Psychology

Health psychology and advanced communication skills for prescribers

An introduction to the principles of health psychology that can be applied during consultations with patients.…

Are we self-actualising in pharmacy?

This month’s pick of academic papers from Parastou Donyai, chief scientist at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.…

Psilocybin: a psychedelic alternative to antidepressants?

Decades on from its widespread use as a recreational drug during the 1960s, research shows that psilocybin could be a credible treatment for symptoms of depression and other mental health disorders.…

Why pairing up with a psychologist helped to reduce risky opioid prescribing

Pharmacist Lis Farquhar has found that working with psychologist Vivienne Laidler has allowed them to better approach their patients' reliance on opioids.…

The government must ease and encourage medical cannabis research

It’s been over a year since the rules were changed to allow clinicians to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) but very little has changed. Despite the countless headlines, powerful campaigns and desperate patients and families, prescribing of CBMPs is rare. For those…

Pilot programme could help 20,000 patients receive subsidised medical cannabis

A national pilot could give 20,000 patients in the UK access to subsidised medical cannabis by the end of 2021.…

Honest and challenging look at the state of young people’s mental health in the UK

Dispatches. Young, British and Depressed. London: Channel 4; 2019…

Digital notification system helps pharmacists to support patients with mental illness

Some eight out of ten community pharmacists participating in a pilot of a novel notification system said it helped them to support patients with a serious mental illness.…

Cannabis composition alters effects of drug on the brain

Researchers have used functional magnetic resonance imaging to show how cannabidiol counteracts some of the harmful effects of cannabis on the brain.…

Study questions link between antidepressants and hip fractures

A previously identified link between antidepressant use and hip fractures needs further examination, the authors of a study published in JAMA Psychiatry have concluded.…