Medscape (1/30, Brooks , Subscription Publication) reports, “A new study released this week adds to mounting evidence that suggests climate change, with extreme hot and cold temperatures, threatens not only physical health but also mental well-being.” By “analyzing data from two population-based birth cohorts in Europe, researchers found that ambient temperature has distinct associations with psychiatric symptoms in adolescents, with cold exposure in the Netherlands associated with more internalizing symptoms and heat exposure in Spain associated with more attention problems.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open. Joshua Wortzel, MD, Chair of the APA Committee on Climate Change and Mental Health, said that it is “novel to have these kinds of rich datasets (both mental health measures and temperature data) with large sample sizes. However, interpreting these data [is] difficult.”

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Healio (1/30, Rhoades) reports, “Approximately one-third of high school girls surveyed in the United States in 2021 identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning their sexuality, according to results of a cohort study.” That marks “a dramatic and significant increase from previous polling just 2 years earlier that showed 22% of high school aged girls identifying as LGBQ.” This change “is occurring alongside increases in suicidal thoughts, planning and attempts among women, with significant upticks among those identifying as LGBQ, researchers reported.” The findings were published in Educational Researcher.

Related Links:

— “Increasing LGBQ identification may contribute to surge in suicide among high school girls,”Andrew (Drew) Rhoades, Healio, January 30, 2025

Psychiatric News (1/29) reports, “Patients with treatment-resistant depression may only receive a modest, short-term benefit from using intranasal esketamine as an add-on treatment, according to a meta-analysis.” Additionally, “the analysis reveals almost no benefit from esketamine for suicidality compared with placebo.” The findings were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Meta-Analysis Reveals Disappointing Efficacy for Esketamine in Depression, Suicidality, Psychiatric News, January 29, 2025

STAT (1/29, Gaffney , Subscription Publication) reports, “In July 2022, 988 launched as the number anyone across the country could dial in a mental health crisis.” The phone number is “one entryway to a sprawling system of mental health care options, but new research shows that since then, critical crisis services have not become more available – a key objective of the nationwide rollout, designed to strengthen an underfunded, patchwork system that left many people alone in times of crisis.” Although “calls to the national hotline have continued to increase, fewer psychiatric facilities are offering emergency psychiatric walk-in services, mobile crisis response units, and suicide prevention services, according to a study.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Since 988 launch, mental health crisis services have faltered,”Theresa Gaffney, STAT, January 29, 2025

Healio (1/28, Herpen) reports, “Among post-9/11 United States military veterans, mild traumatic brain injury was associated with unfavorable long-term outcomes, such as severe PTSD, when occurring around a traumatic event, researchers wrote.” The investigators found “that those with peritraumatic mTBI experienced greater trauma exposure compared with non-peritraumatic and no TBI groups…while those in the peritraumatic cohort registered more lifetime TBI compared with those who sustained non-peritraumatic mTBI.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Mild TBI outcomes in US veterans worse if sustained during traumatic event,”Robert Herpen, Healio, January 28, 2025

Healio (1/28, Mahoney ) reports, “Adults aged 18 to 49 years who used cannabis for medical reasons had higher rates of cannabis use disorder [CUD] compared with adults who only used cannabis recreationally, according to a research letter.” The investigators said, “Clinicians should consider addiction risk before recommending medical cannabis and, if they do, should monitor for CUD emergence.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Medical cannabis use still linked to addiction,”Moira Mahoney, Healio, January 28, 2025

Cardiovascular Business (1/27, Walter ) reports that “according to a new in-depth analysis…regular cannabis use increases a person’s risk of multiple adverse cardiovascular outcomes, including myocardial infarction, arrhythmias and cardiomyopathy.” The data indicated that the “risks appear to become more severe depending on how often the drug is used.” The findings were published in Nature Reviews Cardiology.

Related Links:

— “Yes, physicians warn, cannabis is bad for the heart,”Michael Walter, Cardiovascular Business, January 27, 2025

The AP (1/27, Stobbe ) reports, “More adults are being diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.” Diagnoses have been increasing “for decades but seem to have accelerated in the last few years.” One study published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report “suggested that more than 15 million U.S. adults – roughly 1 in 17 – have been diagnosed with ADHD.” ADHD “always starts in childhood, but about half of adults with it are diagnosed when they are 18 or older.” Some physicians “say the number of people coming in for evaluation is skyrocketing.”

Related Links:

— “Rise in diagnoses is prompting more US adults to ask: ‘Do I have ADHD?’,”Mike Stobbe , AP, January 27, 2025

HCPlive (1/25, Derman) reported, “A new study found women experience more severe early PTSD symptoms than men, with re-experiencing and avoidance symptoms identified as the strongest and most interconnected symptom clusters.” The researchers said their “findings underscore the importance of understanding both gender similarities and possible differences in the development of early PTSD symptoms.” The investigators added, “Such understanding may provide valuable insights into the mechanisms driving later development of PTSD.” The findings were published in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology.

Related Links:

— “Study Identifies Gender Differences in Early PTSD Symptoms,”Chelsie Derman, HCPlive, January 25, 2025