Australian Psychiatry Review

Highlights of the literature in May include articles on the National Disability Insurance Scheme in Australia, major reviews of psychological interventions in psychosis in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a special issue of Biological Psychiatry describing the boundaries between neurology and psychiatry in neurodegenerative disease, and a nursing-initiated project for managing conflict and containment on psychiatric wards, called Safewards. Finally, there is an important Swedish registry study demonstrating an association between psychotropic medication prescription and reduced violent crime in the Lancet.

Highlights of the literature in February include ongoing dissection of the prospects for the ICD-11 in the ANZJP, with multiple commentaries suggesting the forthcoming edition appears unlikely to improve upon existing nosologies. The ANZJP also includes a proposal for systemic improvements required to humanely manage the growing incidence of behavioural sequelae of dementia in aged care facilities. JAMA celebrates the 50th anniversary of the US Surgeon General report linking smoking to lung cancer, which initiated largely successful public health initiatives to reduce smoking prevalence, alongside data suggesting these initiatives have been far less successful in patients with severe mental illness.

Text and references for the January 2014 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

Text and references for the December 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

In December Australian Psychiatry Review includes a focus section on early intervention in psychosis. Other highlights of the psychiatric literature this month include a collection of articles on the role of inflammation and autoimmune antibodies in psychiatric illness in the ANZJP; a review of cognitive processes underlying delusions in the British Journal of Psychiatry; a study showing that group cognitive behavioural therapy can prevent later development of depression in currently non-depressed children of parents with depression in JAMA Psychiatry; and 6 articles on UK patterns of sexual behaviour and health in the Lancet. Finally, the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry has a useful clinical practice article summarising evidence on the risks and benefits of switching antipsychotics in patients who are clinically stable but experiencing side effects. Links to all articles discussed in the podcast can be found in the podcast transcript.

In November Australian Psychiatry Review features a focus section on psychiatric genetics, rejuvenated by recent replications of genome-wide association studies. Other highlights of the literature reviewed this month include Atigari and Healy’s suggestion that the proconvulsant effects of clozapine. lithium, and ketamine, may be a novel therapeutic principle rather than a side-effect. Jelovac and colleagues provide a systematic review showing maintenance ECT does not change relapse after a primary ECT course. Zipursky and colleagues persuasively argue against what they describe as the myth that schizophrenia is a neurodegenerative disorder. Finally, Priebe and colleagues report that small financial incentives can greatly increase treatment adherence in previously poorly adherent patients on depot antipsychotics.

Text and references for the November 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

Text and references for the October 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

In October Australian Psychiatry Review features a focus section on cerebral organoids, an exciting new technique for exploring neurodevelopmental processes using cells taken from adults. The literature review includes Gin Malhi’s critique of the poorly defined and variably implemented diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder and evidence by Lopez and colleagues suggesting recent claims of the severe harms of prescription of antipsychotic medications for behavioural disturbances in dementia in nursing homes may be overstated. Koesters and colleagues show that agomelatine is ineffective for depression when negative unpublished data are considered, while Harrow and Jobe argue that the benefits of long-term antipsychotic therapy for schizophrenia have not been convincingly demonstrated. And now, let’s consider research in Australian psychiatric journals.

Text and references for the September 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

In September Australian Psychiatry Review features an outline of the use of optogenetics in psychiatry research. Other highlights include debate in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry over the legal and clinical basis of abortion justified by increased risk of adverse mental health; articles in JAMA Psychiatry and Biological Psychiatry exploring evidence linking schizophrenia with disrupted connections between specific brain regions, with Fan and colleagues in Biological Psychiatry demonstrating that olfactory stem cells taken from adults with schizophrenia show adhesion and motility dysfunction that might explain neurodevelopmental abnormalities.

In August Australian Psychiatry Review features a summary of psychosis research over the last year. Other highlights include a summary of evidence on the rapid antidepressant properties of ketamine, research that suggests sub threshold psychotic experiences are non-specific risk factors, and links between trauma and psychosis in adolescents.

Text and references for the August 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

In July Australian Psychiatry Review debuts a monthly focus section associated with an online quiz. The quiz can be found at http://australianpsychiatryreview.com/podcasts/DSM5.html. Other highlights include research linking the mysterious process of tardive dyskinesia to reduced grey matter in the basal ganglia and thalamus, evidence that prodromal psychosis is associated with increased capacity for dopamine synthesis in the striatum, and support for an old theory of schizophrenia involving prefrontal cortical hypofunction disinhibiting subcortical dopamine release. Schizophrenia Bulletin includes a themed special on insights for schizophrenia from major depressive disorder with psychosis, while a review in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry suggests that most medical reasons for stopping clozapine are unjustified.

Text and references for the July 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

In June the international psychiatric literature includes interesting articles on psychosocial interventions for schizophrenia, forensic examination of Anders Behring Breivik, and the loss of frontal lobe tissue during relapse in schizophrenia. Check out our Twitter and Facebook pages!

Text and references for the June 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

Text and references for the May 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

In May the international psychiatric literature includes interesting articles on forensic psychiatry, and the interaction between media, mass shootings, and public opinion of gun control laws in the US.

In April the international psychiatric literature debates the bereavement exclusion criterion of depression, a successful use of telemedicine for depressed patients in underserved rural areas of the US, and deep brain stimulation of treatment refractory anorexia.

Text and references for the April 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

In March the international psychiatric literature examines metabolic syndrome in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Schizophrenia Bulletin celebrates the 100th anniversary of publication of Jaspers' General Psychopathology.

Text and references for the March 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

Text and references for the February 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

In February the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry examines mobile and internet services for mental health, and Australasian Psychiatry records the 50th anniversary of the RANZCP and the 20th anniversary of the journal.

In January the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry and the American Journal of Psychiatry look forward to the release of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual V in May 2013.

Text and references for the January 2013 Australian Psychiatry Review podcast.

This month the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry examines the relationship between substance abuse and psychosis, with clinical articles regarding depression, anorexia nervosa, and the use of online resources and social media in early psychosis. Australasian Psychiatry has a report on involuntary community treatment in Australia. The American Journal of Psychiary examines links between ADHD and bipolar disorder, while the British Journal of Psychiatry features research on delays initiating clozapine in treatment-resistant schizophrenia, while Amminger and colleagues publish a letter in Molecular Psychiatry which speculates on possible mechanisms preventing transition to psychosis in high-risk patients on omega-3 fatty acid supplementation.

Highlights of today's episode include summaries of research on mood disorders in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, efforts to improve the validity of psychiatric diagnoses in children in the American Journal of Psychiatry, and a special issue on the ultra-high-risk state in Schizophrenia Bulletin. I also mention Articles in the American Journal of Psychiatry and the British Medical Journal which examine the effects of antidepressant and mood stabilising medications during pregnancy.

Summary of news, reviews, and research of interest to psychiatric doctors for the month of October 2012.

Summary of news, reviews, and research of interest to psychiatric doctors for the month of September 2012.

Summary of news, reviews, and research of interest to psychiatric doctors for the month of August 2012.

In January Australian Psychiatry Review closes with a focus section on illicit substance induced psychosis. Highlights from the literature include the ANZJP’s announcement of a series looking forward to the ICD-11, alongside the research plans of the winners of John Cade Fellowships in 2013. The AJP considers efforts to enact Kendra’s law in New York state, requiring outpatient treatment for for patients with severe mental illness. The BJP reports that parents can successfully deliver CBT to anxious minors, guided by professionals, and that community treatment orders appear to increase coercion without improving mental health. Translational Psychiatry includes a report that omega-3 fatty acids and multivitamins can worsen psychotic symptoms when added to antipsychotic medications. Links to all articles discussed in the podcast can be found in the podcast transcript.

Highlights of the literature in April include debate over whether CBT for psychosis has been oversold, calls for an end to the use of the phrase schizophrenia as an increasingly inaccurate anachronism, exploration of the overinclusive concept of bipolar spectrum disorder including difficulties separating it from borderline personality disorder, and evidence that rates of substance use disorders comorbid with severe mental illness have been underestimated. Finally, a viewpoint by Sederer analyses New York’s initiative to fully integrate behavioral health care into primary practice.

Highlights of the literature in March include include evidence from a case series that sleep deprivation and bright light therapy may rapidly improve depressive symptoms and suicidality of patients with severe bipolar depression; a systematic review which shows that modern antidepressants have improved acute but not long-term outcomes of depression; and two family studies which suggest that mania and depression do not lie on opposite ends of a spectrum, but vary independently, consistent with recent increased awareness of mixed states in severe mental illness. Finally, the BMJ published a summary of the updated guidance for the management of psychosis by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.