The British Journal of Psychiatry

Background Depression is often accompanied by multisystem comorbidities, but the time trajectories of these comorbidities remain unclear. Aims We aimed to define the temporal sequence of comorbidity accrual relative to depression diagnosis, and examine how this trajectory differs in recurrent depression. Method A total of 32 953 individuals with depression were identified in the UK Biobank cohort…

Summary A gap exists in the UK in recognising, understanding and meeting the mental health needs of refugee women in the perinatal period who have experienced war and conflict. Women survivors of war who have been exposed to conflict-related gender-based violence have increased vulnerabilities during pregnancy.

Summary Lithium is the only true mood stabiliser as it is able to both treat and prevent mania and depression. In practice, its popularity has declined despite discovering it has anti-suicidal and neuroprotective properties. Here, we argue for recognition of its benefits and advocate for its clinical use more widely.

Background We need to identify novel, tractable therapeutic targets for anxiety disorders. Converging evidence suggests the endogenous opioid system plays a role in modulating affective processing, but its contribution to regulation of threat processing in humans remains unclear. Aims We investigated the neural correlates of non-specific opioid antagonism on explicit and implicit regulation of th…

Background Postpartum depressive symptoms can vary substantially and probably reflect distinct subtypes. Understanding specific symptom patterns may help identify those at risk for later psychiatric care. Aims We aimed to identify subtypes of postpartum depressive symptoms and examine their associations with subsequent psychiatric care. Method We conducted a cohort study using Danish nationwide h…

Summary The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) has been translated into over 60 languages, and for 40 years this 10-item EPDS has remained unchanged. Meanwhile many societies during these decades have undergone cultural changes, including the use of language, the development of more diverse family structures and increased access to social media and now artificial intelligence. Perhaps an…

Proposed assisted dying legislation does not adequately consider comorbid mental illness, such as depression, which variably compromises decision-making capacity. Current tests of capacity are limited in their ability to assess any such compromise, and therefore we highlight these concerns and put forward suggestions as to how this may be rectified.