Month: July 2026

Reading of the Week: Therapy, with Papers on Long-Term Effects and on Pet Therapy; Also, Lieberman on Too Much Therapy

July 16, 2026 / / 0 Comments

From the Editor

Patients with depression benefit from psychotherapy. But do those effects last?

The question isn’t new, but long-term effects haven’t been well studied. An impressive new World Psychiatry study by Pim Cuijpers (of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and his co-authors brings needed data to the discussion. They did a meta-analysis of 191 RCTs with 209 comparisons between treatment and control groups, involving 33 691 participants. “We conclude that psychotherapies have moderate to large effects at 3 months after randomization, which slowly decrease during the next 9 months to a moderate level, and remain stably moderate for several years.” We consider the paper and its implications.

In the second selection, from The American Journal of Psychotherapy, Michelle Geiss (of Southern Illinois University) and her co-authors analyzed a canine-assisted intervention (CAI) on an inpatient unit, drawing on semi-structured interviews with 17 psychiatric nursing staff members. “CAI was perceived by staff as a valuable complementary therapy in the inpatient psychiatric setting, offering emotional, social, and therapeutic benefits for both patients and staff.”

And in the third selection, psychologist Harvey Lieberman reflects on psychotherapy in an essay for The New York Times. As a therapist, he wonders whether too many people seek therapy. “For some people, therapy can help in ways nothing else can. But many will find that the best forms of understanding and emotional support flow from informal networks of relatives, neighbors and friends, not the health care system.”

Note: there will be no Reading next week.

DG

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Reading of the Week: Doctors & Suicidality – the New CMAJ Study; Also, GLP-1 RAs & Eating Disorders, and Chin-Yee on the Death of the Consult Note

July 9, 2026 / / 0 Comments

From the Editor

His suicidal thoughts were so strong that he had written a suicide note. Yet, during the months before we met in the ED, he had hesitated to seek care. As a doctor, he knew he had severe depression but he told me that he felt he couldn’t get help. 

Such stories are all too common. In a CMAJ study, Dr. An Yi (Annie) Yu (of the University of Toronto) and her co-authors shed light on physicians’ seeking help for suicidality. They drew from the literature (literally): analyzing 52 narratives from academic papers, finding various barriers to seeking care, including aspects of medical culture, and identified facilitators, such as confidential services. “The pressure to achieve in medicine often discourages physicians from acknowledging their need for help, but the value of meaningful work emerged as a positive factor for mental health. The stigma regarding mental health concerns was substantially reduced through role modelling of help-seeking behaviour by colleagues.” We consider the study and its implications.

GLP-1 receptor agonists are having a moment because of the evidence for diabetes and other conditions. In the second selection, Nicholas C. Peiper (of the University of Louisville) and his co-authors focus on those with eating disorders, analyzing data to understand use and misuse in a new JAMA Psychiatry research letter. “This cross-sectional study found that GLP-1 RA use and misuse were common in a targeted sample of people with eating disorders.”

And in the third selection, from JAMA, Dr. Benjamin Chin-Yee (of Western University) writes about consult notes. He wonders what is lost in the “digital transformation” of templates and AI scribes. He worries about the future of the consult note. “The tools may evolve, but the art of pausing, thinking, and telling a story is still ours to preserve.”

DG

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Reading of the Week: Controversies & Kids – Papers on Social Media Bans and Smartphone Restrictions; Also, Sexsomnia for Psychiatrists

July 2, 2026 /

From the Editor

Canada’s Parliament is debating a ban. Government officials are discussing similar measures in the UK, Poland, Denmark, and Malaysia. As more and more countries think about restricting kids from access to social media, the Australian experiment is interesting and important. In 2024, Australia passed legislation banning youth under the age of 16 years. 

But has the Australian law had an effect on use? In The BMJ, Courtney Barnes (of the University of Newcastle) and her co-authors attempt to answer that question with a prospective observational study. They analyzed survey data collected just before implementation and again three months after it, involving 408 youth. “Despite the intent of the Social Media Minimum Age Act 2024 to delay access to social media platforms and reduce the potential for online harms, little evidence was found of immediate substantive reductions in reported social media use by adolescents under 16 years.” We consider the study and its implications.

In the second selection, Maiara da Silva Martins (of Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul) and her co-authors focus on cellphone restriction in Brazil during the school day. In a letter published in Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, they report on a longitudinal study involving 1 643 students. “Our findings suggest that school-hour restrictions alone are insufficient to alter the trajectory of internalizing problems like anxiety and withdrawal.”

And in the third selection, from The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Colin M. Shapiro (of the University of Toronto) and his colleagues write about sexsomnia. They note that the condition is more common than previously believed and offer some clinical tips. “For clinicians, the key point is that sexual behaviours during sleep can occur without conscious awareness and should be considered within the broader spectrum of parasomnias during clinical assessment.”

DG

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