The Hill (5/4, Yarrow) reports, “Medical experts urged Congress to hold insurance companies accountable for inaccurate medical directories that can hamper access for patients seeking mental health treatments,” a “problem…referred to as a ‘ghost network,’ when health insurance” companies “ostensibly provide coverage, but direct customers to nonexistent or unavailable” physicians or other mental healthcare professionals. Some experts “said the problem can have serious consequences for patients seeking psychiatric care or other mental health treatments.”

Related Links:

— “Congress urged to tackle ‘ghost networks’ amid mental health crisis “Grace Yarrow, The Hill , May 4, 2023

Bloomberg (5/4, Kary, Subscription Publication) reports, “Young men who use potent marijuana frequently have an increased risk of developing schizophrenia,” investigators found in “a new study of almost seven million health records.” The study posited that “as many as 30% of cases of schizophrenia among men aged 21-to-30 could have been prevented had they avoided cannabis use disorder.” The findings were published online May 4 in the journal Psychological Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Heavy Marijuana Use Increases Schizophrenia in Men, Study Finds “Tiffany Kary, Bloomberg, May 4, 2023

Healio (5/4, VanDewater) reports, “U.S. counties with greater social vulnerability had higher rates of suicide,” investigators concluded after having “evaluated associations between suicide and social determinants of health…using county-level data from the CDC WONDER database from 2016 to 2020.” Social vulnerability factors: “These factors include lack of access to health care, stress of acculturation, exposure to community violence, historical trauma, and discrimination. Broader societal risk factors include stigma associated with help-seeking and mental illness, easy access to lethal means of suicide among people at risk, and unsafe media portrayals of suicide.” The findings were published online April 26 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Social determinants of health linked to suicide risk “Kalie VanDewater, Healio , May 4, 2023

USA Today (5/3, Hassanein) reports, “Among 18,000 older adults studied, those who regularly used the internet had about half the risk of developing dementia compared with those who didn’t regularly use it…[an] analysis…in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found.”

CNN (5/3, Christensen) reports, “The researchers saw this association after about eight years tracking 18,154 adults between the ages of 50 and 65 who did not have dementia when the study period began.” Participants “were a part of the Health and Retirement Study, a multidisciplinary collection of data from a representative sample of people in the U.S. that is gathered by the National Institute on Aging and the Social Security Administration.”

Related Links:

— “Could regular internet use lower risk of dementia? New study suggests yes. “Nada Hassanein, USA TODAY, May 3, 2023

According to HCPlive (5/3, Grossi), “patients treated with clozapine had significantly lower odds of insomnia compared with those treated with other antipsychotics,” researchers concluded in an eight-study meta-analysis encompassing some 1,952 patients. The findings were published in the February issue of the journal Schizophrenia Research.

Related Links:

— “Clozapine is Associated with Lower Odds of Insomnia in Patients with Schizophrenia “Giuliana Grossi, HCPlive, May 3, 2023

Psychiatric News (5/3) reports, “Black and Hispanic veterans are more likely to be given a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder (AUD) than white veterans despite similar levels of alcohol consumption,” investigators concluded after examining “the association between levels of alcohol consumption and diagnoses of AUD among 700,012 veterans enrolled in the Million Veteran Program, a longitudinal cohort study that began enrolling veterans in 2011.” The study revealed that “the racial discrepancy in diagnosis was evident for both men and women but was greatest for Black men who in some cases had a greater than 100% chance of having a diagnosis of AUD than white male veterans.” The findings were published online May 3 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Black, Hispanic Veterans More Likely Than Whites to Have AUD Diagnosis Despite Similar Drinking, Psychiatric News , May 3, 2023

HealthDay (5/3, Mann) reports, “Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls are, but girls may be more likely to experience anxiety alongside the disorder than boys,” researchers concluded in a study in which 112 children “with autism (89 boys and 23 girls) underwent brain scans when they were toddlers and at three other time points.” The study revealed that “overall, the girls had higher rates of anxiety than the boys, particularly in the presentations of anxiety that are distinct to autism, including fear of change,” as well as also having “higher rates of more traditional forms of anxiety, such as social anxiety, generalized anxiety and separation anxiety, the study showed.” The findings were presented at the International Society for Autism Research meeting.

Related Links:

— “Among Kids With Autism, Girls Are More Prone to Anxiety Disorders Than Boys “Denise Mann, HealthDay, May 3, 2023

Medscape (5/2, Yasgur, Subscription Publication) reports, “A large proportion of US adults who are prescribed Schedule II stimulants are simultaneously receiving other CNS agents including benzodiazepines, opioids, and antidepressants – a potentially dangerous practice,” researchers concluded after analyzing prescription medication “claims for over 9.1 million US adults over a one-year period.” The findings were published online April 24 in BMJ Open.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (5/2, Caron) reports, “Americans have become increasingly lonely and isolated, and this lack of social connection is having profound effects on our mental and physical health,” US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy “warned in an advisory” (PDF) issued on May 2.

The Washington Post (5/2, Nirappil) reports, “Loneliness presents a profound public health threat akin to smoking and obesity,” Murthy cautioned in the advisory “that aims to rally Americans to spend more time with each other in an increasingly divided and digital society.” He “said half of U.S. adults experience loneliness, which has consequences for mental and physical health, including a greater risk of depression, anxiety – and perhaps more surprisingly, heart disease, stroke and dementia.” The advisory “calls for a collective effort to ‘mend the social fabric of our nation,’ including teaching children how to build healthy relationships; talking more to relatives, friends and co-workers; and spending less time online and on social media if it comes at the expense of in-person interactions.”

According to the AP (5/2, Seitz), even though this “declaration is intended to raise awareness around loneliness,” it “won’t unlock federal funding or programming devoted to combatting the issue.”

Also covering the story are ABC News (5/2, Egan), The Hill (5/2, Sforza), and CNN (5/2, Dillinger)

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Medscape (5/2, Yasgur, Subscription Publication) reports, “A large proportion of US adults who are prescribed Schedule II stimulants are simultaneously receiving other CNS agents including benzodiazepines, opioids, and antidepressants – a potentially dangerous practice,” researchers concluded after analyzing prescription medication “claims for over 9.1 million US adults over a one-year period.” The findings were published online April 24 in BMJ Open.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)