MAIN PROJECTS
The i4i Mental Health Challenge Award: Immersive virtual reality to transform the lives of patients with psychosis
NHS NIHR Research Professorship: Overcoming Persecutory Delusions
Oxford Virtual Reality (VR) for Mental Health
The Feeling Safe Study
Immersive Virtual Reality Cognitive Treatment (VRCT) for persecutory delusions
Daniel Freeman
PhD DClinPsy CPsychol FBPsS
Professor of Clinical Psychology
- Lead, Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP)
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator
- Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Founder of Oxford VR
- Fellow, University College Oxford
- Fellow, British Psychological Society
Follow Daniel Freeman on Twitter
Research Group: Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP)
BBC Radio 4 Series: A History of Delusions
The purpose of my work is to make significant advances in the understanding and treatment of mental health disorders, particularly the problem of paranoia. Drawing on a variety of approaches, including epidemiological studies, psychological experiments, clinical trials, and a ground-breaking virtual reality laboratory, I use the theoretical knowledge to develop carefully tested psychological treatments that will truly make a difference.
At the moment several randomised controlled treatment trials are in progress. This includes a test of a new targeted, personalised psychological treatment for persecutory delusions, called the Feeling Safe Programme. This is a translational treatment built upon advances by my research group in the theoretical understanding of paranoia. The target is a recovery rate of 50% for persecutory delusions that have not responded to previous treatment. There are also a number of studies running that will lead to a greater understanding of the causes of psychotic experiences. The research is supported by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR), UK Medical Research Council (MRC), and the Wellcome Trust.
I pioneered the use of virtual reality (VR) to assess, understand, and treat paranoia. Subsequently I have led work designing and testing new automated VR psychological therapies for mental health disorders. The aim is to produce VR therapies that produce greater clinical effects than face-to-face therapies. I founded and am a non-executive board member of Oxford VR, a spinout company from the University. Oxford VR built on my research into the use of virtual reality to understand and treat psychological disorders. I founded the company in 2016 with Jason Freeman, Mel Slater, Bernhard Spanlang, and Mavi Sánchez-Vives.
I’m also committed to making knowledge of the best psychological research and treatments for mental health problems available to the general public. Therefore I’ve written a number of popular science books on mental health issues. The latest to appear is The Stressed Sex: Uncovering the Truth about Men, Women, and Mental Health, which sets out to answer a simple, but crucial, question: are rates of psychological disorder different for men and women? This important issue has been largely ignored in all the debates raging about gender differences.
I studied natural sciences at the University of Cambridge, completed a PhD and a doctorate in clinical psychology (DClinPsy) at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, then held a Wellcome Trust Fellowship and a Medical Research Council Senior Clinical Fellowship. In 2011 I moved to the University of Oxford and set up the Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP) research group. From 2015-2020 I was an NIHR Research Professor. I am the recipient of the 2020 British Psychological Society Presidents' Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychological Knowledge.
Recent open access papers
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the UK
Injection fears and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
Sleep disturbance and psychiatric disorders
Automated virtual reality cognitive therapy for patients with psychosis
Automated psychological therapy using virtual reality (VR) for patients with persecutory delusions
Coronavirus conspiracy beliefs, mistrust, and compliance with government guidelines in England
Automated psychological therapy using immersive VR for treatment of fear of heights
Virtual reality in the assessment, understanding, and treatment of mental health disorders
Treatable clinical intervention targets for patients with schizophrenia
The weeks before 100 persecutory delusions
The effects of improving sleep on mental health (OASIS)
Persecutory delusions: a cognitive perspective on understanding and treatment [pdf]
Suicidal ideation and behaviour in patients with persecutory delusions
The Dunn Worry Questionnaire and the Paranoia Worries Questionnaire: new assessments of worry
The revised Green et al., Paranoid Thoughts Scale (R-GPTS)
Virtual reality in the treatment of persecutory delusions
The concomitants of conspiracy concerns
Effects of cognitive behaviour therapy for worry on persecutory delusions (WIT)
Targeting recovery in persistent persecutory delusions
Advances in understanding and treating persecutory delusions
Height, social comparison, and paranoia: an immersive virtual reality experimental study
Key publications
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2022), Lancet Psychiatry
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2021), Lancet Psychiatry, 8, 696 - 707
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Freeman D. et al, (2021), Lancet Public Health
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Freeman D. et al, (2021), Psychol Med, 1 - 24
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Freeman D. et al, (2020), Psychol Med, 1 - 15
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2020), Lancet Psychiatry, 7, 628 - 637
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Freeman D. et al, (2018), Lancet Psychiatry, 5, 625 - 632
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Freeman D. et al, (2017), Lancet Psychiatry, 4, 749 - 758
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Freeman D. et al, (2017), Psychol Med, 47, 2393 - 2400
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Freeman D., (2016), Lancet Psychiatry, 3, 685 - 692
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Freeman D. et al, (2016), Br J Psychiatry, 209, 62 - 67
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Freeman D. et al, (2015), Lancet Psychiatry, 2, 305 - 313
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Freeman D. et al, (2015), Lancet Psychiatry, 2, 975 - 983
Recent publications
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Grech L. et al, (2022), Behavioral Medicine, 1 - 10
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Journal article
Greenwood KE. et al, (2022), Psychol Psychother
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Preprint
Brown P. et al, (2022)
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Journal article
Brown P. et al, (2022), JMIR Form Res, 6
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Journal article
Waite F. et al, (2022), Psychol Med, 1 - 9
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VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) THERAPY FOR PATIENTS WITH PSYCHOSIS: SATISFACTION AND SIDE EFFECTS
Journal article
FREEMAN D. et al, (2022), Psychological Medicine
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2022), Lancet Psychiatry
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Černis E. et al, (2022), Journal of Psychiatric Research, 148, 165 - 173
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Brown P. et al, (2022), Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics, 1 - 8
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Journal article
Rosebrock L. et al, (2022), Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy, 1 - 12
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Journal article
Bird JC. et al, (2022), Psychol Psychother
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Waite F. et al, (2022), Psychol Psychother
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Journal article
Nguyen M. et al, (2022), Asia Pac J Clin Oncol
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Journal article
Ward T. et al, (2022), Psychol Psychother
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Conference paper
Yu CJ. et al, (2022), Proceedings - 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops, VRW 2022, 868 - 869
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Journal article
Havers L. et al, (2022), Schizophr Bull Open, 3
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Alsuhibani A. et al, (2022), PLoS One, 17
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Journal article
Gorisse G. et al, (2021), Sci Rep, 11
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Journal article
Černis E. et al, (2021), Schizophr Res, 239, 11 - 18
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Associations Between the Subdomains of Negative Symptoms in the General Population and Genome-Wide Polygenic Scores for Major Depressive Disorder and Schizophrenia
Conference paper
Havers L. et al, (2021), BEHAVIOR GENETICS, 51, 709 - 709
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Journal article
Greenwood K. et al, (2021), Health Expect
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Fazel M. et al, (2021), EClinicalMedicine
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Rek SV. et al, (2021), BMC Psychiatry, 21
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Altunkaya J. et al, (2021), The British Journal of Psychiatry, 1 - 12
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2021), Lancet Psychiatry, 8, 696 - 707
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Garety P. et al, (2021), Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation, 8, 1 - 90
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Rek SV. et al, (2021), Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci
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McInerney J. et al, (2021), Behav Res Ther, 144
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Bond J. et al, (2021), JMIR Research Protocols
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COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in systemic sclerosis.
Journal article
Ciaffi J. et al, (2021), Clin Exp Rheumatol, 39 Suppl 131, 165 - 166
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The Oxford Agoraphobic Avoidance Scale.
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LAMBE S. et al, (2021), Psychological Medicine
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Freeman D. et al, (2021), Psychol Med, 1 - 24
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Forkert A. et al, (2021), Behav Cogn Psychother, 1 - 13
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Knight I. et al, (2021), Design for Health, 5, 98 - 119
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Freeman D. et al, (2021), Lancet Public Health
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Smith K. et al, (2021), Evid Based Ment Health
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Garety P. et al, (2021), JAMA Psychiatry
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Kuhn SAK. et al, (2021), Psychol Med, 1 - 33
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Halldorsson B. et al, (2021), J Child Psychol Psychiatry
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Rosebrock LE. et al, (2021), Psychiatry Res, 297
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Isham L. et al, (2021), Psychol Psychother, 94, 119 - 140
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Henry AL. et al, (2021), J Sleep Res, 30
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Rosebrock L. et al, (2021), Psychol Med, 1 - 10
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Bird JC. et al, (2021), Aust N Z J Psychiatry
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Černis E. et al, (2021), PLoS One, 16
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Reeve S. et al, (2021), PLoS One, 16
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Chadwick A. et al, (2021), Social Media and Society, 7
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Sheffield JM. et al, (2021), Front Psychiatry, 12
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Morrison AP. et al, (2021), Health Technol Assess, 25, 1 - 124
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Cardno AG. et al, (2021), Psychiatr Res Clin Pract, 3, 67 - 75
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Freeman D. et al, (2021), Psychol Med, 51, 244 - 253
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Černis E. et al, (2020), Behav Cogn Psychother, 1 - 13
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Freeman D. et al, (2020), Psychol Med, 1 - 15
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Waite F. et al, (2020), BMJ Open, 10
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Plomin and freeman honoured
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Plomin R. and Freeman D., (2020), Psychologist, 33, 14 - 15
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Sheaves B. et al, (2020), Behav Cogn Psychother, 48, 631 - 645
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Sheaves B. et al, (2020), Psychol Psychother
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Morrison AP. et al, (2020), Lancet Psychiatry, 7, 788 - 800
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Marshall E. et al, (2020), Psychol Psychother, 93, 639 - 655
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Černis E. et al, (2020), J Psychiatr Res
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Brown P. et al, (2020), JMIR Res Protoc, 9
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Brown P. et al, (2020), Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
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Tsiachristas A. et al, (2020), Health Qual Life Outcomes, 18
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3. Schizophrenia spectrum disorders (schizophrenia,
schizoaffective disorder, short-term psychotic episodes)
Chapter
SHEAVES B. and FREEMAN D., (2020), European Sleep Medicine Textbook (Second Edition)
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Conference paper
Freeman D., (2020), JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY NEUROSURGERY AND PSYCHIATRY, 91
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2020), Psychol Med, 1 - 2
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Waite F. et al, (2020), Schizophr Res, 221, 44 - 56
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2020), Lancet Psychiatry, 7, 628 - 637
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Journal article
Brown P. et al, (2020), Behav Res Ther, 132
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Freeman D. et al, (2020), Psychol Med
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Bird JC. et al, (2020), Schizophr Res, 220, 116 - 122
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Brown P. et al, (2020), Scientific Reports
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Brown P. et al, (2020), Sci Rep, 10
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2020), Psychol Med, 1 - 13
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Journal article
Brown P. et al, (2020)
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BELIEFS ABOUT THE SELF AND OTHERS IN PARANOIA
Conference paper
Brown P. et al, (2020), SCHIZOPHRENIA BULLETIN, 46, S269 - S269
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Journal article
Lambe S. et al, (2020), Journal of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, 30, 33 - 40
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THE CAUSAL DYNAMICS OF PARANOIA IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA: A THEORY DRIVEN NETWORK ANALYSIS
Conference paper
Bird J. et al, (2020), SCHIZOPHRENIA BULLETIN, 46, S274 - S274
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2020), Psychol Med, 50, 771 - 780
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Sleep disturbance and psychiatric disorders: the non-specific as essential in understanding and treating mental ill health
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FREEMAN D. et al, (2020), Lancet Psychiatry
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Journal article
Černis E. et al, (2020), PLoS One, 15
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EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF DIGITAL CBT FOR INSOMNIA ON DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN INDIVIDUALS WITH INSOMNIA SCORING ABOVE CLINICAL CUT-OFF FOR DEPRESSION: A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF 3,352 PARTICIPANTS FROM TWO LARGE-EFFECTIVENESS RCTS (OASIS & DIALS)
Journal article
Henry A. et al, (2019), SLEEP MEDICINE, 64, S150 - S151
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Journal article
Sheaves B. et al, (2019), Can J Psychiatry, 64, 686 - 696
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Journal article
Martens MA. et al, (2019), J Psychopharmacol, 33, 1264 - 1273
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Waite F. et al, (2019), BJPsych Open, 5
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Journal article
Freeman D. et al, (2019), BJPsych Open, 5
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Bird JC. et al, (2019), Schizophr Bull, 45, 1134 - 1142
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Freeman D. et al, (2019), Schizophr Res, 211, 44 - 50
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Freeman D. et al, (2019), BMJ Open, 9
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Freeman D. et al, (2019), Compr Psychiatry, 93, 41 - 47
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Pyle M. et al, (2019), Trials, 20
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Journal article
Reeve S. et al, (2019), Schizophr Bull, 45, 287 - 295
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Brown P. et al, (2019), Clin Psychol Rev, 68, 25 - 37
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Barkhuizen W. et al, (2019), J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 58, 267 - 276.e8
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Journal article
Kuipers J. et al, (2019), Psychol Med, 49, 388 - 395
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Reeve S. et al, (2019), Schizophr Res, 204, 326 - 333
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Freeman D. et al, (2019), Trials, 20
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Journal article
Espie CA. et al, (2019), JAMA Psychiatry, 76, 21 - 30
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Journal article
Hardy A. et al, (2018), JMIR Ment Health, 5
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Journal article
Murphy P. et al, (2018), LANCET PSYCHIATRY, 5, E28 - E28