Medscape (10/24, Swift Yasgur, Subscription Publication) reports, “Transgender and gender-diverse…individuals with mental illness appear to have higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) compared with their cisgender counterparts,” investigators concluded in a study that “administered semistructured diagnostic interviews for DSM-IV disorders to 2212 psychiatric patients…presenting to the Rhode Island Hospital Department of Psychiatry Partial Hospital Program between April 2014 and January 2021.” The findings were published online Sept. 26 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Healio (10/24, Downey) reports, “Telepsychiatry creates opportunities to increase access to treatment, flexibility, convenience of routine care and the potential of increased privacy,” according to a viewpoint authored by Carlos Blanco, MD, PhD, of the Division of Epidemiology at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and colleagues, and published Oct. 19 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Telepsychiatry offers access, flexibility, convenience, increased privacy “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, October 24, 2022

MedPage Today (10/22, Dotinga) reported, “Staff training in implicit bias curbed racial disparities in the use of mechanical restraints at one Seattle hospital,” according to a presentation given by Timothy Meeks, MN, RN, the Clinical Director at Harborview Medical Center, at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association annual meeting. The 4,506-patient study revealed that “from 2015-2017, about 13% of ethnic minority patients were restrained in the psychiatric units at Harborview Medical Center versus just over 8% of white patients,” but “after training began in 2017, the 2018-2020 numbers were about 9% for both groups.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Medscape (10/21, Swift Yasgur, Subscription Publication) reported, “Menopause appears to be an independent risk factor for relapse in women with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs),” investigators concluded after having “studied a cohort of close to 62,000 people with SSDs, stratifying individuals by sex and age.” The study revealed that beginning “between the ages of 45 and 50 years – when the menopausal transition is underway – women were more frequently hospitalized for psychosis compared with men and women younger than 45 years.” What’s more, the “protective effect of antipsychotic medication was highest in women younger than 45 years and lowest in women aged 45 years or older, even at higher doses.” The findings were published online Oct. 5 in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

According to the AP (10/22, Ungar), “a growing body of research shows that bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and the in-between diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder share common genetic underpinnings as well as overlapping symptoms and signs.” Some investigators, however, “while acknowledging common genetic underpinnings of bipolar, schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia, are skeptical about framing them as on a psychosis continuum, particularly if that leads to changing categories” used “to diagnose people with each disorder.” Those experts “say the current criteria are useful in deciding treatment and care.”

Related Links:

— “Genes link bipolar, schizophrenia, once thought unrelated “Laura Ungar , AP , October 22, 2022

NBC News (10/20, McShane) reports “emergency department visits related to sexual assault increased more than tenfold over a span of 13 years, according to” a study that “showed that those visits increased 1,533% from 2006 to 2019 – a jump from 3,600 annual visits to 55,200.” The findings published in JAMA Network Open revealed that “the largest increase occurred between 2015 and 2016.” Furthermore, most ED visits “following sexual assault were by young adult women,” and “lower-income people were also an overrepresented group, the study found.”

Related Links:

— “Sexual assault-related ER visits increased more than tenfold since 2006, study finds “Julianne McShane, NBC News, October 20, 2022

The AP (10/20, Baldor) reports, “Suicides across the active duty U.S. military decreased over the past 18 months, driven by sharp drops in the Air Force and Marine Corps last year and a similar decline among Army soldiers during the first six months of this year,” showing “a dramatic reversal of what has been a fairly steady increase in recent years.” The “new Pentagon report and preliminary data for 2022” issued Oct. 20 reveals that “the number of suicides in the Air Force and Marine Corp dropped by more than 30% in 2021 compared with 2020, and the Navy saw a 10% decline.” For its part, “the Army saw a similar 30% decrease during the first six months of this year, compared with the same time period last year.”

Related Links:

— “Military suicides drop as leaders push new programs “Lolita C. Baldor, AP, October 20, 2022

Healio (10/20, Downey) reports, “Electroconvulsive therapy [ECT] appeared to be superior to ketamine for improving depression severity in the acute phase,” investigators concluded in a six-study, 340-patient systematic review and meta-analysis, the findings of which were published online Oct. 19 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Psychiatric News (10/20) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Electroconvulsive therapy superior to ketamine for treatment of depression “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, October 20, 2022

According to the Wall Street Journal (10/20, Ellis, Subscription Publication), on Oct. 20, the Surgeon General’s office issued new guidance outlining how long hours, limited autonomy, and low wages can affect employees’ health and performance.

STAT (10/20, Cooney) says the report’s findings also highlight “how the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed fractures in working Americans’ mental health and well-being,” citing “workplace trends like quiet quitting and the Great Resignation as signals of the damage done to Americans by problems like endless hours, unpaid leave, and chronic stress.” To remedy these issues, employers will need “to change the way they operate.”

Healio (10/20, Downey), reports the “framework document is a guide to call attention to a public health issue, developed to help the American public better understand and address factors that affect mental health, the HHS” announced in a press release.

Related Links:

— “U.S. surgeon general says workplaces are taking a toll on Americans’ mental and physical health ” Elizabeth Cooney, STAT, October 20, 2022

MedPage Today (10/19, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “Longer work hours were associated with progressively higher increases in depression scores for first-year residents, according to” an analysis of “data from 2009 to 2020” encompassing some “17,000 first-year residents.” Investigators found that “residents’ baseline depression scores – using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item version (PHQ-9) – went up as working hours increased, indicating a dose-response relationship.” Of these “residents who worked more than 90 hours a week, 33.4% met the criteria for depression,” the study revealed. The findings were published online Oct. 19 in a research letter in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)