οΈ Join the LinkedIn CONVERSATIONβ New mental health prevention podcast aimed at schoolsThroughout January we've been releasing a new podcast series aimed at teachers, school-leaders and mental health professionals, which explores school-based mental health through the lens of emotional skills and social relationships. Learn how to reshape your mental health initiatives with insights from leading experts. π§ Listen now to the ReSET PODCAST Wherever you get your podcasts (just search for The Mental Elf) We're delighted to have worked with the ReSET Project team at UCL for the last few months, crafting their dissemination strategy and producing blogs, videos, graphics, podcasts and a webinar for this major UKRI-funded trial. There's a new podcast series coming your way in the Spring - working with the Nurture-U team and focusing this time on Student Mental Health! π³ Commission The Mental Elf to make your podcastWe help researchers share evidence through social media, podcasts, videos, webinars and more. Right now we're working with research groups across the country to disseminate their new research and maximise their reach and impact. You can commission our expert team or write us into your next grant application as your dissemination partner. ποΈ Contact us now and get yourself some #ElfHelp. π elfi.sh/helpβ π§ andre.tomlin@nationalelfservice.netβ π¬ Share this newsletter with your colleaguesWe post this monthly newsletter on LinkedIn, and people can also join our email list to make sure they never miss an update. Get your team to sign up now to improve their research skills! |
National Elf Service
Hello! I'm the Mental Elf. Subscribe to my newsletter to keep up to date with the latest reliable mental health research.
Welcome to our July newsletter! What happens when we look again at something we thought we already understood? A huge Nordic registry study asks whether clozapineβs benefits reach beyond its usual role in treatment-resistant schizophrenia, while a real-world Norwegian trial finds psychodynamic therapy holds its own against CBT for depression, outside the tightly controlled conditions of a typical randomised trial. Elsewhere in our Top 5 this month: what former inpatients say psychological...
Mental Elf Monthly: Teens, screens and everything in between June's most read blogs, a free #ElfHelp webinar on TMS for depression, Lucy Foulkes on social media bans, and the Nurture-U student mental health podcast. Welcome to our June newsletter! Young people's digital lives are everywhere in the news right now, from smartphone bans in schools to the proposed social media ban for under-16s. The trouble is that the headlines usually run well ahead of the evidence. This issue pulls together...
The ferns are taking over the woodland floor this month. Welcome to our May newsletter! This month's top blogs share a common thread: the gap between what we hope for and what the evidence actually shows. JoΓ«l Zwiep covers an exciting proof-of-concept trial testing whether targeting inflammation can ease depression in the third of patients who show raised C-reactive protein (CRP). A single dose of tocilizumab safely cleared inflammation, with trends favouring the drug for fatigue and...