Objective An association between bipolar disorder and cognitive impairment has repeatedly been described, even for euthymic patients. Findings are inconsistent both across primary studies and previous meta‐analyses. This study reanalysed 31 primary data sets as a single large sample (N = 2876) to provide a more definitive view. Method Individual patient and control data were obtained from original authors for 11 measures from four common neuropsychological tests: California or Rey Verbal Learning Task (VLT), Trail Making Test (TMT), Digit Span and/or Wisconsin Card Sorting Task. Results Impairments were found for all 11 test‐measures in the bipolar group after controlling for age, IQ and gender (Ps ≤ 0.001, E.S. = 0.26–0.63). Residual mood symptoms confound this result but cannot account for the effect sizes found. Impairments also seem unrelated to drug treatment. Some test‐measures were weakly correlated with illness severity measures suggesting that some impairments may track illness progression. Conclusion This reanalysis supports VLT, Digit Span and TMT as robust measures of cognitive impairments in bipolar disorder patients. The heterogeneity of some test results explains previous differences in meta‐analyses. Better controlling for confounds suggests deficits may be smaller than previously reported but should be tracked longitudinally across illness progression and treatment.

Historical background of long-acting injectable antipsychotics Soon after the introduction of antipsychotics (APs) in the 1950s, poor adherence to oral formulations was found to be a critical issue. This led to the development in 1966 of the first long-acting injectable (LAI) AP fluphenazine enanthate, and fluphenazine decanoate some 18 months later, to reduce the incidence of side effects of the former [Johnson, 2009]. Haloperidol decanoate became available in Europe in 1981 and in the USA in 1986 [Knudsen, 1985]. Clinical trial results showed a dramatic reduction in the morbidity of schizophrenia [Gottfries and Green, 1974; Johnson, 2009]. However, the concept of LAIs for schizophrenia was not initially received warmly by the medical profession for fears of increased side effects, lack of efficacy, and the fact this was seen as an attempt by psychiatrists to impose a treatment upon patients without due regard to their feelings or rights [Johnson, 2009] as well as the potential for medicolegal problems [Glazer and Kane, 1992]. However, with subsequent surveys and trials suggesting their benefits [Rifkin et al. 1977; Schooler et al. 1980; Hogarty et al. 1979], LAIs became more widely adopted. The introduction of the oral second-generation APs (SGAs) brought claims of better tolerance and less severe side effects, even though their use may be hindered by metabolic syndrome [Meyer and Stahl, 2009]. They also have potential to prevent or reverse accelerated frontotemporal cortical grey matter decline, and to provide a greater degree of neuroprotection than first generation APs (FGAs) [Keefe et al. 2004; Robinson et al. 2006]. The introduction of SGAs led to a decline in the use of LAI FGAs [Patel et al. 2003; Patel and David, 2005]. However, it soon became clear that atypical characteristics did not bring better adherence rates with oral SGAs. The recent introduction of LAI SGAs allows psychiatrists once

Like previous pandemics, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has direct and indirect effects, including in mental health. To evaluate the immediate psychological impact of COVID-19, we conducted an online survey in Portugal (24-27 March 2020), using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). From the 10,529 participants (M = 31.33; SD = 9.73), 83.4% were women, had a mean age of 31.2 years, and 70.9% were active workers. Depression, anxiety, and stress were rated as moderate to severe in 11.7%, 16.9%, and 5.6% of the sample, respectively. Moreover, 49.2% of participants reported a moderate or severe psychological impact of the outbreak. Women, the unemployed, those with lower education, living in rural areas, and with flu-like symptoms or chronic disorders were risk factors. Further research is needed to identify vulnerable groups to better inform and adapt mental health policies and interventions.

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Present results support the hypothesis that BDNF normalizes with mood stabilization and pharmacological treatment. Our findings in young and physically healthy patients with short illness duration and few mood episodes may explain the lack of association between serum BDNF levels and neurocognitive performance, even though cognitive performance in patients was overall significantly worse as compared to healthy controls.