The Psych Review

The Psych Review recorded this episode on the final evening of the 2026 RANZCP Congress. Alanna, Milla, and Mazz take us through their highlights. Milla thoughtfully reflects on the mindfulness workshop she attended, Alanna was moved by an experience of the intersection between psychiatry and the arts, and Mazz attended an action packed workshop covering the use of antipsychotic medications in moo...

The Psych Review is back with the first episode of 2026 and the first episode of Season 9! The crew is lead by Greg through a deep dive into potential side effects that can occur in relation to stimulant use. We discuss changes in ADHD assessment and management over the years, and potential consequences related to the increasing use of stimulant medications (including psychosis). The reference for...

In our final episode of 2025 The Psych Review team are lead by Milla down the twisting rabbit hole that is inflammation in neuropsychiatry. The team discuss recent evidence around proposed inflammatory mechanisms that might underpin the psychiatric conditions we discuss every episode. The reference for this episode is: Milla: Upthegrove, Rachel et al. Current Position and Future Direction of Infla...

The Psych Review team are proud to introduce our second new host of 2025 in this episode - Milla! Milla has joined the cast in time for a very important exploration of involuntary psychiatric treatment. Alanna begins with an international perspective comparing different approaches to involuntary treatment worldwide, and Milla follows up with a local perspective from clinicians in Queensland. The r...

In this episode of The Psych Review, a very brave Greg decides to tackle the very large, but also very interesting, 2024 Lancet commission report into dementia prevention, intervention, and care. Jump in to learn about newly discovered and previously unknown dementia risk factors, to understand about the surprisingly large size of the connection between depression and dementia, and to hear Greg ne...

As we move further into the year, 2025 brings further changes to The Psych Review team. This special episode is Shakira's last with the podcast, and we try to mark the occasion with a couple of very interesting and novel articles. Greg walks us through some exciting developments around the potential for GLP-1 receptor antagonists to treat psychosis, and Alanna digs into the complexity of delusions...

The team is back with a brand new host for season 8! Greg bravely steps up to join the team and is unfortunately welcomed by an unexpected salvo fired by Mazz. This month is all about parents and babies, Shakira talks us through a large study looking at outcomes of babies who have parents with criminal convictions, and Mazz leads a discussion about the importance of gendered language in psychiatry...

It's December and as 2024 draws to a close so does year mark the moving on of on one of our founding hosts. It's Dave's last ever episode (for real this time) and we have the whole crew together to send him off. Dave's final article considers the often overlooked importance of exercise in treating psychiatric conditions, and with her article Alanna brings us up to speed on alternate approaches to...

The whole team is together for the latest episode of The Psych Review. Alanna walks us through the latest evidence regarding the association between antipsychotic induced hyperprolactinaemia and risk of breast cancer, and Mazz dusts off an article from 2019 that covers subtle but important and influential games that have been occuring in YOUR supervision sessions. The references for this episode a...

It's August, and Dave, Shakira, and Mazz got together to record the latest episode of The Psych Review. Dave attempts to answer the question: Does moving house damage your children? Shakira's article asks the question: What drives violence in patients in forensic settings? Mazz doesn't ask any intelligent questions, but he does manage to quote Spider-Man. The references for this episode are: Dave:...

July saw the entire cast of The Psych Review get together for the first time in 2024. Mazz walks us through important developments related to sexual side effects of antidepressant medications in the context of a recent Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration announcement, and Shakira talks us through a very useful and thoughtful article that explores 'eight truths' about suicide learned over t...

In May The Psych Review attended the 2024 RANZCP Congress in Canberra and presented a live and interactive episode direct from Ngunnawal Country. Alanna explores the nuance of the digital therapeutic alliance, Shakira broadens our understanding of the impact of racism in the clinical setting, and Dave guides us through a session covering the benefits of heated yoga. The references for this episode...

In the second episode of 2024 Dave and Mazz discuss interesting novel psychiatric interventions. Dave guides us through the promising and cost-effective arts-literacy intervention Pre-Texts in the Kenyan context, and Mazz takes us on a roller-coaster ride through the twists and turns of the development of the novel antipsychotic medication Ulotaront. The references for this episode are: Dave: Osbo...

The Psych Review is back in 2024 and the whole gang is back together - but just not for this episode. Join Shakira, Alanna, and Dave as they get stuck into two new pieces of research. Dave holds our hand through a dense paper covering potential benefits of the suppression of unwanted thoughts, and Alanna explores an unexpected link between psychosis and cats. The references for this episode are: D...

In the seventh episode of this season of The Psych Review the team dig into two papers. Dave reviews recent evidence that compares ketamine and ECT in the treatment of depression, and Alanna investigates the link between prolactin elevating antipsychotics and breast cancer. The references for this episode are: Dave: Anand. A et al. Ketamine versus ECT for nonpsychotic treatment-resistant major dep...

It's episode six of season six of The Psych Review and this month we take a very special trip back in time to look at some classic psychiatric papers. Alanna's is authored by Australia's very own John Cade, and describes his historic discovery of the psychiatric uses of lithium. Dave covers The Rosenham Experiment, by reviewing an incredible article that might just be a bit too good to be true. Th...

In episode five of season six The Psych Review hosts explore two very different topics. Alanna guides us down a very interesting (but very complicated) pathway to learn about Atypical Anorexia, and Dave looks into the methodology underpinning the recent Australian ADHD guidelines. The references for this episode are: Alanna: to be updated. Dave: May T, Birch E, Chaves K, et al. The Australian evid...

This important episode of The Psych Review shines a sobering spotlight on the recent Australian Child Maltreatment Study. The team looks at the study as a whole including the reasons as to why study was created, as well as the individual papers that have used the study data to investigate more specific associations. This episode contains some very concerning statistics related to child maltreatmen...

It's the third episode of season six and The Psych Review is thinking about the future. Dave is looking ahead as he talks about climate change and it's potential impacts on mental health, and Mazz is focussing on an impending deadline as he walks us through the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act that is due to become active later this year. The references for this episode are: Dave: Patrick, R.,...

The Psych Review has recorded this very special episode at the 2023 RANZCP Congress on Whadjuk country in Perth, Western Australia. Dave and Mazz hide in a vacant seminar room to discuss their impressions of the congress, and Mazz takes us through some important learnings from a workshop on Good Psychiatric Management of borderline personality disorder. The workshop covered in this episode was: Go...

The Psych Review is back in force in 2023, with the entire cast returning for what is shaping up to be an epic season six. In the first episode of this season Dave digs into the largest ever depression focussed genome wide association study and discovers some new significant genetic loci for depression, and Alanna talks us through the recent Therapeutic Goods Administration approval of Psychedelic...

It's episode 3 of season 5! We're finishing off the season with a discussion about polypharmacy in the forensic setting and biomarkers for FND in children. The references for this episode are: Farrell, C., & Brink, J. (2020). The Prevalence and Factors Associated With Antipsychotic Polypharmacy in a Forensic Psychiatric Sample. Frontiers in psychiatry , 11 , 263. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt....

It's episode 2 of season 5! Shakira walks us through 'concept creep', and Alanna discusses the relationship between PTSD and dementia. (And we dip our toe into some statistics...) The references for this episode are: Jackson, H. J., & Haslam, N. (2022). Ill-defined: Concepts of mental health and illness are becoming broader, looser, and more benign. Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal...

It's the (long awaited, we're sure!) first episode of season 5. Alanna talks about the evidence of the use of LAIs in the old age population and Shakira walks us through pathways to care in first generation migrants. The references for this episode are: Doolabh, U., & Yeap, S. (2022). Examining long-acting injectable antipsychotic (depot) medication in the elderly: a five-year retrospective cr...

It's the final episode of season four, and Mazz's final episode on the show! Shakira walks us through new methods of supporting prisoners who are dependent on opioids, Alanna dives into the sociocultural milieu that exists around people with anorexia nervosa, and Mazz takes us step by step through a new approach to dealing with loneliness. The references for this episode are: - Shakira: Russ S, An...