The Mental Elf

The Mental Elf Helping you keep up to date with mental health research, policy and guidance Welcome to the Mental Elf. No bias, no misinformation, no spin, just what you need.

Our website will help you find just what you need to keep up-to-date with all of the important and reliable mental health research and guidance. Our team of mental health experts post blogs every week day with short and snappy summaries that highlight evidence-based publications relevant to mental health practice in the UK and further afield. We scour over 500 sources of evidence (journals, databa

ses, websites) every week, to find key guidance, systematic reviews and other high quality research and reports that will help make your practice more evidence-based. The selection process has no input from any external bodies, publishers, sponsors or commercial organisations. http://www.nationalelfservice.net/mental-health/

❓ Two people walk into the same substance use service. Does their s*x change what else ends up in their notes?📋 Research...
11/09/2026

❓ Two people walk into the same substance use service. Does their s*x change what else ends up in their notes?

📋 Researchers looked at the records of 58,000 US adults in treatment for opioid, alcohol or cannabis problems.

💭 Women were more likely to have anxiety, depression or trauma recorded alongside.

🔄 With opioids and cannabis, men were more likely to have psychosis.

🤝 Neither group carried more mental health difficulty. It was just different.

https://buff.ly/BqWqFeC

Is it possible to predict who is at risk of su***de?For years the answer has been no better than a coin toss.🔎 A new rev...
10/09/2026

Is it possible to predict who is at risk of su***de?
For years the answer has been no better than a coin toss.

🔎 A new review of 167 prediction models challenges that. A handful perform well enough to take seriously, and the authors say blanket criticism of these tools is not evidence-based.

The catch: most have never been tested outside the data that built them.

🕊️ Timely reading on World Su***de Prevention Day.

https://buff.ly/HTJANUf

***dePrevention ***dePreventionDay

🏫 What if a diagnosis says as much about a young person's world as about the young person?👥 Researchers studying teenage...
09/09/2026

🏫 What if a diagnosis says as much about a young person's world as about the young person?

👥 Researchers studying teenage boys in detention found those with conduct disorder and limited prosocial emotions were more often excluded from school, less engaged with treatment, and more likely to be around peers who had been in custody.

📊 Those differences were not simply a matter of more severe symptoms.

🌱 Support that only looks inward may be missing half the picture.

https://buff.ly/zfY8ZWb

🌍 When a flood or a heatwave hits, does everyone recover at the same rate?Researchers pulled together 32 studies looking...
08/09/2026

🌍 When a flood or a heatwave hits, does everyone recover at the same rate?

Researchers pulled together 32 studies looking at the mental health of people who had lived through floods, cyclones, wildfires and heatwaves. Most found that those with the least money and the least secure housing reported the worst depression, anxiety and PTSD afterwards.

🏘️ Climate resilience planning needs to include mental health support.

https://buff.ly/2gNXW5z

❓ Would you want to know your chances of developing depression next year?Researchers asked 25 young people in the UK wha...
07/09/2026

❓ Would you want to know your chances of developing depression next year?

Researchers asked 25 young people in the UK what they thought about tools that try to predict exactly that. Most were open to the idea.

What worried them was everything around it: where the data comes from, who can see it, and whether being labelled 'at risk' might follow them around.

🤝 They want to help build these tools, not just be measured by them.

https://buff.ly/UQ9jS5S

☕ Does your morning cup do anything for your brain?A huge US study followed more than 130,000 people for up to 43 years....
04/09/2026

☕ Does your morning cup do anything for your brain?

A huge US study followed more than 130,000 people for up to 43 years. Those who drank a couple of cups of coffee or tea a day were less likely to develop dementia. Decaf made no difference.

Reassuring, but not proof. Coffee drinkers differ from non-drinkers in lots of ways that are hard to measure.

Enjoy your brew, and keep walking too.

https://buff.ly/lUOcjlu

🥗 What would you want researchers to find out?People taking medication for severe mental illness are often told to watch...
03/09/2026

🥗 What would you want researchers to find out?

People taking medication for severe mental illness are often told to watch their weight and their blood sugar. Both matter. But when patients, carers and clinicians were asked what research should tackle next, they wanted something else measured too: whether looking after metabolic health also helps people feel better, think more clearly and get more out of their days.

💚 Their priorities are now published.

https://buff.ly/NwciamN

🇦🇺 What happens when a country bans under-16s from social media?Australia tried it. Three months on, 86% of under-16s ha...
02/09/2026

🇦🇺 What happens when a country bans under-16s from social media?

Australia tried it. Three months on, 86% of under-16s had still been on at least one of the banned platforms in the previous week, using borrowed accounts, fake accounts or a private browser.

📱 The study never measured mental health, even though protecting young people's mental health is the main reason the ban exists.

https://buff.ly/8RZSEPT

Does the pressure to do well at school follow young people into adulthood?🎓 Researchers tracked nearly 5,000 young peopl...
31/08/2026

Does the pressure to do well at school follow young people into adulthood?

🎓 Researchers tracked nearly 5,000 young people in England from age 15 onwards. Those who felt more pressured by schoolwork reported more symptoms of depression, and that pattern was still there years later when they were in their twenties.

The study cannot prove that pressure caused the difficulties, but it is a reminder that exam years leave a mark.

https://buff.ly/HEKdYwB

What should good mental health crisis care actually achieve?🌳 Open Dialogue tries to answer that by changing how service...
29/08/2026

What should good mental health crisis care actually achieve?

🌳 Open Dialogue tries to answer that by changing how services work: responding quickly, keeping the same people involved, bringing in family and friends, and making decisions together.

The first big NHS trial has now reported. It did not delay relapse. But far fewer people ended up in hospital, and they felt better about the care they got.

https://buff.ly/mp8StLn

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