Is CBD the future of antipsychotic drugs? A new global study investigates

The Wellcome Trust is funding a new study and clinical trial that will further investigate the effectiveness of cannabidiol (CBD) in treating people with psychosis. Work carried out by Oxford University and King’s College London will look at whether CBD can be used not only to treat established psychosis, but also to prevent the onset of psychosis in people at high risk of developing it.

Is CBD the future of antipsychotic drugs? | News | Wellcome

Credit: Anastassiya Bezhekeneva
Licence: All Rights Reserved

Library Bulletin

Psychosis/ Schizophrenia

With thanks to our colleagues at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust the latest edition of psychosis and schizophrenia bulletins are now available to view and download.

Some articles may require Open Athens accounts to access. Please get in touch with the library; academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk for any support setting up an Athens account or retrieving articles.

Royal College of Psychiatry

National Clinical Audit of Psychosis: England national report for the Early Intervention in Psychosis Audit 2021/2022

Source: The King’s Fund

Based on data from 10,557 case notes submitted by 54 trusts in England, this audit report presents national and organisation-level findings on services provided to people with first-episode psychosis (FEP). The report commends teams for maintaining early intervention in psychosis (EIP) service delivery at a high level in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. It found that 66 per cent of teams had an increase in staff in the past year. The report also looked at the disparities in EIP care between different groups of people with FEP to highlight inequalities.

Covid 19

Current awareness updates

How many care home staff in England have received two Covid-19 vaccine doses? Nuffield Trust chart.
Nuffield Trust; 2021.
[After the deadline passed, care home staff in England now need to have received two Covid-19 jabs to carry on working. Nina Hemmings looks at how many had been vaccinated twice only a few weeks before the deadline.]

Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health outcomes in a cohort of early psychosis patients.[Abstract]
Szmulewicz AG. Early Intervention in Psychiatry 2021;15(6):1799-1802.
[AIM: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical outcomes, we used data from Electronic Health Records from 128 patients receiving care at a First Episode Psychosis clinic. CONCLUSIONS: We report that patients have avoided accessing higher levels of care, except in extreme cases. We argue that this is not a sustainable trajectory and that public health actions are required.]

Provider collaboration review: Mental health care of children and young people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Care Quality Commission (CQC); 2021.
[Review of care in 7 areas of England in June and July 2021 found COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on the mental health of children and young people, and has led to an increased demand on services, particularly eating disorder services.]

Effectiveness of public health measures in reducing the incidence of covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19 mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis.
BMJ; 2021.
[This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that several personal protective and social measures, including handwashing, mask wearing, and physical distancing are associated with reductions in the incidence covid-19. Public health efforts to implement public health measures should consider community health and sociocultural needs.]

COVID-19 Young people and vaccines Toolkit.
Cabinet Office; 2021.
[An updated vaccines toolkit for younger people has been launched by the Cabinet Office. The toolkit includes links to assets and videos designed to encourage vaccine uptake among young people aged 18 to 29.]

Systematic Review

Air pollution (particulate matter) exposure and associations with depression, anxiety, bipolar, psychosis and suicide risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis

This review found that although there was a limited amount of literature available, the findings supported the hypothesis of a link between long term particulate exposure and depression.  Higher quality studies are needed to investigate this further.

The review can be found here

Consultation on the rehabilitation of adults with complex psychosis and related mental health

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a new draft guideline for consultation on the rehabilitation of adults with complex psychosis and related mental health conditions. The consultation closes on 5 February 2020.

To view click here