HealthDay (7/11) reports gardening may help people “reap mental health benefits, even for first-time gardeners.” In the 32-woman study, “the activity was linked to decreased stress, anxiety and depression in healthy women who attended twice-weekly gardening classes.” The findings were published online July 6 in the journal PLOS One.
Related Links:
— “Gardening Can Blossom Into Better Mental Health “Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, HealthDay, July 11, 2022
Psychiatric News (7/11) reports, “A safety planning framework that focuses on one’s strengths can improve the outcomes of patients admitted to an emergency department (ED) with psychiatric distress,” according to findings published online July 7 in the journal Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.
Related Links:
— “Planning Around Patient Strengths Can Reduce Emergency Department Stays for Psychiatric Problems, Psychiatric News, July 11, 2022
CNN (7/11, LaMotte) reports, “Drinking alone during adolescence and young adulthood can strongly increase the risk for alcohol abuse later in life, especially if you are a woman, a…study finds.” Researchers “analyzed data from the Monitoring the Future study, an ongoing investigation of 4,500 teens who were asked about their drinking habits while high school seniors.” The findings were published online in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
The Hill (7/11, Barnes) reports, “Young people who drank alone at age 18 were 35 percent more likely to report symptoms of alcohol use disorder, while people who reported drinking by themselves in their early twenties were 60 percent more likely to report these symptoms.”
Related Links:
— “Drinking alone when younger linked to alcoholism in mid-30s “Sandee LaMotte, CNN, July 11, 2022
Healio (7/8, Weldon) reported, “Researchers estimated that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, among children and adolescents in the United States was 3.14% in 2019 and 2020 overall, up from 2.24% in 2014.” The researchers “found that 410 of 12,554 children and adolescents between the ages of 3 and 17 years were reported to have a diagnosis of ASD, with a higher prevalence in boys than in girls and a higher incidence in poverty-stricken families.” These findings were published in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.
Related Links:
— “Prevalence of autism among US children, teens on the rise “Rose Weldon, Healio, July 8, 2022
Kaiser Health News (7/8, Meyer) reported, “Research suggests therapy delivered online can be effective,” but “the rapid proliferation of the online commercial therapy industry worries some traditional mental health professionals who have raised concerns about aggressive advertising for online services and whether patient care is compromised by inadequate training and pay for therapists working at some digital companies.” John Torous, MD, MBI, who chairs the American Psychiatric Association’s Health Information Technology Committee, said, “There are fundamental questions about what these companies are doing and whether they are reaching people who really need help.” Dr. Torous added, “They may be doing wonderful work, but it’s hard to know when we don’t have that data.”
Related Links:
— “Digital Mental Health Companies Draw Scrutiny and Growing Concerns “Harris Meyer, Kaiser Health News, July 8, 2022
Healio (7/8, Herpen) reported, “Those with first-episode psychosis [FEP] demonstrated more suicidal behavior compared with healthy controls, while perceived stress and emotional abuse were linked to an increase in suicidal ideation and risk,” investigators concluded in the PROFEP study, which “included 95 participants (29 women, 66 men) aged 13 to 46 years, diagnosed with FEP, alongside 92 healthy control participants.” The findings were published online ahead of print in the September issue of the journal Psychiatry Research.
Related Links:
— “First-episode psychosis, stress and abuse linked to increase of suicidal behaviors “Robert Herpen, Healio, July 8, 2022
HealthDay (7/7) reports, “The Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM) program for health care workers and staff is feasible, acceptable, and associated with improved outcomes, according to a study.” Investigators “found that 91% of participants completed” this “skills-based coaching program,” and “88% reported being satisfied.” The results published in JAMA Network Open also revealed improvements “in participant-reported resilience, stress, anxiety, and burnout-exhaustion.”
Related Links:
— “Resilience and Stress Management Program Aids Health Care Workers, HealthDay , July 7, 2022
Psychiatric News (7/7) reports, “About 20 years ago, diabetes care changed when an organized effort was made to identify patients at risk of diabetes earlier and connect them with treatment,” and “a similar strategy could be used within the substance use disorder (SUD) field by using the term ‘preaddiction,’ advised A. Thomas McLellan, PhD, George F. Koob, PhD, and Nora D. Volkow, MD, in a Viewpoint piece” published online July 6 in JAMA Psychiatry. In the Viewpoint, the authors observed that “the transition from using a substance to developing a substance use disorder is usually slow and variable.”
Related Links:
— “Concept of ‘Preaddiction’ Could Lead to Early Intervention for Possible Substance Use Disorder, Psychiatric News, July 7, 2022
HCPlive (7/7, Walter) reports research “indicates that a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) does lead to a heightened risk of suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide deaths.” Investigators arrived at that conclusion after conducting a 28-study systematic review and meta-analysis encompassing some “1.05 million individuals with IBD.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research.
Related Links:
— “IBD Linked to Higher Risk of Suicide Ideation, Attempts, and Death “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, July 7, 2022
The Wall Street Journal (7/7, Chapman, Subscription Publication) reports on how US school districts are implementing measures during summer classes to help ameliorate the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on student mental health.
Related Links:
— “Schools Are Tackling Mental Health This Summer “Ben Chapman, The Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2022