Does lithium prevent suicide? A large trial complicates an old belief
Older meta-analyses linked lithium to fewer suicides. A randomised trial in 519 US veterans, stopped early for futility, found no such benefit when it was added to usual care.
Ketamine beat midazolam in treatment-resistant bipolar depression
In the Ket-BD trial, four IV ketamine infusions over two weeks lowered depression scores more than an active placebo, with no manic switches observed in 63 analysed patients.
GLP-1 drugs, death rates and serious mental illness: a very large, very soft signal
A 1.5-million-person records study reports lower mortality with GLP-1 drugs than with SGLT2 inhibitors, and the largest absolute gains in people with serious mental illness. The design cannot prove it.
Severe mental illness in Europe: 2.6 times the death rate, mostly physical disease
A registry study spanning 4.9 million people separates where the most deaths occur from where the inequality is largest. Heart disease and lung disease give different answers.
Psychedelics triggered mania in up to 30% of naturalistic bipolar cases, rarely in trials
A review pooling 23 studies found risk concentrated among people with bipolar I disorder, family history, or unsupervised use. About 4% later transitioned to bipolar disorder.
Clozapine outperformed other antipsychotics across six diagnoses — but not in BPD
A within-individual analysis of 505,474 people in Finland and Sweden found lower psychiatric hospitalisation on clozapine in every disorder studied except borderline personality disorder, with no excess mortality signal.