ABC News (4/27, Kekatos, Benadjaoud) reports, “The percentage of high school female students who seriously considered attempting suicide rose from 24.1% to about one-third, or 30%, between 2019 and 2021, according to the latest results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Data also show that “the percentage of those who made a suicide plan increased from 19.9% to 23.6% and there was also an increase in suicide attempts from 11.0% to 13.3%.” Some “differences were seen when it came to students’ ages, race/ethnicity or gender identity.” When “compared to white female students, Hispanic female students had increased rates of suicide attempts requiring medical attention,” and “LGBQ+ students had higher rates of reporting attempted suicide than heterosexual students, the CDC said.”

Related Links:

— “One-third of US teen girls seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021: CDC “Mary Kekatos and Youri Benadjaoud, ABC News, April 27, 2023

The Washington Post (4/26, Reynolds) reports a study “found that incorporating simple workouts such as jogging or weight training into treatment improved the likelihood of recovery from a variety of substance-use disorders, including to cocaine, opioids, cannabis and alcohol.” The study was published online April 26 in PLOS One. The study’s findings “build on other research, some with animals, showing that exercise changes our brains and thinking in ways that can reduce drug cravings and relapse and might even stave off addictions in the first place.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Healio (4/26, VanDewater) reports, “On days when youth in the LGBTQ+ community reported more external and internal identity-related stressors, they also reported more intense thoughts of suicide and non-suicidal self-injury, data showed.” The study included 92 individuals 12 to 19 years old “who self-identified as a sexual and/or gender minority.” Healio adds, “Analyses of diary entries revealed that experiencing external and internal minority stressors on a particular day was associated with a greater intensity of suicidal ideation and non-suicidal self-injury ideation on that day.” Additionally, “participants…reported greater negative affect, lower positive affect and more emotion dysregulation on these days.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science.

Related Links:

— “Suicidality, self-harm ideation among LGBTQ+ youth vary based on daily stressors “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, April 26, 2023

Healio (4/26, Welsh) reports, “Among women with a history [of] depression, risk for postpartum depression was greater for those whose prior depression was associated with use of hormonal contraception, according to a cohort study.”

MedPage Today (4/26) reports that investigators found, “in the analysis of over 188,000 first-time mothers who had used hormonal contraception (HC) in the past, those with a history of HC-related depression had a 35% higher chance of experiencing postpartum depression than those with a history of depression not related to HC.” The findings were published online April 26 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Hormonal contraception-associated depression linked to higher postpartum depression risk “Erin T. Welsh, Healio, April 26, 2023

HealthDay (4/25, Murez) reports 67% of Americans over 50 said in a poll that they were interested in cutting back on prescription medications. The findings are in line with a growing movement toward “deprescribing.” However, researchers “emphasized that it’s important for patients and providers to communicate about deprescribing.”

Related Links:

— “Lots of Older Americans Would Like to Take Fewer Meds, Poll Finds “Cara Murez, HealthDay, April 25, 2023

Psych News Alert (4/25) reports, “People with early psychosis (those who have had only a single episode of psychosis) who experience persistent sleep problems are nearly 14 times as likely to report suicidal ideation as those with early psychosis who do not experience sleep problems, according to” research. Investigators found, after analyzing data on 403 people, that “sleep problems were associated with significantly increased odds of suicidal ideation at baseline and 18 months.” Additionally, “sleep problems at any time point were associated with an over a threefold increased odds of suicidal ideation.” The findings were published online April 22 in Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Related Links:

— “Suicidal Thoughts Linked to Sleep Problems in Patients With Early Psychosis, Psych News Alert, April 25, 2023

The Washington Post (4/25, Amenabar) reports that research shows that “the chewy melatonin gummies that many people take before bedtime to promote sleep may contain far more of the hormone than what’s printed on the label.”

The New York Times (4/25, Blum) reports that investigators “analyzed 25 melatonin gummy products from different brands and found that 22 contained different amounts of melatonin than what was listed on their labels; one contained only 74 percent of the advertised amount of melatonin, while another had 347 percent more.” Meanwhile, “another product contained no detectable melatonin at all.” The findings were published online April 25 in a research letter in JAMA.

Also covering the story are MedPage Today (4/25, George) and HealthDay (4/25, Norton).

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Healio (4/22, Young) reported, “People who experienced lifetime and everyday discrimination had elevated risk for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality compared with those who did not,” investigators concluded in findings published online ahead of print in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. For the study, “researchers followed participants from the MESA cohort aged 45 to 84 years without a history of CVD (1,633 Black, 1,403 Hispanic/Latino and 2,473 white) across five exams from 2002 to 2018.”

Related Links:

— “Experience with discrimination may increase cardiovascular, all-cause mortality “Kate Young, Healio , April 22, 2023

According to HCPlive (4/21, Walter), research indicates that “patients with cystic fibrosis or primary ciliary dyskinesia, as well as their caregivers, were at an increased risk of developing mental illnesses like depression or anxiety during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.” Included in the 110-patient study were “110 patients, 10 with cystic fibrosis, 31 with primary ciliary dyskinesia, 52 cystic fibrosis caregivers, and 17 primary ciliary dyskinesia caregivers.” The findings were published online April 21 in the journal Pediatric Pulmonology.

Related Links:

— “Caregivers, Patients With Cystic Fibrosis, Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia at Elevated Risk of Mental Illness “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, April 21, 2023

Healio (4/20, Firment) reported, “Young people with schizophrenia had elevated risk for sudden cardiac death, and biopsychosocial factors related to social isolation impacted the cardiac risk factor burden in individuals with schizophrenia, researchers” concluded in a study also revealing that “among young people with sudden cardiac death who were referred for autopsy, individuals with schizophrenia were more likely to have nonischemic cardiomyopathy compared with individuals without schizophrenia.” The findings of the 579-individual postmortem study were published online in the journal JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology.

Related Links:

— “Schizophrenic individuals have increased risk for sudden cardiac death “Hunter Firment, Healio, April 20, 2023