Psychiatric News (3/2) reports a study found that “former football players have worse cognitive and behavioral outcomes later in life compared with peers not exposed to repeated head impacts.” Researchers observed that “compared with 282 matched male controls with no exposure to head impacts, 661 former football players (ages 40+, average age 58) performed worse on a computerized cognitive test, reported more subjective cognitive concerns, and had more depressive symptoms.” A second analysis demonstrated that “both more years playing football and reaching higher levels of play were associated with greater neuropsychiatric problems.” Researchers found that “compared with players who stopped at the youth or high school level, former professional players had 1.36 times the odds of having clinically meaningful cognitive concerns, 1.61 times the odds of having impaired behavioral regulation, and 2.21 times the odds of clinically meaningful depressive symptoms.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Longer Football Career May Lead to Worse Cognitive Outcomes, Psychiatric News , March 2, 2026

HealthDay (3/2, Thompson) reports a study found that “benzodiazepine prescriptions have decreased in the United States, mainly among middle-aged adults and seniors.” According to federal health survey data taken between 2018 to 2022, “benzodiazepine use among adults dropped from 4.7% in 2018 to 3.4% in 2022.” The data show the decline “was steeper among those 56 and older – from 7.2% to 4.7% – compared to younger adults 36 to 55 (from 4.4% to 3.4%) and those 18 to 35 (2.1% to 1.8%). Researchers also found that nearly 42% of people using benzodiazepines also took another drug during the same year that can depress the central nervous system, increasing overdose risk.” Data further indicate that “between 2000 to 2019, benzodiazepine-related OD deaths leapt sixfold, rising from just under 0.5 deaths per 100,000 adults to nearly 3 per 100,000, researchers noted.” The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Benzodiazepine Use Down In U.S., But OD Risk Remains, Study Says,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, March 2, 2026

The AP (3/1, Lieb) reports that in order to receive Medicaid health coverage, “some adults will soon have to show they are working, volunteering or taking classes. But to gather that proof, many states first will have to spend millions of dollars improving their computer systems.” Across the nation, states “face an immense task and high costs to prepare for the Jan. 1 kickoff of new Medicaid eligibility mandates affecting millions of lower-income adults in the government-funded health care program.” The first half of “a $200 million federal allotment has already begun flowing to states to help implement the new requirements.” But according to an AP analysis, the “tab for the needed technology improvements and additional staff is likely to exceed $1 billion. … That extra cost will be borne by a mixture of federal and state tax dollars.”

Related Links:

— “Trump’s Medicaid work mandates are meant to save money. But first states will have to spend millions,”David A. Lieb , AP, March 1, 2026

Psychiatric News (2/27) reported a study found that “transgender youth who initiated testosterone therapy didn’t experience increased anger or irritability a year later – in fact, some demonstrated reduced aggression.” The study included “178 gender-diverse adolescents and young adults…in the United States who initiated testosterone therapy. All the youth had completed puberty and had no exposure to puberty blockers.” Researchers observed that “on average, self-reported levels of anger, aggression, irritability, externalizing problems, and oppositional defiant problems were within normal ranges at baseline…and they remained about the same 12 months after initiating testosterone therapy.” However, “45.5% of youth reported slightly elevated anger and/or externalizing behaviors at baseline, and their average levels of these behaviors dropped to the normal range at 12 months.” The study was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Related Links:

— “Testosterone Doesn’t Increase Irritability in Transgender Youth, Psychiatric News , February 27, 2026

HealthDay (2/26, Thompson) reports a systematic review and meta-analysis of 71 studies found that “disasters and violent events echo in the minds of people for years afterward, contributing to mental illness that can surface as much as a decade later.” According to researchers, “more than 1 in 5 survivors (22%) will develop a mental health problem after living through their ordeal.” The illnesses “tend to occur in two peaks – one within the first few months of a disaster and another about a decade later, researchers found. The results contradict the general view that survivors can be expected to leave the past behind as they grow older.” Researchers noted that “depression was the most common mental health problem linked to disasters, affecting about 30% of survivors.” The review was published in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Disasters Can Affect Mental Health A Decade Later, Review Finds,”HealthDay, Dennis Thompson, February 26, 2026

HealthDay (2/25, Thompson) reports, “Middle-aged people who eat healthy have a lower risk of brain decline in old age, researchers” found. Investigators found that “the heart-healthy Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet provided the best protection for brain health, but results showed that eating patterns aimed at lowering blood sugar or inflammation also lowered risk of cognitive decline.” The findingswere published in JAMA Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Eating Healthy In Middle Age Can Lower Risk of Brain Decline, Study Finds,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, February 25, 2026

Psychiatric News (2/25) reports a study found that “increasing nonmedical use of ketamine has brought with it a dramatic increase in patient complications, including ketamine use disorders, uropathy, and rare but life-threatening infection of the bile ducts.” For the study, “researchers identified 411 ketamine-related complications reported by health care professionals in France to the French Addictovigilance Network from 2019 through 2023.” They observed that “ketamine-related complications increased 16-fold, from 13 cases in 2019 to 214 in 2023. The most frequent complications were substance use disorders (33% of cases), psychiatric disorders (30%), and neurological disorders (23%), such as seizures, abnormal movements, or paresthesia.” In addition, “about 9% of patients experienced urinary tract or kidney disorders caused by ketamine use, and several required surgical treatments, including cystectomy and bladder reconstruction; 2% had biliary disorders.” The study was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Related Links:

— “With Rise of Nonmedical Ketamine Use, Serious Complications Follow, Psychiatric News, February 25, 2026

The Hill (2/24, Davis) reports a new Pew Research Center survey found that 64% of U.S. teens “indicated they use AI chatbots,” with about 3 in 10 saying they use the services daily. Meanwhile, “parents of these polled teenagers underestimated such usage in the survey, with only 51% of parents saying that their child uses AI chatbots. Over a quarter said they were “unsure,” 18% said their teen did not use these chatbots and 4% said they had not heard about AI chatbots. Additionally, only 4 out of 10 parents said they have talked with their child about using these services.” Other survey results indicate that most teens “said that they use these chatbots to search for information and to assist with homework assignments. A small portion of respondents, 12%, said that they rely on AI for emotional support or advice.”

Related Links:

— “Parents are underestimating their teens’ use of AI chatbots: Survey,”Sarah Davis , The Hill , February 24, 2026

MedPage Today (2/24, Rudd) reports a study presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections 2026 found that “people with HIV didn’t have a significant rise in depressive symptoms after starting semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus) for diabetes or weight loss.” Researchers observed that “after a median 9.4 months of follow-up, the mean change in depressive symptom scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was -0.1 after participants initiated the drug.” They noted that “scores on the PHQ-9 increased 1.2 for those with no or minimal depression symptoms at baseline and declined by 4.7 points among those with moderately severe to severe symptoms.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (2/23) reports a study found that “adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) experience higher rates of mental health conditions, more frequent and severe symptoms, greater psychiatric medication use, and more cost-related barriers to treatment compared with those without such disabilities.” The researchers “pooled data from the 2021-2023 U.S. National Health Interview Surveys, which included 796 adults with IDDs and 43,682 adults without IDDs.” They observed that “adults with IDDs were nearly 10 times more likely to report experiencing anxiety every day and nearly 18 times more likely to report daily depression compared with those without IDDs.” Researchers also noted that “42% of adults with IDDs took prescription medications for anxiety and 38% took prescription medications for depression compared with 9% and 6%, respectively, of those without IDDs.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Adults With IDDs Have Higher Rates of Anxiety, Depression, Psychiatric News, February 23, 2026