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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 14h

Should the NHS drop Circle of Security—or rethink how and for whom it’s used?

Laura Hemming blends evidence & experience in this thoughtful critique.
🔗 buff.ly/Fo45z1V

The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 14h

Around a third of birthing parents face perinatal mental health difficulties. 🍼

A new NHS trial found the Circle of Security programme offered no added benefit over usual care.

Laura Hemming shares her take as both researcher and new mum.

🧵 THREAD

#PerinatalMentalHealth #Parenting #Attachment

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 1d

📊 Around 50% of both adolescents and adults experienced a recurrence.

🔁 Findings challenge assumptions about poorer long-term outcomes for adolescent-onset depression.

✅ All ages need robust relapse-prevention strategies.

🧐 Read the full summary:
buff.ly/zmIFFuv

buff.ly

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 1d

🧠 Adolescent vs adult depression: is the risk of relapse the same?

This large Swedish cohort study followed people for 5 years after their first depression diagnosis.

⚖️ The result? No significant difference in recurrence or time to recurrence.

🧵 THREAD

#Depression #MentalHealth #AdolescentHealth

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 2d

✅ Lisdexamfetamine was linked to reduced hospitalisation and mortality
✅ Moderate-dose methylphenidate: reduced risk
⚠️ High-dose methylphenidate increased risks
🤝 Atomoxetine showed some benefit
❗Polytherapy raised concerns

A valuable study for clinicians & policymakers:
🔗 buff.ly/BrKjOqd

buff.ly

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 2d

🧠 Treating ADHD in psychosis: What does the evidence say about safety?

New research tracked over 9,000 people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders over 9 years.

What happened when they were prescribed ADHD medication? 🧵

#ADHD #Psychosis #MentalHealthResearch #Schizophrenia

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 5d

🔄 Peer support can shift cultures.

Ruth Cooper & Natasha Lyons: peer support has potential to rebalance inequities and power in services, supporting recovery-oriented systems.

🎥 Watch (from 12:50): buff.ly/EfDGM55

#PeerSupport #MentalHealth #Recovery

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 5d

✊ Peer support must be radical & grassroots.

Isaac Samuels calls for people with lived experience to reclaim peer support — keeping it accessible and rooted in communities.

🎥 Watch Isaac (from 33:07): buff.ly/Lg6C0el

#PeerSupport #MentalHealth #LivedExperience

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 5d

🫁 Respiratory + 🤒 gastrointestinal infections stood out as key risks.

👉 Practice point: clinicians must balance psychiatric stability with physical health, using vaccination, infection monitoring & holistic care.

Read the full summary 👉 buff.ly/nmgeddH

The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 5d

Clozapine and infection risk: new evidence from Hong Kong’s 20-year cohort study 🧵

This study of 11,000+ patients found clozapine users had a 25% higher risk of infections compared to those on olanzapine, with older adults most vulnerable.

#Schizophrenia #Clozapine #InfectionRisk #ParityOfEsteem

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 6d

💻 How does digital fit in?

Karen Machin: online peer groups build community, provide anonymity, and connect people who may otherwise feel isolated.

🎥 Watch Karen (from 25:27): buff.ly/uIUoVg4

#PeerSupport #MentalHealth #DigitalHealth

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 6d

🌟 Peer support values.

Julie Repper reminds us that mutuality, recovery focus, strengths-based practice and community are at the heart of peer support.

🎥 Watch Julie (from 42:41): buff.ly/XjhLrTX

#PeerSupport #MentalHealth #Recovery

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 6d

Update your knowledge on treatments for difficult to treat depression

📅 Free webinar (6 Oct): buff.ly/oiWVfv8

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 6d

The LQD study shows:
💊 Quetiapine & lithium are safe & effective adjuncts
✨ Quetiapine superior across a year
⚖️ Quetiapine more cost-effective from service & societal views
✅ Pragmatic RCTs can be delivered at scale in the NHS

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 6d

Difficult-to-treat depression affects up to half of people with depression.

It drives disability, costs, and service pressures.

Yet effective add-on treatments are underused.

🧵 THREAD

#DifficultToTreatDepression #TreatmentResistantDepression #MentalHealthPolicy

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 6d

💡 Findings:
• No significant change in overall social inclusion
• But reduced isolation ✅
• Increased empowerment & hope ✅
• Adaptable to diverse cultural contexts 🌏

👉 Peer support works when rooted in recovery values, not just symptom reduction.
Read the blog: buff.ly/pBIyz0A

buff.ly

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 6d

🌍 Peer support has UPSIDES for global mental health 🧵

The UPSIDES trial tested peer support in 6 sites across 5 countries – from Germany to Uganda, India, Tanzania, and Israel – to see if it boosts recovery and social inclusion.

#PeerSupport #Recovery #MentalHealthResearch

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 7d

💬 The unique contribution of peer support.

Karen Machin & Lizzie Mitchell: lived experience brings hope, empathy, and rapport — best delivered with flexibility, not rigid frameworks.

🎥 Watch (from 6:48): buff.ly/RDpYuaT

#PeerSupport #MentalHealth #LivedExperience

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Reposted by The Mental Elf

Prof Linda Gask @suzypuss.bsky.social · 7d

Really great review of women’s mental health and reproduction in World Psychiatry

The issue for me is how do we get this knowledge out there to all the health professionals who think this is all just ‘women’s stuff’?

The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 7d

Review of:
📍 PMDD & menstruation
📍 Contraception & abortion
📍 Infertility, PCOS & endometriosis
📍 Menopause & depression risk

Women’s mental health has long been sidelined. It’s time research caught up with the realities of hormones and stigma and began taking sex seriously.

👉 buff.ly/5mwVLPs

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 7d

📊 Peer support isn’t a single intervention.

Fiona Lobban explains why different study designs (not just RCTs) are needed to capture its many forms and impacts.

🎥 Watch Fiona (from 1:00:36): buff.ly/02CbJNl

#PeerSupport #MentalHealth #MentalHealthResearch

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 7d

Register for our free webinar (6 Oct) to refresh your knowledge about evidence-based therapeutic options for treatment-resistant depression: buff.ly/oiWVfv8

The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 7d

Read the Mental Elf blog: buff.ly/7n0z8pP

Or download the full-text paper: buff.ly/lzqYUOh

Quetiapine may pip lithium to the post for augmentation in 'treatment resistant depression': results from the LQD study - National Elf Service

Kirsten Lawson and Douglas Badenoch review the new randomised controlled trial by Cleare et al, published today in The Lancet Psychiatry, directly comparing the clinical and cost effectiveness of…

www.nationalelfservice.net

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 7d

Findings:
💊 Both were safe & effective adjuncts
✨ Quetiapine improved symptoms more than lithium over a full year
⚖️ Quetiapine was more cost-effective from service & societal views
🙌 Patients reported better functioning & quality of life

Read more: buff.ly/3uffmdW

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 7d

Calling all mental health prescribers!

20–50% of patients with depression meet criteria for treatment-resistant depression.

Evidence-based options exist, but are underused.

The LQD study tested lithium vs quetiapine as augmentation.

🧵 THREAD #TreatmentResistantDepression

buff.ly/Zvza0o1

Lithium versus Quetiapine in Depression: the results of the LQD study

Difficult-to-treat depression (sometimes called treatment-resistant depression) affects a large proportion of people living with depression. Many patients don’t respond fully to antidepressants, and…

youtu.be

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The Mental Elf @thementalelf.bsky.social · 7d

Review of:
📍 PMDD & menstruation
📍 Contraception & abortion
📍 Infertility, PCOS & endometriosis
📍 Menopause & depression risk

Women’s mental health has long been sidelined. It’s time research caught up with the realities of hormones and stigma and began taking sex seriously.

👉 buff.ly/5mwVLPs

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