The Lancet Psychiatry in conversation with

How can you stop traumatic flashbacks in just one session?

Intrusive memories are so common after experiencing traumatic events and are one of the hallmark features of PTSD, but what if you could take away the power of those images without having to discuss them at length in therapy? In this episode, Emily Holmes talks about a new randomised controlled trial of an imagery-competing task, where participants are taught in just one guided session to recall a traumatic memory and then use mental rotation and playing Tetris, which had a strong effect on reducing intrusive memories and PTSD symptoms.  We talk about the neuroscience-informed development of this approach to trauma, and the importance of finding scalable and accessible approaches in psychological intervention research. 
Click here to read the full article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(25)00397-9/fulltext
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Can personality disorder treatments be reduced to just a few months?

The evidence base for personality disorder treatments, like dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) or mentalisation-based treatment (MBT), points towards treatments that last at least a year. Within the mental health field in general, though, in many countries there's a drive towards offering shorter treatments. But how short is too short, considering the needs of people with personality-related difficulties and the challenges in developing a therapeutic relationship?

In this episode, Mike Crawford talks about a new study into a treatment of just 10 sessions using Structured Psychological Support, which draws on elements of DBT and MBT. We talk about the language used around personality disorder, how caution is now needed in reducing treatment duration, and about what to take forwards from this study for future treatment development.

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https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(25)00372-4/fulltext
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How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect mental health? 
Now that some years have passed since the pandemic's height, we can learn more from synthesising all the evidence about its shorter and longer term effects. 
In this episode, Ethelreda Nakimuli and Peter Jones talk about two new papers that gather the past 5 years of work on the pandemic and mental health and policy approaches. They talk about the different effects of the pandemic on different groups' mental health, how mental health care was affected, and about what we can learn for future crises about different types of public health response to the pandemic.
Click here to read the full articles:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(25)00247-0 /fulltext
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(25)00358-X/fulltext
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Body dissatisfaction has been rising among adolescents in recent years, and so have symptoms and diagnoses of mental disorders. To help us know what to do about increasing youth mental ill health, we need better understandings of what is driving it, but causal factors are hard to pin down. 
In this episode, Ilaria Costantini and Francesca Solmi talk about their new study that uses a longitudinal twin study to disentangle the genetic and environmental factors in the associations between adolescent body dissatisfaction and later symptoms of eating disorder and depression. We think about why body dissatisfaction is such a key factor and talk about ways it could be tackled.
Click here to read the full article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(25)00333-5/fulltext?dgcid=tlcom_podcast_acq-december25_lanpsy
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Weight gain is a typical side-effect of taking antipsychotics and can have a big impact on people. But for young people with bipolar disorder, metformin isn't commonly prescribed alongside an antipsychotic. In this episode, Melissa DelBello describes a huge randomised trial in the USA on metformin for young people with bipolar disorder taking antipsychotics, looking at its effects over a 2-year period.
Click here to read the full article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(25)00273-1/fulltext
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