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Anxiety From Political News and Social MediaAnxiety From Political News and Social Media, MP3, 2.4MB
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Latest News Around the Web
CDC Releases Guidance On Identifying, Responding To Suicide Clusters
MedPage Today (2/28, Henderson ) reports the CDC on Wednesday issued new guidance “on identifying and responding to clusters of suicide, as tens of thousands of lives are lost to suicide each year in the U.S.” The agency recommended “three primary steps,” including “conducting a preliminary assessment to determine if a formal assessment is warranted; a formal assessment of the suspected cluster to determine whether it meets the definition of a cluster; and an investigation to identify similarities in cases that can guide community response.” CDC researchers wrote that while rare, suicide clusters “can have unique characteristics and challenges” and “can have considerable negative effects on the community, including prolonged grief and elevated fear and anxiety about further deaths.”
Related Links:
— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)
Justice Department launches antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth
The Wall Street Journal (2/27, Mathews , Michaels, Subscription Publication) reports that the Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation into U.S. health insurer UnitedHealth.
Bloomberg (2/27, Tozzi, Strohm , Nylen , Subscription Publication) reports, “The probe opens a new layer of scrutiny on the largest U.S. health insurer that operates in pharmacy benefits, medical care, technology and other services.” The investigation “emerged out of concerns about UnitedHealth’s acquisitions of health-care providers and data companies, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing information that isn’t public.”
Related Links:
— “U.S. Opens UnitedHealth Antitrust Probe,”Anna Wilde Mathews, The Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2024
Risk Of Self-Harm Higher In Adolescents With Stressed Parents, Study Finds
Psychiatric News (2/27) reports, “Children whose parents experience parenting stress and other parenting issues may have a higher risk of nonsuicidal self-injury in adolescence, a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry has found.” According to the study, “adolescents who perceived parental hostility and negativity at 6 years old had 1.8 times the odds of nonsuicidal self-injury compared with adolescents who did not. However, child characteristics and negative events did not appear to increase the odds of adolescents reporting nonsuicidal self-injury.”
Related Links:
— “Risk of Self-Harm Higher in Adolescents With Stressed Parents, Psychiatric News , February 27, 2024
Rate Of Antidepressants Prescribed To Young People Surged During The Pandemic, Study Finds
NPR (2/27, Archie ) reports, “The monthly rate of antidepressants being dispensed to young people increased about 64% more quickly during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.” The IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database was used by researchers “to examine a sample of about 221 million prescriptions written for millions of Americans between the ages 12 to 25, and from 2016 to 2022.” Researchers “separated the data into before and after March 2020, when the pandemic started.”
Related Links:
— “The rate of antidepressants prescribed to young people surged during the pandemic,”Ayana Archie, NPR, February 27, 2024
Study Finds Hormone Replacement Therapy May Help Women Undergoing Menopause Avoid Depression
HealthDay (2/26, Thompson ) reports, “Hormone replacement therapy might help women avoid depression as they go through menopause, a new study” in Menopause found. Women “treated with hormone therapy at a menopause clinic in Ontario, Canada, experienced a reduction in their symptoms of depression” – an improvement that “occurred whether or not antidepressants were also described, results showed.”
Related Links:
— “Hormone Replacement Therapy Could Ease Depression Around Menopause,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay , February 26, 2024
Foundation News
MFP Radio Ad Examines Mental Illness and Violence
The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry, Inc.’s latest public service announcement on local Maryland radio stations focuses on the real statistics concerning mental illness and violence. It discusses the problem of cuts in mental illness coverage by insurance companies and less focus by government.
You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.
2013 Outstanding Merit Award Entries Open Now
Nominations are now being accepted for the Foundation’s 2013 Outstanding Merit Award.
The annual Outstanding Merit Award is given for a worthy endeavor in Maryland that accomplishes one or more of the following:
- Increases public awareness and understanding of mental illness
- Enhances the quality of care for psychiatric illness
- Reduces the stigma of mental illness
Nominations for this award of $1000 are being invited from the entire Maryland community. A short nomination form must be submitted with a cover letter by March 1, 2013, to the Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry, 1101 Saint. Paul Street, Suite 305, Baltimore, MD 21202-6405. The form is available as PDF or Word document.
Foundation’s Latest Radio Spot Tells How Common Mental Illness Is
The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry, Inc.’s latest public service announcement on local Maryland radio stations focuses on how common mental illness really is. It discusses how people avoid thinking about it and urges them to seek help when needed.
You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.
Foundation’s Latest Radio Spot Examines Alcohol and Sports
The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry, Inc. recently began airing a new public service announcement on local Maryland radio stations. It focuses on the role alcohol can play as the fall sports season begins.
You can listen to the ad using the player in the upper right of the website’s homepage. All past public service spots are also available for listening or to download on our Radio Advertisements page.
Depressed Adolescents Often Struggle Alone
The Los Angeles Times (4/29, Healy) “Booster Shots” blog reported that although “some 2-million Americans adolescents experienced a bout of major depression last year,” only about one-third of them received help, according to a report released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to “kick off a month of national activity aimed at raising awareness of childrens’ mental health.”
Overall, about “8.1% of the population between 12 and 17 years old reported experiencing a period of depressed mood lasting two or more weeks in the preceding 12 months.” Depressive episodes increased with age; and adolescent boys were “consistently less likely to report depression.” Nearly 15 percent of “girls 15 to 17 years old” described a “major depressive episode in the preceding year, compared to an average of 6.4% of boys” of the same age “who did so.”
Related Links:
– “Depressed teens mostly struggle alone,” Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, April 29, 2011.