HealthDay (9/19, Reinberg) reports, “Nearly 10% of Americans suffer from depression, with the mood disorder increasing fastest among teens and young adults,” researchers concluded after examining data drawn from the 2015-2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. In fact, “between 2015 and 2020, incidence of depression reached 9% among Americans 12 and older,” while “among teens and young adults, the depression rate stood at 17% in 2020, the researchers found.” One researcher “said it’s possible that growing feelings of helplessness and economic distress are fueling depression, the leading mental health disorder in the nation,” and “the COVID-19 pandemic has only made mental health worse.” The findings were published online Sept. 19 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Depression Affects Almost 1 in 10 Americans “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay , September 19, 2022

Psychiatric News (9/15) reports, “During the COVID-19 pandemic, many American Indian youth reported feeling less connected to friends and less engaged in schoolwork,” but despite that, “many students also showed resilience at this difficult time,” investigators concluded in a study that included data on “2,559 American Indian students” from the “annual Our Youth, Our Future study, which collects nationally representative substance use data among middle and high school students who live on or near reservations.” The findingswere published online Sept. 14 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “American Indian Youth Reported Relationship Problems but Remained Resilient During Pandemic, Psychiatric News , September 15, 2022

Healthcare Dive (9/15, Muchmore) reports, “About 63% of physicians surveyed experienced at least one manifestation of burnout in 2021, shooting up from 38% in 2020 and representing the highest amount in a decade of recurring survey findings, according to an article published…in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.” The “mean scores for emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were higher in 2021 while satisfaction with work-life balance dropped,” while “depression scores were relatively stable, ‘suggesting the increase in physician distress in this interval was primarily due to increased work-related distress,’ the authors wrote.” These “findings suggest that women have been more affected by burnout during COVID-19, the authors said, also noting the results come against a backdrop of other stressors like gun violence, economic concerns and child care hurdles.”

Related Links:

— “Physician burnout higher in 2021 than 2020, study shows “Shannon Muchmore, Healthcare Dive, September 15, 2022

Modern Healthcare (9/14, Hartnet, Subscription Publication) reports the number of National Suicide Prevention Lifeline contacts “increased 45%” last month when compared to August of last year. The increase followed the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s mid-July launch, but organizations that answer 988 calls “are still figuring out where they fit into the new system and how they can be reimbursed for mobile response and call services beyond government grants.” By 2025, SAMHSA “projects that 90% of people who need support will be able to access 988 and 80% will have access to mobile crisis teams.”

Related Links:

— “Providers see opportunity in early success of 988 mental health hotline “Kara Hartnett, Modern Healthcare, September 14, 2022

Psychiatric News (9/14) reports, “Despite being at higher risk of anxiety and depression than the public, healthcare workers are often reluctant to seek mental healthcare,” but a 1,402-participant randomized controlled trial published online Sept. 13 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, “suggests that watching a short video about the benefits of therapy for COVID-19-related anxiety and depression may reduce treatment-related stigma and encourage more healthcare workers to seek help.”

Related Links:

— “Health Care Workers More Open to Therapy After Watching Short Video About Its Benefits, Psychiatric News, September 14, 2022

Healio (9/13, Weldon) reports, “Cannabis use during pregnancy may place children at risk for attention, social and behavioral problems into early adolescence and mental health issues and substance use later on,” investigators concluded in findings published online Sept. 12 in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

According to Psychiatric News (9/13), included in the analysis were “10,631 individuals and 30,091 longitudinal assessments.”

HealthDay (9/13, Munez) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Study hints at negative effect on children of cannabis use during pregnancy “Rose Weldon, Healio, September 13, 2022

Healio (9/13, VanDewater) reports, “The association between maternal infection during pregnancy and children’s diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability was not causal, according to a Swedish register-based cohort study.” One researcher wrote, “We found no evidence to suggest that having an infection during pregnancy would increase the child’s risk of autism. … Instead, it may be unmeasured genetic and/or environmental factors that cause both infections in these mothers and autism in their children separately.” The findings were published online in The Lancet Psychiatry.

HealthDay (9/13, Mann) reports, “When researchers compared siblings, those exposed to an infection during pregnancy were no more likely to develop autism than their brothers or sisters who weren’t exposed.” Also, “women who had an infection a year before they became pregnant were linked to a similar autism risk as infections during pregnancy, but not linked to risk of intellectual disability.”

Related Links:

— “Link between maternal infection, offspring’s autism not causal, study shows “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, September 13, 2022

The Hill (9/12, Hou) says, “Mental health in children and teenagers has suffered during the coronavirus pandemic,” and now, a “report from Clarify Health” of “data covering 2016 through 2021 for mental health related insurance claims for children ages 1 to 19” has found that “overall, there were increases in most claims related to mental health, sometimes very sharp increases starting in 2020.” The report (PDF) found “a 61 percent increase in mental health inpatient admissions” and “a 20 percent increase in emergency department (ED) visits.” Also, “teenagers aged 12 to 15 and 16 to 19 fared worse than the younger age groups.”

Related Links:

— “Children’s mental health issues have increased, insurance claims suggest “Chia-Yi Hou, The Hill, September 12, 2022

Psychiatric News (9/12) reports research indicates that “the more limited the resources of the neighborhood into which young refugees are settled, the more likely they are to go on to be diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder,” investigators concluded in a study that “used multiple Danish health and census registers to monitor the outcomes of 18,709 child and adolescent refugees (ages 0-16) who resettled in Denmark between 1986 and 1998.” The findings were published online Sept. 12 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Socioeconomic Status of Neighborhood Matters for Mental Health of Refugee Children, Adolescents, Psychiatric News, September 12, 2022

Healio (9/9, Downey) reported, “Older adults with dementia are at greater risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and death, highlighting the need for close monitoring of these patients, researchers reported” in a “retrospective, population-based study” of patients in Italy. The team “reported a crude risk for infection of 6.7%, with an increased risk for infection in both women…and men,” and “also reported the crude risk for death was 31%,” according to the findings published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Related Links:

— “Increased risk for COVID-19 infection, death among adults with dementia “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, September 9, 2022