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Australas Psychiatry 2021 Aug 2:10398562211032237. Epub 2021 Aug 2.

Wandsworth, UK.

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 28:10398562211032228. Epub 2021 Jul 28.

Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, The Australian National University Medical School, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT.

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 15:10398562211028650. Epub 2021 Jul 15.

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 15:10398562211029949. Epub 2021 Jul 15.

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 15:10398562211028646. Epub 2021 Jul 15.

Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Objective: Consider whether mental health service users and carers meaningfully engage in care planning and whether care planning adds value to patient care.

Conclusion: A review of the meta-analyses and systematic reviews of service users and carers identified many barriers to their meaningful engagement in care planning. No research has demonstrated any measurable benefits or positive outcomes linked to mental health care planning. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 15:10398562211028625. Epub 2021 Jul 15.

University of Sydney, Australia.

Objectives: As mental health services move towards implementing 'Trauma-informed care', there is a need to consider the challenges posed within services and systems. This paper raises some of the challenges associated with integrating TIC into the current public mental health system. . Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 15:10398562211025034. Epub 2021 Jul 15.

Drug and Alcohol Services, Central Coast Local Health District, Australia.

Objective: Consumption of alcohol and other drugs constitutes a significant health burden. Treatment access is poor, and a number of barriers are recognised. The objective of this retrospective cohort study is to examine patient characteristics of those attending/not attending for elective in-patient withdrawal management (IWM). Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 15:10398562211028632. Epub 2021 Jul 15.

Blackbird Initiative, Órama Institute, Flinders University, South Australia, Australia.

Objective: Currently eligibility for expanded Medicare items for eating disorders (excluding anorexia nervosa) require a score ⩾ 3 on the 22-item Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q). We compared these EDE-Q "cases" with continuous scores on a validated 7-item version of the EDE-Q (EDE-Q7) to identify an EDE-Q7 cut-off commensurate to 3 on the EDE-Q.

Methods: We utilised EDE-Q scores of female university students ( = 337) at risk of developing an eating disorder. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 15:10398562211009264. Epub 2021 Jul 15.

Translational Health Research Institute, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Penrith South DC, NSW, Australia.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate associations between eating disorder mental health literacy (EDMHL), defense style, eating disorder (ED) symptom severity, psychological distress and mental-health-related quality of life (MHRQoL) and the likelihood of formal and informal healthcare use (HCU) across multiple time points.

Methods: A community sample of 445 young women with ED symptoms were followed over 7 years. Questionnaires were distributed via email and postal mail across multiple time points; this study includes data from years 2 (baseline in this study), 4 and 9. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 11:10398562211029957. Epub 2021 Jul 11.

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 11:10398562211030011. Epub 2021 Jul 11.

Consortium of Australian-Academic Psychiatrists for Independent Policy and Research Analysis (CAPIPRA), Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Objective: To provide a clinical update on private health insurance in Australia and outline developments in US-style managed care that are likely to affect psychiatric and other specialist healthcare. We explain aspects of the US health system, which has resulted in a powerful and profitable private health insurance sector, and one of the most expensive and inefficient health systems in the world, with limited patient choice in psychiatric treatment.

Conclusions: Australian psychiatrists should be aware of changes to private health insurance that emphasise aspects of managed care such as selective contracting, cost-cutting or capitation of services. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 11:10398562211029951. Epub 2021 Jul 11.

Old Age Psychiatrist, Older People's Mental Health, Blacktown Hospital, NSW, Australia; and Senior Lecturer (conjoint), Faculty of Medicine, Western Sydney University, NSW, Australia.

Objective: The primary aim was to examine the use of long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotic (depot) medication in a cohort of older patients in a community psychogeriatric service.

Method: From 2014 to 2018, all patients who were on LAIs each year were analysed for various characteristics including their profile, type of LAI used, dose and relapse rates related to switching, ceasing and community treatment order (CTO) use.

Results: A total of 880 patients were managed by the service with 142 recorded cases of LAI use in total over the 5 years (16. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 5:10398562211025039. Epub 2021 Jul 5.

Consortium of Australian-Academic Psychiatrists for Independent Policy and Research Analysis (CAPIPRA), Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Objective: To discuss and reflect upon the role of medical practitioners, including psychiatrists, as health advocates on behalf of patients, carers and staff.

Conclusions: Health advocacy is a key professional competency of medical practitioners, and is part of the RANZCP framework for training and continuing professional development. Since advocacy is often a team activity, there is much that is gained experientially from volunteering and working with other more experienced health advocates within structurally and financially independent (of health systems and governments) representative groups (RANZCP, AMA, unions). Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jul 5:10398562211025043. Epub 2021 Jul 5.

Victorian Dual Disability Service, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun 30:10398562211025040. Epub 2021 Jun 30.

QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Objectives: People with mental illness may be vulnerable to psychological distress and reduced well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess psychosocial and lifestyle predictors of distress and well-being in people with mental illness during the pandemic.

Method: People with mental illness who participated in an exercise programme prior to the pandemic were invited to complete surveys about mental health and lifestyle corresponding to before and during the pandemic. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun 30:10398562211025017. Epub 2021 Jun 30.

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun 30:10398562211025015. Epub 2021 Jun 30.

Senior Staff Specialist Psychiatrist, Director of Psychiatry Training, Canberra Health Services, ACT, Australia.

Objective: We sought to assess the attitudes of ACT public psychiatry doctors towards the financial and criminal penalties in the ACT Mental Health Act 2015.

Method: Baseline attitude was surveyed with an 11-item 5-point Likert scale. Education was then provided about the offences outlined in the Act and the associated penalties. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun 22:10398562211022756. Epub 2021 Jun 22.

University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.

Objectives: As mental health services increasingly position themselves as providing 'trauma-informed care', there is a need for ongoing critical reflection on the challenges that this movement highlights for mental health services, including those related to the concept of trauma itself.

Conclusions: To become trauma-informed requires opportunities to reflect on what trauma means and consideration of the challenges the concept poses to diagnostically driven systems. Alongside uptake, further debate is required. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun 22:10398562211022751. Epub 2021 Jun 22.

University of Sydney, Australia.

Objectives: Video games (games played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer programme on a screen) are being developed with a specific focus on treating mental health. This narrative review briefly discusses the history of video games and mental health. It then provides a critical discussion on the application of video games as therapeutic tools, then discusses the notion of 'serious games' ( designed for a primary purpose other than entertainment) and their applicability. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun 16:10398562211022754. Epub 2021 Jun 16.

The Rural Clinical School of Western Australia, The University of Western Australia, Albany, WA, Australia.

Objective: With reference to relevant literature and brief analysis of televised content, this article discusses the potential value of RuPaul's Drag Race (RPDR) in psycho-education about mentalization.

Conclusions: RPDR can be viewed as an example of the 'entertainment-education' genre containing instructive displays of mentalization in action and an opportunity to increase public awareness of concepts that support emotional resilience. The psycho-educative potential of RPDR merits further evaluation. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun 16:10398562211022753. Epub 2021 Jun 16.

Peking University HuiLongGuan Clinical Medical School, Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Beijing, P. R. China.

Objective: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have been used as markers of inflammation in mental illness. However, these indices have not been widely used in schizophrenia research in Chinese participants. Our aim was to use these ratios to explore the relationship between schizophrenia and inflammation. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun 14:10398562211022748. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

Child and Adolescent and Forensic Psychiatry, Justice Health, Malabar, NSW, Australia.

Objective: COVID-19 propelled e-mental health within the Australian health system. It is important to learn from this to inform mental healthcare during future crises.

Method: A lexical analysis was conducted of clinician reflections during COVID-19 as they delivered psychiatry services to children and families in New South Wales ( = 6) and transitioned to e-mental health. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun 14:10398562211022750. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Objective: To consider how a mental health professional might respond to a newly diagnosed depressed patient who inquires into its potential genetic origins and whether they might pass depression on to their children.

Methods: Data are provided on risk and pursuit of genetic pathways.

Results: As most studies have focussed on DSM-defined major depression - and which is not an entity - no definitive data are available, while there are some few studies indicating a greater genetic risk in those with melancholic than those with non-melancholic depression. Read More

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun;29(3):376

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun;29(3):373

Australas Psychiatry 2021 Jun;29(3):373-375

Australas Psychiatry 2021 06;29(3):369

Australas Psychiatry 2021 May 31:10398562211014221. Epub 2021 May 31.

La Trobe School of Rural Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC, Australia.

Objective: To examine the history of Fremantle, Western Australia's first purpose-built asylum.

Method: A range of primary sources were consulted.

Results: Fremantle was opened in 1865 to house inmates away from the populace and for the most part under the care of Dr HC Barnett. Read More