Medscape (12/15, Burton, Subscription Publication) reports, “Cluster headache (CH) is associated with a significantly increased risk for comorbid conditions, including mental disorders and other neurologic disease, leading to significant disability and absenteeism,” investigators concluded in a study that “drew on two Swedish population-based registries and included 3240 patients with CH aged 16-64 years and 16,200 matched control persons.” The study also revealed that “patients with CH had a sixfold increased risk for central nervous system (CNS) disorders and a twofold increased risk for musculoskeletal disorders.” The findings were published online in the journal Neurology.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Medscape (12/15, Bender, Subscription Publication) reports, “Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is significantly linked to comorbid psychiatric conditions and a higher risk for mortality and can take more than a year to be diagnosed,” researchers concluded in the findings of “a population study of more than 145,000 patients.” The study revealed that “participants with TRD used outpatient resources and missed work at twice the rate as patients with treatment-responsive depression.” Additionally, they “had a threefold higher number of days spent in hospital.” The findings were published online Dec. 14 in JAMA Psychiatry.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (12/15) reports, “Among adults with mental illness released from correctional centers, each month that passes after release without accessing mental health services is associated with a greater risk of reincarceration,” investigators concluded in a study that included “a total of 1,664 participants who were released from correctional centers 4,171 times during the study period.” The findings were published online Dec. 15 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Mental Health Services May Reduce Reincarceration, Study Finds, Psychiatric News, December 15, 2022

HealthDay (12/15, Murez) reports, “Gun deaths skyrocketed in the United States between 2019 and 2020, according to” an analysis of CDC data from 1981 to 2020 “on gun death rates.” The study revealed that “men were most affected, with Black men most frequently killed in gun murders and white men in gun suicides.” In fact, “between 2019 and 2020 alone, gun homicides rose 39% for Black people, highlighting a grim statistic associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.” The findings were published online in PLOS One.

Related Links:

— “Gun Homicides Rose Sharply During Pandemic, Black Men Most Affected “Cara Murez, HealthDay, December 15, 2022

CNN (12/14, Christensen) reports that a study from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that “more than 55% of people involved in serious or fatal road accidents tested positive for drugs or alcohol.” Researchers “found that a quarter of serious or fatal accidents involved someone who tested positive for some form of weed, and nearly a quarter more had alcohol in their system.” Approximately “11% of people tested positive for some form of stimulant, like cocaine or methamphetamines, and 9% had opioids in their system.”

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— “More than half of people involved in road accidents had drugs or alcohol in their system, study says “Jen Christensen, CNN, December 14, 2022

HCPlive (12/14, Walter) reports, “Hospitalizations for psychiatric conditions, including anxiety, depression, and suicidality increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 for adolescent patients,” investigators concluded in a study that included “9,696 adolescents hospitalized with a mental health condition during the prepandemic period and 11,101 during the pandemic period.” The findings were published online Dec. 13 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 Pandemic Increased Risk of Hospitalization for Mental Health Reasons “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, December 14, 2022

MedPage Today (12/14, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “Annual overdose deaths among Black women increased by 393% from 2015 to 2021 – from 1,725 to 5,060 deaths,” investigators concluded in findings published online Dec. 14 in a research letter in JAMA Psychiatry. The study revealed that “the number of years of life lost jumped from 58,170 to 178,822, a 407% increase,” and “on average, an overdose death resulted in 34.8 years of life lost.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

CNN (12/14, McPhillips) reports, “Drug overdose deaths in the United States have slowed in recent months after reaching record levels earlier this year,” according to data from the CDC showing “that 107,735 people died of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending in July.” That is nearly “2,500 fewer deaths than the record high that was reached in March, marking a 2% drop over four months.” But despite this “improvement, annual drug overdose deaths in July were still 25% higher than they were two years earlier and more than 50% higher than they were five years earlier.”

The AP (12/14, Mattise, Stobbe) also reports.

Related Links:

— “Drug overdose deaths slowing in the US after reaching record levels during the Covid-19 pandemic “Deidre McPhillips, CNN, December 14, 2022

Healio (12/13, Downey) reports, “A higher locus of control at work and home was associated with reduced psychosocial stress and lower odds of acute stroke, researchers reported” in a study that also explored “factors that may modify the association of stress and risk for stroke.” The researchers wrote, “This association is consistent for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke types.” The study findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Higher locus of control linked to lower risk for stroke “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, December 13, 2022

The New York Times (12/13, Richtel, Trofort) reports, “The shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists is most acute in low-income communities of color, according to a study published in” November in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. This “lack of specialized and long-term care has contributed to poor teens of color being underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed.” For these teens, “such a misdiagnosis can be a fork in the road, leading to the wrong care, improper medication, school detention or misperception by a justice system that is inclined to view adolescents labeled hostile as inherently threatening.” The article focuses on Sarah Vinson, MD, Interim Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, who, three years ago, “assumed leadership of a weekly clinic that provides psychiatric care for teenagers of color.”

Related Links:

— “‘Disruptive,’ or Depressed? Psychiatrists Reach Out to Teens of Color “Matt Richtel, The New York Times, December 13, 2022