A 254-person FaceYourFears moderator analysis found that people with schizophrenia-spectrum paranoia and higher avolition or moderate-to-high delusion severity may improve more with virtual-reality CBT than with standard CBT for psychosis.1 The result is useful as a treatment-matching hypothesis, not as a rule that assigns patients to a headset. Research Highlights 254 participants were analyzed: 128 …
A 2026 meta-analysis of 8 controlled trials found that AVATAR therapy reduced auditory verbal hallucination severity after treatment, Hedges’ g = −0.40, 95% CI −0.54 to −0.25, across 978 participants.1 The signal is real, but the strongest reading is short-term symptom calibration rather than a finished replacement for standard psychosis care. Research Highlights Voice severity …
A 2026 systematic review argues that catatonia should be read as a limbic-cortical circuit syndrome, with motor shutdown tied to brain systems for threat, salience, motivation, and emotional regulation. Research Highlights 20 studies met criteria: the 2026 review screened 1,792 records, assessed 54 full texts, and included 20 articles: 13 observational studies and 7 case …
Community forensic mental health services are supposed to bridge secure hospitals, prisons, community psychiatry, and risk management. A 2026 mapping study of England found that these services still vary substantially in structure, referral routes, psychological treatments, and the way they handle restricted patients.1 Research Highlights 32 services were mapped: Freedom of Information responses from NHS …
A 244-person functional MRI study found no significant evidence that ventral striatum activation during reward anticipation works as an endophenotype — a measurable trait used to connect inherited risk with diagnosed illness — for bipolar and psychotic disorders. Research Highlights The registered hypothesis failed: Barendse et al. found no significant ventral striatum reward-anticipation difference among …
Clozapine has been the most effective antipsychotic in schizophrenia for almost 40 years, yet it is still routinely held back until patients have failed multiple alternatives over many years — a “third-line, after years of failure” default that a 2026 Current Opinion review by Davani et al. argues is no longer supported by the evidence.1 …
A 2026 SEEearly baseline report found that 53.3% of 184 young people with early schizophrenia-spectrum psychosis were not in employment, education, or training at study entry, even though 97.8% had at least a lower- or upper-secondary school-leaving qualification.1 Psychosis had already interrupted the bridge from school into training, college, or competitive work. Research Highlights NEET …