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Reading of the Week: Yoga vs CBT – What’s Best for Anxiety? (JAMA Psych) Also, COVID & Mental Health (Lancet Psych) and Whitley on Cannabis Stigma (Van Sun)

From the Editor

Anxiety disorders are common, and often disabling to our patients. While treatments have improved, there is unmet need – and the desire to find new, scalable interventions. Increasingly, our patients look to different types of treatments, like yoga. But is trendy effective? Is yoga the not-so-new intervention we need?

Dr. Naomi M. Simon (of New York University) and her co-authors look at the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder with a sophisticated study. They compare yoga and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) against a psychological control condition, and against each other. So how do the treatments compare? “Kundalini yoga can reduce anxiety for adults with generalized anxiety disorder, but study results support CBT remaining first-line treatment.” We look at the big study and its big implications.

What have we learned about COVID-19 and mental health? In the second selection, we consider a new editorial from The Lancet Psychiatry. Mulling the state of the literature after almost a year of the pandemic, they write: “The good news is that by October, 2020, mental health was top of the charts in terms of published papers and preprints on the effects of COVID-19. The bad news is that the quantity of papers is not matched by quality.”

And in our final selection, we consider an essay by Rob Whitley (of McGill University). He notes that 27% of Canadians had used cannabis in the last year, about half of them for medical reasons. He worries about the stigma around medical cannabis and champions more public education. “This can help create a climate of acceptance and inclusion for the growing number of Canadians with mental illness who use cannabis to improve their well-being.”

On another note: in a past Reading, we featured an essay by Toronto filmmaker Rebeccah Love who wrote about her mental illness. Her new film, “Parlour Love,” has its premiere this Saturday at 7 pm EST through Zoom. In this short, powerful film, she draws from her own experiences of bipolar mania and psychosis, and paints a portrait of a woman in crisis. RSVP – palmpremiere@gmail.com.

Reading of the Week: COVID and a Mental-Health Second Wave; Also, Harry Potter & Suicide Prevention (CJP), and Bennett on Bipolar (Walrus)

October 22, 2020 / David Gratzer / Comments Off

From the Editor

There are more COVID-19 cases in the community – and in our hospitals and ICUs. What does it mean for mental health?

This week, we have three selections.

In the first, published in JAMA, Dr. Naomi M. Simon (of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine) and her co-authors write about the pandemic and the implications for mental health. They argue that there will be a second wave of mental health problems. “The magnitude of this second wave is likely to overwhelm the already frayed mental health system, leading to access problems, particularly for the most vulnerable persons.” Are they right – and what’s to be done?

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In the second selection, we look at a research letter from The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Paula Conforti (of the University of Toronto) and her co-authors consider a CBT intervention for school-age children to reduce suicidality and increase wellbeing. There’s a twist in the plot: the intervention is based on a Harry Potter novel. “This study found that a teacher-delivered, literature-based CBT skills curriculum was feasible and associated with reduced suicidality (ideation and behavior) in middle school-aged youth.”

Finally, in our third selection, we consider an essay by Andrea Bennett. In this Walrus essay, the writer discusses the possible link between bipolar and creativity. The essay is deeply personal. “I don’t dream about not being bipolar, because I don’t know where my self ends and where the illness begins – and if there is even really a difference.”

Reading of the Week: Is CBD Useful for Mood Disorders? The New CJP Paper. Also, Peer Support and Online CBT (Psych Services) & the Art of Daniel Regan

February 6, 2020 / David Gratzer / Comments Off

From the Editor

This week, we have three selections.

With the legalization of cannabis, many big claims haven been made about the medicinal aspects of this drug – including by industry. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is often touted as being helpful yet non-addictive (in contrast to THC, the more famous cannabis molecule). In the first selection, UBC’s Jairo Vinícius Pinto and his co-authors consider cannabidiol in the treatment of mood disorders, reviewing the existing literature. Does CBD help? “The methodology varied in several aspects and the level of evidence is not enough to support its indication as a treatment for mood disorders.”

In the second selection, the University of Michigan’s Paul N. Pfeiffer and his co-authors try to improve depression treatment outcomes by combining a cutting-edge psychotherapy (CBT, delivered by computer) with a not-so-cutting edge approach (peer support). They conclude that the intervention “should be considered as an initial treatment enhancement to improve effectiveness of primary care treatment of depression.”

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And in the third selection, we look at the work of artist Daniel Regan, which is featured on the front cover of February issue of The Lancet Psychiatry. He notes: “I really think if I hadn’t gone on to study photography, I wouldn’t be here.” Featured above is “Abandoned,” part of a series of photos from Victorian-era asylums in the UK.

Reading of the Week: CBT for Depression – What Really Works? The New JAMA Psychiatry Paper

April 25, 2019 / David Gratzer / Comments Off

From the Editor

“It changed my life.”

A few years ago, a patient described to me how helpful cognitive behavioural therapy was for him. CBT wasn’t his only treatment – he had a couple of medication trials – but he found the psychotherapy to be very helpful.

Others have had a similar experience, but CBT isn’t widely available in Canada; Puyat et al. found in a Canadian Journal of Psychiatry paper that the vast majority of people with depression don’t receive any form of psychotherapy or counseling. How can we address this access gap? Could different forms of CBT work including those that are less resource intensive? What to make of self-help?

In this Reading, we consider a new paper by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam’s Pim Cuijpers and his co-authors that seeks to answer these questions. They use a network meta-analysis to compare five treatment formats with each other and control conditions (waiting list, care as usual, and pill placebo). Their conclusion: “This study suggests that group, telephone, and guided self-help treatments are effective interventions that may be considered as alternatives to individual CBT.”

dr-aaron-beck-at-work-595048284-5af62b4dae9ab80036aca7fa Aaron Beck: How to deliver the CBT he has championed (and should we all wear a bow tie)?

In this Reading, we consider the big paper and its big result, and the accompanying editorial by the University of Pittsburgh’s Dr. Holly A. Swartz and Jay Fournier.

Reading of the Week: Appointment Letters & Focused Therapies – Thinking Outside the Box

August 30, 2018 / David Gratzer / Comments Off

From the Editor

When we speak of improving the quality of mental health care, we often think about cutting-edge innovation – wearables, virtual reality, genetics, to name a few things.

This week, there are two selections. Both discuss innovations aimed at improving care – but neither could be considered particularly “cutting edge.”

In the first selection, researchers sought to improve outpatient appointment attendance with a decidedly low-tech idea: appointment letters reminding patients of the importance of follow up. Spoiler alert: it worked.

In the second selection, drawn from The New York Times, reporter Andrea Petersen discusses clinics that use a short, intense version of CBT.

Together, these two selections illustrate some thinking outside the box.

Our Globe Essay: “For better mental-health care in Canada, look to Britain”

December 24, 2017 / David Gratzer / Comments Off

It may be the biggest change to mental-health-care services in five decades. Earlier this month, Quebec Minister of Health Gaétan Barrette announced that his province would publicly fund psychotherapy for people with depression and anxiety provided by psychologists, nurses and social workers. Ontario made a similar, if smaller, promise earlier this year and other provinces are considering similar initiatives. But how can we turn these big promises into big help for the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who could benefit? Two words of advice: go British.

So begins my new op ed, co-written with CAMH’s David Goldbloom, from Monday’s Globe and Mail.

The full piece can be found here:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/for-better-mental-health-care-in-canada-look-to-britain/article37358415/

Reading of the Week: Better Sleep, Less Psychosis? The Freeman et al. Study on Sleep & CBT

November 16, 2017 / David Gratzer / Comments Off

From the Editor

If students sleep better, are they less likely to have mental health problems like paranoia?

In this week’s Reading, we look at a new study from The Lancet Psychiatry. In this single-blind, randomized controlled trial, Oxford professor Daniel Freeman et al. consider students from 26 universities with insomnia, assigning them CBT (offered over the internet) or the usual care.

Spoiler alert: the students with CBT did better.

Sleep: good for babies, teddy bears, and students

In this Reading, we review that paper and consider the broader implications.

Reading of the Week: “Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy the Gold Standard for Psychotherapy?” JAMA on Psychotherapy

October 12, 2017 / David Gratzer / Comments Off

From the Editor

Is CBT overrated? The authors of a new JAMA paper raise this question in a cutting Viewpoint.

In this two-part Reading of the Week series, we look at two papers, both published in JAMA. These Viewpoint pieces make interesting, provocative arguments.

Last week, we looked at conversational agents.

This week, we ask: is CBT really the gold standard for psychotherapy?

University of Giessen’s Falk Leichsenring and Medical School Berlin’s Christiane Steinert consider CBT and the research that has been done in the area. “CBT is usually considered the gold standard for the psychotherapeutic treatment of many or even most mental disorders.” But should it be? Leichsenring and Steinert argue no.

Aaron Beck: Great bowtie, but is his CBT really so great?

In this Reading, we review their paper, and consider their argument.

Reading of the Week: Stressed & Expensive – the Chiu et al. Study on the Health-Care Costs of Distress and Depression

September 21, 2017 / David Gratzer / Comments Off

From the Editor

He isn’t able to work. He often can’t get out of bed. His partner is beside herself. And his diabetic management is poor.

He’s the sort of patient who we see often – in specialist offices (like mine) and in family medicine clinics, and also in emergency departments and on hospital wards. His depression is affecting his life, his family, his workplace – and, yes, his health. Here’s a quick question: how much higher are his health-care costs than those who don’t struggle with depression?

In this week’s selection, we look at a new paper by Maria Chiu et al., considering the costs of depression and distress.

Distress and depression: Painful to patients – and costly to the system?

In this Reading, we review the paper, and consider the larger context.

Public Coverage for Evidenced-based Therapies for Depression and Anxiety?

September 19, 2017 / David Gratzer / Comments Off

Should there be public coverage for evidenced-based psychotherapies for major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder? The Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee recommended yes in a new draft paper, and gave comment on ways of doing this.

The Committee asked for public feedback. In my submission, I noted: “The recommendations of the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee are reasonable and thoughtful.”

You can find my full submission here:

gratzer-ohtac-submission

Dr. David Gratzer

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TagCBT

Reading of the Week: Yoga vs CBT – What’s Best for Anxiety? (JAMA Psych) Also, COVID & Mental Health (Lancet Psych) and Whitley on Cannabis Stigma (Van Sun)

Reading of the Week: COVID and a Mental-Health Second Wave; Also, Harry Potter & Suicide Prevention (CJP), and Bennett on Bipolar (Walrus)

Reading of the Week: Is CBD Useful for Mood Disorders? The New CJP Paper. Also, Peer Support and Online CBT (Psych Services) & the Art of Daniel Regan

Reading of the Week: CBT for Depression – What Really Works? The New JAMA Psychiatry Paper

Reading of the Week: Appointment Letters & Focused Therapies – Thinking Outside the Box

Our Globe Essay: “For better mental-health care in Canada, look to Britain”

Reading of the Week: Better Sleep, Less Psychosis? The Freeman et al. Study on Sleep & CBT

Reading of the Week: “Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy the Gold Standard for Psychotherapy?” JAMA on Psychotherapy

Reading of the Week: Stressed & Expensive – the Chiu et al. Study on the Health-Care Costs of Distress and Depression

Public Coverage for Evidenced-based Therapies for Depression and Anxiety?