Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare but potentially fatal adverse event associated with the use of antipsychotics. Although atypical antipsychotics were initially considered to carry no risk of NMS, reports have accumulated over time implicating them in NMS causation. Almost all atypical antipsychotics have been reported to be associated with NMS. The clinical profile of NMS caused by certain atypical antipsychotics such as clozapine has been reported to be considerably different from the NMS produced by typical antipsychotics, with diaphoresis encountered more commonly, and rigidity and tremor encountered less frequently. This article briefly discusses the evidence relating to the occurrence, presentation and management of NMS induced by atypical antipsychotics.

Lithium is an established treatment for bipolar disorder and an augmenting agent for treatment-resistant depression. Despite awareness of renal adverse effects, including chronic kidney disease, for the past five decades, there has been a lack of research evidence. This has led to debates around the existence and magnitude of the risk. This article discusses the current evidence base regarding the link between lithium and chronic kidney disease, monitoring of renal functions and its clinical implications.

The use of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in assessing decision-making capacity in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) is inconsistent. We believe this may stem from persisting confusion regarding the nosological status of personality disorder and also a failure to recognise the fact that emotional dysregulation and characteristic psychodynamic abnormalities may cause substantial difficulties in using and weighing information. Clearer consensus on these issues is required in order to provide consistent patient care and reduce uncertainty for clinicians in what are often emergency and high-stakes clinical scenarios.

The majority of patients respond to antipsychotic monotherapy at standard doses, but a subset of patients will require more heroic measures that include antipsychotic polypharmacy and high-dose monotherapy. Indeed, research has shown that roughly 30% of patients with psychosis are prescribed multiple antipsychotic medications. We discuss the potential benefits and challenges of these approaches and provide a rationale for why and when they should be utilised.

The World Health Organization report Preventing Suicide: A Global Imperative provides governments with guidance for comprehensive suicide prevention strategies. However, it does not mention the role that compulsory admission to hospital of psychiatric patients should have in policies for suicide prevention. This was a missed opportunity for international discussion and guidance about a measure that, although widely used, is becoming increasingly controversial in light of the existing evidence and human rights norms.

Ambulatory deep brain stimulation (DBS) became possible in the late 1980s and was initially used to treat people with movement disorders. Trials of DBS in people with treatment-resistant psychiatric disorder began in the late 1990s, initially focusing on obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder and Tourette syndrome. Despite methodological issues, including small participant numbers and lack of consensus over brain targets, DBS is now being trialled in a wide range of psychiatric conditions. There has also been more modest increase in ablative procedures. This paper reviews these developments in the light of contemporary brain science, considers future directions and discusses why the approach has not been adopted more widely within psychiatry.

Shared decision-making is a collaborative process in which clinicians and patients make treatment decisions together. Although it is considered essential to patient-centred care, the adoption of shared decision-making into routine clinical practice has been slow, and there is a need to increase implementation. This paper describes the development and delivery of a training intervention to promote shared decision-making in medication management in mental health as part of the Shared Involvement in Medication Management Education (ShIMME) project. Three stakeholder groups (service users, care coordinators and psychiatrists) received training in shared decision-making, and their feedback was evaluated. The programme was mostly well received, with all groups rating interaction with peers as the best aspect of the training. This small-scale pilot shows that it is feasible to deliver training in shared decision-making to several key stakeholders. Larger studies will be required to assess the effectiveness of such training.

Niemann–Pick type C (NP-C) disease is a rare neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder. It is highly heterogeneous, and there is limited awareness of a substantial subgroup that has an attenuated adolescent/adult-onset disease. In these patients psychiatric features, often a psychosis, may dominate the initial impression, although often there is an associated ataxia and cognitive impairment. Typically, patients experience a substantial diagnostic delay. In this review we highlight the importance of early recognition and discuss the pathophysiology, neuropsychiatric presentation and recent changes in the investigation and work-up of these patients, and treatment options.

The nature of perception has fascinated philosophers for centuries, and has more recently been the focus of research in psychology and neuroscience. Many psychiatric disorders are characterised by perceptual abnormalities, ranging from sensory distortions to illusions and hallucinations. The distinction between normal and abnormal perception is, however, hard to articulate. In this article we argue that the distinction between normal perception and abnormal perception is best seen as a quantitative one, resting on the degree to which the observer's prior expectations influence perceptual inference. We illustrate this point with an example taken from researchers at Google working on computer vision.

Mental health legislation in Northern Ireland has always been separate from legislation in the rest of the UK; the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order (MHO) had been in place since 1986. In common with other jurisdictions, this legislation utilises the presence of mental disorder and risk as criteria for detention and involuntary treatment. The MHO has been replaced by the Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (MCA), an example of ‘fusion’ legislation in which impairment of decision-making capacity and best interests are the only criteria to be used when making decisions across health and social care. In this paper, we outline the development of the MCA to date, and discuss its potential to improve mental healthcare by placing the treatment of mental illness within the same legislative framework as physical illnesses.

This paper discusses the research supporting the use of multi-source feedback (MSF) for doctors and describes the mini-Peer Assessment Tool (mini-PAT), the MSF instrument currently used to assess trainees in child and adolescent psychiatry. The relevance of issues raised in the literature about MSF tools in general is examined in relation to trainees in child and adolescent psychiatry as well as the appropriateness of the mini-PAT for this group. Suggestions for change including modifications to existing MSF tools or the development of a specialty-specific MSF instrument are offered.

Efforts to assess and improve the quality of mental health services are often hampered by a lack of information on patient outcomes. Most mental health services in England have been routinely collecting Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) data for some time. In this article we illustrate how clinical teams have used HoNOS data to identify areas where performance could be improved. HoNOS data have the potential to give clinical teams the information they need to assess the quality of care they deliver, as well as develop and test initiatives aimed at improving the services they provide.