Psychiatric News (11/4) reported, “Declining mood affects 38% of Americans in the winter, APA’s November Healthy Minds Monthly Poll” reveals. The poll, which was “conducted online by Morning Consult from October 19 to October 21, asked 2,211 adults about the state of their mental health during the winter.” Additionally, the poll “examined awareness of seasonal affective disorder.” In a statement, APA President Rebecca W. Brendel, MD, JD, said, “Cold, dark weather can have a real impact on our mood,” so “it’s important to keep tabs on our mood and to seek help if sadness or other symptoms become overwhelming.” APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, stated, “Seasonal affective disorder is more than just the winter blues, and people need to be aware that if they’re having depression symptoms specifically during these months, it’s a medical disorder for which they can get help.”

Related Links:

— “Nearly 4 in 10 Americans Experience Declining Mood in Winter, APA Poll Finds, Psychiatric News, November 4, 2022

The New York Times (11/3, Abelson, Sanger-Katz) reports companies selling Medicare Advantage “plans to older adults have posed as the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies, misled customers about the size of their networks and preyed on vulnerable people with dementia and cognitive impairment, according to a new investigation of deceptive marketing practices in the industry released Thursday by the Senate Finance Committee.” The investigation “catalogs complaints from 14 states, and a multitude of marketing materials generated by the insurers and the companies they hire to help sell the private plans.” The Senate committee “says people both in traditional Medicare and those already in a private plan have been inappropriately switched.”

Related Links:

— “Private Medicare Plans Misled Customers Into Signing Up, Senate Report Says, The New York Times, November 3, 2022

HealthDay (11/3, Thompson) reports, “Autism is a more comprehensive disorder than previously thought, and appears to arise from brain changes located throughout the cerebral cortex, not just in specific areas,” researchers concluded after examining “the genetics in 11 cortical regions by sequencing RNA from brain tissue samples gathered from 112 people after death,” then comparing “what they found to the genetics of healthy brain tissue.” The findings were published online Nov. 2 in the journal Nature.

Related Links:

— “Autism Alters Brain in Major Ways, Study Finds “Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, November 3, 2022

Healio (11/3, Downey) reports, “Mania was associated with reduced dopamine transporter density levels among those with bipolar disorder,” investigators concluded in a scan study that included 47 participants, 26 of whom had bipolar disorder and “21 matched healthy controls.” The findings were published online Nov. 2 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Mania associated with lower dopamine transporter density in bipolar patients “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, November 3, 2022

MedPage Today (11/2, George) reports, “People in their 20s and 30s who were moderate-to-heavy drinkers were more likely to have a stroke in early adulthood compared with those who consumed low amounts of alcohol each week,” researchers concluded in study findings published online in the journal Neurology. The study of 1,536,668 young people revealed that those “who consumed 105 g of alcohol per week, or 15 g per day, for two or more years were more likely to have a stroke over 5.6 years of follow-up versus light drinkers,” and “stroke risk rose as the number of years of moderate-to-heavy drinking in young adulthood increased.”

HealthDay (11/2) reports the study also found that “high alcohol burden scores were associated with significantly higher risks for hemorrhagic stroke.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (11/2) reports, “Youth who survive a firearm injury are significantly more likely to access mental health services – including services for substance use disorders – within one year of the injury than are children who do not have a firearm injury,” investigators concluded in a study that “used commercial insurance and Medicaid claims databases to examine use of mental health and substance use treatment among 2,127 children and adolescents (average age 13.5 years) who sustained firearm injuries between January 2016 and the end of December 2017, and an equal number of age-matched youth who had not had a firearm injury.” The findings were published online Nov. 2 in JAMA Surgery.

Related Links:

— “Youth More Likely to Access Mental Health, Substance Use Treatment Following a Firearm Injury, Psychiatric News, November 2, 2022

According to the New York Times (11/2, Dance, Twohey), legislators “are seeking to make online assistance of suicide a federal crime, pushing to hold accountable both individual users and the tech companies and websites that allow such content on their platforms.” A bipartisan measure “introduced in the House of Representatives on Monday, the Stop Online Suicide Assistance Forums Act, comes amid rising concern over suicide rates among young people, and mounting evidence of online dangers.” This proposed legislation “would allow prosecution under an existing exception to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the law that governs online activity and typically shields website operators from liability for content posted by users.”

Related Links:

— “Bill Outlawing Online Suicide Assistance Would Open Sites to Liability ” Gabriel J.X. Dance and Megan Twohey, The New York Times, November 2, 2022

Psychiatric News (11/1) reports, “Women who begin taking oral or transdermal estrogen or estrogen/progestin for menopause between the ages of 45 and 50 appear to be at greater risk of developing depression,” investigators concluded in a study that “included 825,238 women in Denmark who turned 45 years between 1995 and the end of 2017.” The findings were published online Nov. 1 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Oral, Transdermal Hormone Therapy for Menopause Before Age 50 May Increase Risk of Depression, Psychiatric News , November 1, 2022

The New York Times (11/1, Alcorn) reports, “An estimated one in eight deaths of Americans ages 20 to 64 in the years 2015-19 was the result of injuries or illness caused by excessive alcohol use, according to a” study that “assessed the effects of alcohol on people of working age, who accounted for nearly two-thirds of the country’s annual average of 140,000 alcohol-related deaths.” The study showed that “among those ages 20 to 49, one in five deaths was attributable to drinking, and for those ages 20 to 34, it was one in four.” The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

MedPage Today (11/1, Hamza) reports alcohol-attributed deaths “were more common among men than women (15% vs 9.4%), the authors wrote.”

CNN (11/1, Holcombe) also reports.

Related Links:

— “Alcohol Deaths Claim Lives of Working-Age Americans “Ted Alcorn, The New York Times, November 1, 2022

mHealth Intelligence (10/31, Melchionna) reports “that although in-person care is the preferred channel of care, telehealth use remains highly used among young adults and those engaging in primary care and mental health services,” according to a survey by Stericycle Communication Solutions in collaboration with Ipsos. In comparison, the “survey of 1,004 adults” found that “patients do not prefer virtual visits for specialties such as dermatology, pediatrics, ENT, cardiology, urology, gynecology, orthopedics, and pulmonology.”

Related Links:

— “Patients Prefer Telehealth for Primary Care, Mental Health Needs ” Mark Melchionna, mHealth Intelligence, October 31, 2022