HealthDay (2/19, Thompson ) reports, “Increased access to prescription opioids has driven up U.S. suicide rates by making it easier to women to end their lives, a new study claims.” The research “also blames a shrinking federal safety net during tough economic times for rising suicide rates.” This study, in which researchers analyzed “nearly 600,000 suicide deaths in the United States between 1990 and 2017,” was published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Related Links:

— “Access to Opioids Could Be Boosting Suicide Rates,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, February 19, 2024

Healio (2/16, Feller ) reports, “More than three-quarters of people with mild COVID-19 reported experiencing insomnia after recovery, and it was more common among those with anxiety or depression, according to the results of a survey.” Investigators came to this conclusion after conducting “a cross-sectional online survey of 1,056 people in Vietnam who had lab-confirmed COVID-19 in the previous 6 months and were not hospitalized.” The findings were published in Frontiers in Public Health.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 increases insomnia risk in people with anxiety, depression,”Stephen Feller, Healio , February 20, 2024

The New York Times (2/19, Caron ) reports on the negative impact that sleep difficulties can have on a person’s mood. According to the Times, “Conditions like anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder can make it harder to sleep, which can then exacerbate the symptoms of mental illness, which in turn makes it harder to sleep well.” Meanwhile, “certain medications, including psychiatric drugs like antidepressants, can also cause insomnia. If a medication is to blame, talk to your doctor about switching to a different one, taking it earlier in the day or lowering the dose, said Dr. Ramaswamy Viswanathan, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University and the incoming president of the American Psychiatric Association.”

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (2/16, Richtel ) reported “growing numbers of children and adolescents are being prescribed multiple psychiatric drugs to take simultaneously, according to a” study published in a research letter in JAMA Network Open that “looked at the prescribing patterns among patients 17 or younger enrolled in Medicaid in Maryland from 2015 to 2020.” The study “found that in 2015, 4.2 percent of Medicaid enrollees under the age of 17 in Maryland had overlapping prescriptions of three or more different classes of psychiatric medications.” The “figure rose to 4.6 percent in 2020.” The data reveal that psychotropic polypharmacy “‘was significantly more likely among youths who were disabled or in foster care,’ the new study noted.”

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (2/16, Richtel ) reported “growing numbers of children and adolescents are being prescribed multiple psychiatric drugs to take simultaneously, according to a” study published in a research letter in JAMA Network Open that “looked at the prescribing patterns among patients 17 or younger enrolled in Medicaid in Maryland from 2015 to 2020.” The study “found that in 2015, 4.2% of Medicaid enrollees under the age of 17 in Maryland had overlapping prescriptions of three or more different classes of psychiatric medications.” The “figure rose to 4.6% in 2020.” The data reveal that psychotropic polypharmacy “‘was significantly more likely among youths who were disabled or in foster care,’ the new study noted.”

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)