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Underused treatments in psychiatry: electroconvulsive therapy, clozapine and lithium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2025

Neil Mayfield Open the ORCID record for Neil Mayfield [Opens in a new window] ,
Suzy Ker  and
Nicola Taylor
Neil Mayfield*
Affiliation:
A consultant in working age adult psychiatry. He has been a principal investigator in several National Institute for Health and Care Research treatment studies involving people with severe mental illness (SMI).
Suzy Ker
Affiliation:
A consultant in working age adult psychiatry. Her research interests focus on inequalities experienced by people with SMI and the role of physical activity in helping people with SMI.
Nicola Taylor
Affiliation:
A consultant in working age adult psychiatry. Her interests are in neurodevelopment and in medical education. She is Deputy Director for Assessment (clinical) at Hull York Medical School, UK, and works at the Mental Health Network North, RAF Leeming, Northallerton, UK.
*
Correspondence Neil Mayfield. Email: neil.mayfield@nhs.net
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Summary

Although fundamental advances in the life sciences raise the exciting possibility of novel translational therapies, optimal evidence-based usage of established treatments should be the bedrock of current clinical care. The authors argue that there are instances where well-established treatments are ‘underused’ in psychiatry; electroconvulsive therapy, clozapine and lithium are exemplars of this. This article explores possible reasons for, and strategies to address, this underuse.

Keywords

Antipsychoticselectroconvulsive therapyevidence-based mental healthmood stabiliserspsychopharmacology

Information

Type
Article
Information
BJPsych Advances , Volume 31 , Issue 5 , September 2025 , pp. 280 - 289
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists

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