In a greater than 2,000-word article, the AP (11/25, Binkley, Fenn) reports that an increasing number of “college students are turning to their schools for help with anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, and many must wait weeks for treatment or find help elsewhere as campus clinics struggle to meet demand, an Associated Press review of more than three dozen public universities found.” At some institutes of higher education, “the number of students seeking treatment has nearly doubled over the last five years while overall enrollment has remained relatively flat.” This increase has been associated with “reduced stigma around mental health, along with rising rates of depression and other disorders.” The increase has also led to longer wait times at student clinics when those clinics cannot hire enough mental health clinicians to meet demand.

Related Links:

— “As stigma ebbs, college students seek mental health help, “Collin Binkley and Larry Fenn, AP, November 25, 2019

Reuters (11/25, Staff) reports researchers found that young people “who use cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis are more likely to be hospitalized for heart attacks by early adulthood than their counterparts who don’t use these drugs.” The researchers analyzed data from “1,694 patients ages 15 to 22 who were hospitalized for heart attacks, plus almost 9.4 million patients this age who were hospitalized for other reasons,” and found that “overall, the risk of a heart attack hospitalization was 3.9 times higher for cocaine users, 2.3 times higher for amphetamine users, and 30% higher for cannabis users than for non-users of these drugs.” The findings were published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Related Links:

— “Cannabis tied to severe heart attack risk in younger adults, “Reuters Staff, Reuters, November 25, 2019

Reuters (11/22, Carroll) reported that a study published in JAMA Network Open suggests “teens and young adults have a higher likelihood of taking up marijuana if their parents use the drug.” Among parents currently using “cannabis or who have used the drug in the past, convincing kids not to take up the drug can be more complicated than for parents who never tried marijuana, said the study’s lead author, Bertha Madras.” Researchers used “a survey of nearly 25,000 parent-child pairs.” The study also “found that kids with moms who had used marijuana in the past, but not for at least a year, were 30% more likely to take up marijuana compared to kids with mothers who never used the drug.”

Related Links:

— “Teens, young adults more likely to take up marijuana if parents use it, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, November 22, 2019

HealthDay (11/22, Preidt) reported, “Two in three survivors of childhood sexual abuse have good mental health,” but research “suggests that social isolation, chronic pain, substance abuse and depression can hinder recovery.”

Healio (11/22, Gramigna) reported researchers arrived at their conclusions after analyzing “data from 17,014 individuals aged 20 years or older who responded to the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health,” 651 of which “had a history of childhood sexual abuse.” The findings were published online Sept. 29 in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

Related Links:

— “Two-Thirds of Child Abuse Survivors Do Well as Adults, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 22, 2019

MedPage Today (11/22, Firth) reported, “Nurses are at a higher risk of suicide and are more likely to have experienced a job problem prior to taking their lives compared to others in the general population,” researchers concluded after “examining 12 years of suicide data from 2005 to 2016.” The findings were presented at the Fuld Institute for EBP National Summit.

Related Links:

— “New Research Suggests Nurses at Increased Risk for Suicide, “Shannon Firth, MedPage Today, November 22, 2019