HealthDay (5/15, Dotinga) reports “people with short-term debt, such as overdue bills or credit card debt, are more likely to be depressed than those who carry long-term debt through mortgages and other big loans,” according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of Family and Economic Issues. For the study, researchers “relied on a national survey of more than 13,000 Americans in 1987-1989 and follow-up interviews of about 10,000 of those people in 1992-1994,” focusing on adults of working age. Investigators found that “a 10 percent increase in short-term debt was associated with a 24 percent increase in depression symptoms.” The study’s lead author suggested that “providing people with protection from debt might lead to mental health benefits.”

Related Links:

— “Short-Term Debt Can Depress More Than Your Finances,” Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, May 14, 2015.

The Huffington Post (5/15, Gregoire) reports that a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry found that with only one exception, there appears to be “no association between most psychiatric disorders and future violent behavior in delinquent youth.” After analyzing “data from over 1,800 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 18 who were arrested and detained in the Chicago area between 1995 and 1998,” then following the study participants over a number of years after they were detained, researchers discovered that even though “some youth suffering from mental illness were violent – young men with mania, a symptom of bipolar disorder, were twice as likely to report violent behavior as those without mania – their illnesses were not predictive of future violence.”

Related Links:

— “The Link Between Mental Illness And Violence Is More Complicated Than You Might Think,” Carolyn Gregoire, Huffington Post, May 15, 2015.

MedPage Today (5/18, Smith) reports, “War veterans with both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse problems can be treated for the trauma without waiting for a long period of sobriety,” according to research presented at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting. In a 22-patient study, “a majority of vets with both conditions were able to complete a 12-week course of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) with significant improvements on two PTSD measures,” even though none of them “had been sober for more than 90 days – far less time than is usually thought to be needed for effective treatment of PTSD.”

Related Links:

— “PTSD Treatment Can Start Early Despite Addiction,” Michael Smith, MedPage Today, May 17, 2015.

According to the Washington Post (5/16, Layton), about 20 percent of US middle schools and high schools reported that “their students” had been bullied in 2013, the “lowest rate since the federal government began collecting data on bullying in 2005.” The Post pointed out that the data comes from the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which has surveyed students ages 12 to 18 every two years since 2005. “Even though we’ve come a long way over the past few years in educating the public about the health and educational impacts that bullying can have on students, we still have more work to do to ensure the safety of our nation’s children,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement.

The AP (5/16, Hefling) reported that the survey from 2013 found that “22 percent of students age 12 to 18 said they were bullied,” a six percentage point drop from the 2011 survey when 28 percent of students said they had been bullied. While “educators and researchers praised the decline,” they also stressed that there are still large numbers of students subject to bullying, which can be magnified “in a world of rampant online social media where malicious statements can be made anonymously and shared quickly and broadly.”

Related Links:

— “Bullying rate among U.S. teens has dropped but remains a problem,” Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post, May 15, 2015.

The New York Times (5/14, A19, Tavernise, Subscription Publication) reports that a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday found that “offering incentives was far more effective in getting people to stop smoking than the traditional approach” of smoking cessation counseling or nicotine replacement therapy. Specifically, researchers found that while more people agreed to a financial reward program over a penalty program, those who agreed to risk a penalty, such as losing a $150 deposit, “were twice as likely to quit” as those in the reward program. The study involved 2,500 people and was “the largest to date to test whether offering financial incentives could lead to better health.”

According to the Los Angeles Times (5/14, Kaplan), the researchers explain that while the penalty approach offers better results, only 14% of participants opted to go that route, while 90% enrolled in the pure reward program. The study’s authors believe future research will be needed to find “an ideal amount that’s not too steep to scare people off but still high enough to motivate smokers to earn it back.”

Related Links:

— “Study Asks if Carrot or Stick Can Better Help Smokers Quit,” Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times, May 13, 2015.

Noting the death in custody of Natasha McKenna, a woman with mental illness, an editorial in the Washington Post (5/14) cites a new report by Human Rights Watch which “documents the routine brutality exercised by guards who are untrained and ill-equipped to deal with mentally ill people, who make up enormous proportions of jail and prison populations.” The Post ties the report’s findings to McKenna’s case, pointing that according to the report, force is “used when there is an immediate security need to control the inmate, but the amount of force used is excessive to the need, or continues after the inmate has been brought under control.”

Related Links:

— “The abuse of the mentally ill in America’s prisons,” Editorial Board, Washington Post, May 13, 2015.

Reuters (5/14, Rapaport) reports that long-term depression may increase stroke risk in older adults, even if the depression is treated, according to a study published online May 13 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

TIME (5/14, Oaklander) reports that after analyzing “data from more than 16,000 middle-aged adults” who were followed for about 12 years, researchers found that those “who reported high symptoms of depression – three or more symptoms from an eight-item depression scale – for four consecutive years had about 114% higher risk of stroke compared to those who did not have symptoms of depression.” Those whose symptoms of depression had subsided “still had a 66% higher risk of stroke.”

Related Links:

— “Depression may double stroke risk in older adults,” Lisa Rapport, Reuters, May 13, 2015.

HealthDay (5/13, Reinberg) reports that research published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests that patients “undergoing hormone therapy to treat prostate cancer may experience impaired mental function within the first six months that persists for at least a year.” Investigators also found that “the risk of memory, learning and concentration problems associated with hormone therapy was greatest for men with a particular gene mutation.”

Related Links:

— “Hormone Therapy for Prostate Cancer May Impair Thinking,” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, May 12, 2015.

HealthDay (5/13, Preidt) reports that research published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention suggests that individuals “who have suffered a traumatic brain injury are at increased risk for road rage.” Investigators “surveyed nearly 4,000 Canadian adult drivers, aged 18 to 97.” The researchers “found that those who had suffered at least one traumatic brain injury in their lifetime had many more incidents of serious road rage than those without a brain injury.”

Related Links:

— “Brain Injury Linked to Raised Risk of Road Rage,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, May , 2015.12

Medscape (5/12, Lowry) reports that a study published in the May issue of Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, reveals that approximately “20% of patients who are prescribed antidepressants stop taking them without telling their” physician. The 1,411-participant study also revealed that “characteristics of those most likely to discontinue these medications include younger age, being diagnosed with anxiety or substance use disorder in addition to depression, and being treated in a general medical setting rather than by a psychiatrist or other mental health specialist.” An accompanying editorial (5/12) observed that “the study addresses a key issue ‘that is commonly hidden from physicians.’”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)