It has long been recognised that substance use disorders and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common comorbid conditions. It is clear that treating one condition while leaving the other leads to increased morbidity and mortality in this patient population. However, engaging patients in treatment is extremely challenging, which is a huge public health concern. This article focuses on various sexually transmitted infections seen in the substance misuse population and means of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.

Harm in talking therapies, and in healthcare professionals’ relationships with patients generally, has received little attention in comparison with harm by medication and other treatments. There has been little research into causes, types and effects. Professionals behave as if it does not happen and tend to react defensively to complaints. We believe that it is essential for professionals to understand the potential for harm and evaluate their actions in order to make them safer. This article defines harm in the therapeutic context, discusses its prevalence and then focuses on adverse idealising transference: the adverse effects that may arise when a patient transfers idealising feelings onto the professional.

Most people with schizophrenia have frequent contact with their families. Therefore, the family should be involved in their relative's treatment and care wherever possible, so that they can contribute to that person's recovery and the family's own needs for information, support and treatment can be addressed. Family psychoeducation refers to a group of structured psychotherapeutic interventions that involve the person with schizophrenia and their family as partners in care. Trained practitioners adopt a collaborative approach to information sharing and provide training in coping, communication and problem-solving skills. This article describes the common principles and techniques of family psychoeducation (FPE), along with the substantial evidence for its benefits for families, especially reduced relapse rates for the person with schizophrenia. Despite recommendations in clinical practice guidelines, FPE is not widely available throughout the world. The current challenge is to address this through systemic approaches to practice change and tiered approaches to family service delivery.

This article starts with a brief review of the UK Supreme Court's decision in the Montgomery case. Although much of the focus in discussing the case has been on the disclosure of risk, an important aspect of the model of consent contained in the judgment is that of dialogue. The model of informed consent set out in Montgomery suggests shared decision-making as the norm. Central to shared decision-making, however, is an awareness of values and of how values can vary between people. We introduce values-based practice as an approach that is entirely in keeping with the precepts of the Montgomery judgment. We go on to review how values-based practice and shared decision-making are relevant to psychiatric practice, using as examples recovery practice and compulsory detention under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Owing to the continuing shortage of organs, the demand for transplantation outstrips supply. Liaison psychiatrists, as part of a multidisciplinary team, have a key role in the assessment of transplant candidates and participate in the decision-making process regarding ‘listing’ the patient for transplantation. Psychiatric and psychosocial factors affect prognosis post-transplantation and there are absolute and relative contraindications to transplantation. The skills of the liaison psychiatrist are employed throughout the patient's illness journey, in the pre-, peri- and post-transplantation periods.

‘Deprescribing’ here comprises arguments against treating patients who have been psychotic beyond first episode. Nevertheless, four out of five patients relapse, compared with only two of five still taking medication. However, much first-episode psychosis is not schizophrenia, but persistent substance-induced psychotic disorder. Virtually nothing is known about factors which facilitate this in the minority who develop it, nor how to decide if the patient will relapse off medication. Patients who are well, stable and tolerating minimal doses of medication should be the first to suggest that they try to do without it, not us.

Although cognitive therapy is a promising treatment for depression, high drop-out rates and, conversely, the specific elements that make the intervention effective continue to puzzle practising clinicians. This article discusses both therapist-related factors (including competence and competencies) and patient-related factors (such as engagement in therapy and external logistical problems with attendance) that are related to drop-out and suggests practical ways to address them and improve outcomes. It examines cognitive and behavioural elements of manualised cognitive therapy and discusses findings relating to cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) in particular.

Anorexia nervosa is a potentially fatal illness that affects women and a smaller proportion of men. When a patient becomes so severely ill that admission to a medical unit is required, the risk of a poor outcome is high. Most medical services do not have sufficient expertise, without psychiatric help, to manage the nutritional, medical, behavioural and family problems that often appear. These problems interact and this can adversely affect outcome. This article discusses, with reference to the MARSIPAN report, the procedure that should be followed when such a patient presents to an acute medical service. It considers diagnosis, risk assessment, consent, re-feeding syndrome, underfeeding syndrome and treatment-sabotaging behaviours. It stresses the importance of collaboration between expert medical and psychiatric staff, and involvement of the family. When these issues are adequately addressed, the outcome for the patient is more likely to be positive.

Sexual boundary violations by healthcare professionals is a subject that has largely been ignored in the UK. There has been little research into the field. It is rarely taught on professional training courses and practitioners appear to know very little about it. The history of sexual boundary violations is littered with failures to notice, failures to report and inadequate justice for victims and perpetrators alike. Perpetrators are commonly assumed to be predators. Given the many widely reported recent events in our media of both predatory and other sexual offenders, we believe it is timely for all healthcare and other professions working with vulnerable people to take the problem seriously, to provide appropriate services for victims, evaluation and assessment of perpetrators, and sanctions that fit the crime in order to regain public trust.

Burbach describes the content of a phased approach to delivering family work in psychosis. Clinicians would find it helpful to have guidance on how to address the challenges they face in clinical practice, such as engaging all family members in the process and how to deal with confidentiality conflicts. Implementation challenges are also likely to affect their ability to deliver this intervention. It may also be useful to consider the role that family members can play in co-production and training, and in delivering support to other families through a carer peer support model.

Professionals, patients and patient organisations have advocated for the renaming of ‘schizophrenia’, seeing the term as misleading, stigmatising and a barrier to specialised care. In countries where a name change has occurred (e.g. Japan), the advantages of renaming seem to far outweigh disadvantages. Nevertheless, a name change would be a long and complex process that would not be useful if it were not accompanied by parallel changes in legislation, services and the education of professionals and the public.

In a previous article in this journal, Turkington et al suggested a number of psychological approaches that an individual can use to reduce the distress caused by hearing voices. Despite having popular appeal, only some of these approaches have evidence for their effectiveness. Within a clinical context where few patients with psychosis have access even to evidence-based approaches, the reader is invited to familiarise themselves with the evidence before selecting which approaches to introduce to their patients.

In this commentary, I draw on Hook & Devereux to explore the role of insecure attachment in boundary-violating doctors. I also explore the potential contribution of personality dysfunction in that small proportion of doctors who breach professional boundaries.

When those whom the law terms ‘secondary victims’ – i.e. the passive and unwilling witnesses of injury, or of the threat of it, to others – seek compensation through the courts for the psychiatric injuries that they have suffered (traditionally but confusingly referred to as ‘nervous shock’ claims), there would in theory be the potential for a virtually limitless number of claims. For this reason, the courts have developed and apply a number of, to a large extent, arbitrary ‘control mechanisms’ as floodgates. This article describes these control mechanisms and other relevant law using recent illustrative cases and with particular reference to the assistance that the courts can expect of psychiatrists as to diagnosis and causation.

This article reviews historical contributions to the conceptualisation of narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), including its evolution as a clinical diagnosis within the DSM classification of mental disorders. It discusses the epidemiology and aetiology of NPD, noting that empirical studies of both are limited. The challenges of managing patients with prominent narcissistic traits are presented, and the psychological therapies specifically designed for the treatment of patients with NPD are summarised.

This article looks at the use of large datasets of health records, typically linked with other data sources, in mental health research. The most comprehensive examples of this kind of ‘big data’ are typically found in Scandinavian countries, although there are also many useful sources in the UK. There are a number of promising methodological innovations from studies using big data in UK mental health research, including: hybrid study designs, data linkage and enhanced study recruitment. It is, however, important to be aware of the limitations of research using big data, particularly the various pitfalls in analysis. We therefore caution against abandoning traditional research designs, and argue that other data sources are equally valuable and, ideally, research should incorporate data from a range of sources.

This article is based on our experience of volunteering for the charity Festival Medical Services, to provide mental healthcare at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and the Reading Festival. It describes the history of these annual events and the development of medical and psychiatric services offered. Principles of assessment and management of mental disorder in festival settings are outlined and common psychiatric presentations are described. Legal aspects of care are discussed. The article is intended primarily to inform others of this interesting and unusual form of mental healthcare and we hope that aspects of our experience will prompt reflection on psychiatric practice in other settings.

Malingering is the intentional feigning of illness for external gain. The author has written several papers on the epidemiology, assessment, testing and reporting of this. However, practice in this field can raise considerable challenges, not least the inability to determine motivation for lying, and potential damage from ‘false positives’, where individuals fabricate some aspects of their testimony, yet still have underlying psychiatric problems. This brief article lays out the author's reflections on this complex area.

Clear policies regarding sexual expression, sexual behaviour and related decision-making assist in ensuring that the rights of people with mental disorder or intellectual disability are upheld, and that staff know how to react to situations consistently and lawfully without interfering on the basis of their own moral judgements or personal beliefs. Sensitive and holistic planning of care that complies with domestic law, international human rights law and statutory guidance is necessary to complement such policies. Non-intimate physical contact, masturbation, sexual relationships, contraception, sterilisation and vasectomy, pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, sexual dysfunction, parenthood, marriage and civil partnership, divorce, prostitution, pornography, and sex aids and toys are all matters that may properly be part of care planning.

Holding a medical degree does not magically protect the individual from ever becoming unwell or needing medical help. However, for various reasons, most of which relate to personal, professional and institutional stigma, doctors are often denied the care they so readily provide to their own patients. The author has been running a ‘sick doctor’ service for 10 years and this article describes, from the practitioner-patient perspective, the barriers to care and what can be done to improve doctors' access to services.