Medscape (5/22, Jeffrey) reports that according to survey results presented at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting, healthcare professionals, “even those involved in the delivery of mental health care, are not immune to bias against patients with serious mental illnesses.” In fact, “given two identical clinical scenarios, one of which involved a patient with schizophrenia, a group of healthcare [professionals] that included psychiatrists and primary care physicians as well as primary care and mental health nurses tended to view the patients with serious mental illness more negatively than those without mental illness, and these attitudes colored their treatment decisions, including referrals.” Jeffrey Borenstein, MD, chair of the Council on Communications of the American Psychiatric Association, said, “We use the word stigma, but I would use a different word – prejudice.”

Medscape (5/22) reports, “Children in the United States who experience both school bullying and cyberbullying are at alarming risk for suicidal behavior,” according to research presented at the American Psychiatric Association meeting. Investigators who analyzed data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey found “that the combination of both types of bullying was associated with a 4-fold higher incidence of all suicide risk factors, including suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts, compared with those who experienced no bullying.” Investigators found that “cyberbullying alone was associated with a 3-fold increased risk for suicidal behaviors.”

MedPage Today (5/22, Gever) reports on the cyberbullying study, and also point out that “a separate analysis of YRBS data…found that teenagers with four or more previous sex partners, those starting to have sex before age 13, and those who said they had been forced into sex all showed much higher rates of suicidal ideation or attempts than the general high-school-age population.”

Related Links:

— “Cyberbullying, Risky Sex Hike Teen Suicide Risk, “John Gever, MedPage Today, May 21, 2013.

On its “Morning Edition” program and on its “Shots” blog, NPR (5/20) reported that a virtual therapist named Ellie was created at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies “to talk to people who are struggling emotionally, and to take their measure in a way no human can. Her makers believe that her ability to do this will ultimately revolutionize the way mental health care is practiced in this country.” Ellie tracks up to 60 different kinds of movements of the physical behavior of people she interviews. After sessions with patients, she produces a detailed report which can flag certain behaviors indicative of emotional distress or depression, for example.

Related Links:

— “If Your Shrink Is A Bot, How Do You Respond?, “Alix Spiegel, NPR, May 20, 2013.

The Wall Street Journal (5/21, Hay, Subscription Publication) reports on new technologies that companies are developing that will encourage people to take their prescription medication as directed. Health insurers and companies such as CVS has used robo-calls, mailers and even face-to-face meetings with pharmacists to keep patients on track. Now, CVS is testing analytics technology from RxAnte that detects what patients have poor record of adherence, according to CEO Josh Benner. Other ideas include an app that rewards users with Target gift cards or donations to charity for following the schedule. Other ideas include a digital pills containing digestible sensors and an automated pill bottle that glows different colors when a dosage is needed or missed.

Related Links:

— “Forget to Take Medicine? These Pills Will Tell Your Doctor, “Timothy Hay, The Wall Street Journal, May 20, 2013.

The Los Angeles Times (5/21, MacVean) reports in its “Science Now” blog that “in a study published Monday the Canadian Medical Assn. Journal, researchers surveyed thousands of teenagers about the effects of suicide by someone they knew or attended school with.” According to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Canadian universities of Ottawa and Alberta, “Adolescents may be particularly susceptible to” the idea that suicide is “contagious.” The researchers found that “broadly, suicide death of a schoolmate was a stronger predictor of suicide outcomes than a suicide by someone who is personally known, perhaps because the death of a peer resonates with youth more than the death of a close adult.”

Related Links:

— “After a suicide, classmates often think about it too, study says, “Mary MacVean, Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2013.

On the front of its Personal Journal section, the Wall Street Journal (5/21, D1, Wang, Subscription Publication) reports that social behavior changes or deterioration in social or emotional functioning may be the first clues of a mental-health or neurological disorder. For example, inappropriate behavior may portend frontotemporal dementia or Alzheimer’s, while a lack of empathy can be seen in people with schizophrenia or autism. According to the article, family members are more likely than patients themselves to observe social changes. Neurology professor Katherine Rankin, of the University of California-San Francisco, suggested that middle-aged adults who notice such changes are advised to see a neurologist.

Related Links:

— “When Social Skills Are a Warning, “Shirley S. Wang, The Wall Street Journal, May 20, 2013.

HealthDay (5/20, Gordon) reports that a 992-participant study published online May 17 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research “shows that college women are more likely to drink unhealthy amounts of alcohol on a weekly basis than are college men.” During “the study, 15 percent of women exceeded weekly drinking limits, compared to 12 percent of men.”

Related Links:

— “College Women More Prone to Problem Drinking Than Men: Study, “Serena Gordon, HealthDay, May 17, 2013.

Ross Douthat, in a column for the New York Times (5/19, Subscription Publication) wrote, “Over the last decade, the United States has become a less violent country in every way save one. As Americans commit fewer and fewer crimes against other people’s lives and property, they have become more likely to inflict fatal violence on themselves.” Noting that “more Americans now die of suicide than in car accidents, and gun suicides are almost twice as common as gun homicides,” Douthat claimed that “this trend is striking without necessarily being surprising. As the University of Virginia sociologist Brad Wilcox pointed out recently, there’s a strong link between suicide and weakened social ties,” which is “exactly what we’ve seen happen lately among the middle-aged male population, whose suicide rates have climbed the fastest: a retreat from family obligations, from civic and religious participation, and from full-time paying work.”

Related Links:

— “All the Lonely People, “Ross Douthat, The New York Times, May 18, 2013.

Bloomberg News (5/18, Gale) reported, “The drug ketamine relieved symptoms of hard-to-treat depression within a day of treatment, in the largest study yet of the drug’s potential use for depression.” In the study of “72 people whose depression hadn’t responded to at least two antidepressants, patients taking ketamine were twice as likely to report improvement than those on a placebo.” The researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York “will present the findings at the meeting of the American Psychiatric Association,” which started Saturday in San Francisco.

Related Links:

— “Club-Drug Ketamine Relieves Depression in Largest Patient Study, “Jason Gale, Bloomberg News, May 18, 2013.

The Washington Informer (5/16) reports that District of Columbia “Mayor Vincent C. Gray has extended his congratulations to DC Department of Health (DOH) Interim Director” Saul Levin, MD, MPA, “for being named the American Psychiatric Association’s new CEO and medical director.” According to the Informer, “Dr. Levin has led DOH since last July.” Levin will step down from DOH on July 12.

Psychiatric News (5/16) reports that Levin “will replace James H. Scully Jr., MD, who will step down when his contract is up later this year.” Psychiatric News adds that Dr. “Levin has served on several APA components including the Board of APA’s political action committee (APAPAC), the Scientific Program Committee, and as a consultant to the Finance and Budget Committee. He has also been a member of the APA delegation to the” American Medical Association. A pdf copy of APA’s press release announcing Dr. Levin’s appointment can be accessed here.

Related Links:

— “Saul Levin, M.D., Will Be Next APA Medical Director/CEO, Psychiatric News Alert, May 15, 2013.