HCPlive (10/3, Derman) reports, “A new study showed adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders have high rates of comorbid mental health conditions and substance use but only a few received minimally adequate psychiatric treatment.” The research “revealed 71% of adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders received some mental health treatment in the past year…and only 26% were currently taking an antipsychotic.” The findings were published in Psychiatric Services.

Related Links:

— “Schizophrenia Patients Face High Mental Health Comorbidity, Limited Treatment,” Chelsie Derman, HCP Live, October 3, 2024

Politico (10/2, Chiappa ) reports, “Countries should consider regulating digital devices like smartphones in a similar way to tobacco products, to combat social media’s rising negative impact on young people’s mental health, the World Health Organization’s Natasha Azzopardi Muscat said.”

With growing “evidence that problematic gaming and social media behavior is on the rise among adolescents in Europe, countries should take inspiration from other areas of public health where legislation has helped address potentially damaging habits – such as tobacco laws, she said.” Measures such as “age limits, controlled prices and even no-go zones worked for regulating tobacco, so they could be taken as an example for how to curb damaging use of handheld devices like smartphones, Azzopardi Muscat, director of country health policies and systems at WHO Europe, told POLITICO.”

Related Links:

— “Control smartphones like tobacco, says leading WHO expert,” Claudia Chiappa, Politico, October 2, 2024

Healio (10/1, Welsh) says, “Mental health counseling is more effective at mitigating the risk for preterm birth compared with antidepressant treatment among pregnant women with depression, researchers reported.” Investigators found that “an increased number of mental health counseling visits from two to three was associated with a 21% greater reduction in preterm birth risk…and four or more visits was associated with a 43% greater reduction.” The findings were published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Related Links:

— “Mental health counseling more effective at reducing preterm birth vs. antidepressants,” Erin T. Walsh, MA, Healio, October 1, 2024

MedPage Today (9/30, DePeau-Wilson ) reports, “Exposure to conversion practices was associated with increases in several mental health symptoms for sexual and gender minority individuals, according to a cross-sectional study.”

In “the analysis of more than 4,000 people,” investigators found “that self-reported exposure to both gender identity and sexual orientation conversion practices was linked with greater symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (β 2.84, 95% CI 0.94-4.74) and suicidality (β 2.14, 95% CI 0.95-3.32) compared to those without any exposure.”

The findings were published in the Lancet Psychiatry. Study co-author Nguyen K. Tran, PhD, MPH, said these findings highlight “that these harmful practices continue to occur, not only within religious groups but also among mental health professionals, despite explicit opposition from multiple healthcare governing bodies such as the American Psychiatric Association.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (9/30, George ) reports, “A new diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia was more common after falls than after other traumatic injuries, an analysis of Medicare claims data showed.”

Investigators “assessed nearly 2.5 million older adults who had a traumatic injury that led to an emergency department…visit or inpatient admission.” Approximately half of those in the study were injured as a result of a fall.

The data indicated that “within 1 year, new dementia diagnoses were more common in people with falls than other injuries.” The researchers found, “after controlling for potential confounders and accounting for the competing risk of death, falling was tied to a 21% increased risk of a subsequent dementia diagnosis.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Psychiatric News (9/30) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Dementia Diagnosis More Common in Older Adults After Falls Than Other Injuries,” Psychiatric News, September 30, 2024

CNN (9/26, Christensen ) reports, “People in the United States who identify as transgender or nonbinary make up only a tiny fraction of the population, but they’ve been the targets of an outsized share of negative attention from lawmakers, a new study says – and those laws can have potentially deadly consequences.” The study “found that when anti-trans legislation becomes state law, suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary young people rise, with increases of up to 72% among teens who live in states where those bills become law.” The findings were published in Nature Human Behavior.

Related Links:

— “Suicide attempts increased among transgender teens when states passed anti-trans laws, study says,”Jen Christensen, CNN, September 26, 2024

Psychiatric News (9/26) reports, “Psychotherapy can be effective at reducing suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in at-risk individuals – even if the psychotherapy does not directly focus on suicidality, according to a meta-analysis.” Researchers found that “both direct and indirect psychotherapy were associated with comparable, modest reductions in the severity of suicidal ideation.” Study results indicate that “direct and indirect psychotherapy were also associated with a 28% and a 32% reduced risk of suicide attempt, respectively.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Psychotherapies That Address Suicidality Directly or Indirectly Are Comparably Effective, Psychiatric News , September 26, 2024

The AP (9/26, Stobbe ) reports, “U.S. suicides last year remained at about the highest level in the nation’s history, preliminary data suggests.” A little more than “49,300 suicide deaths were reported in 2023, according to provisional data from the” CDC. Meanwhile, “just under 49,500 were reported in 2022, according to final data released” by the CDC on Thursday. The figures “are close enough that the suicide rate for the two years are the same, CDC officials said.”

The New York Times (9/26, Caron ) reports “women are increasingly using guns to die by suicide in the United States, challenging long-held assumptions that they will usually resort to less lethal means, according to” the CDC data. The findings “showed that in 2022, 20 out of every million women used a gun to die by suicide, up from 14 women in 2002,” marking a 43% increase. The data also show “that suicide rates have risen among women over the past two decades.”

USA Today (9/26, Cuevas ) reports the data show “firearms were used in more than half the country’s record 49,500 suicide deaths in 2022.”

Related Links:

— “US suicides held steady in 2023 — at a very high level, “Mike Stobbe , AP , September 26, 2024

HealthDay (9/25, Foster ) reports, “In a move that could mean more Americans in crisis get help and get it quickly, federal officials announced Tuesday that major cellphone carriers now have the technology to direct 988 callers to local mental health services based on their location instead of their area code.” Verizon and T-Mobile began “rolling out the ‘georouting’ technology last week, CNN reported.” Once the change is fully implemented, it “will cover about half of all wireless calls to the 988 lifeline.” AT&T “plans to begin the process within the next couple months.” In October, “the Federal Communications Commission will vote on a rule that would require all wireless carriers to use georouting for 988 calls.”

Related Links:

— “988 Mental Health Crisis Calls Now Link to Caller Location, Not Area Code,”Robin Foster, HealthDay , September 25, 2024

HealthDay (9/25, Mundell ) reports, “Only 1 in every 4 U.S. adults struggling with schizophrenia receive ‘minimally adequate treatment,’ new data shows.” Furthermore, many of these patients “struggle with other mental health issues, such as substance abuse or depression, and they are further challenged by social and economic hardship, according to the new report.” Natalie Bareis, an assistant professor of clinical behavioral medicine at Columbia University, said in an APA news release that “persistent high rates of poverty, unemployment and poor functioning suggest that existing treatment and social welfare approaches are not meeting the needs of many people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.” The findings were published in Psychiatric Services.

Psychiatric News (9/25) says the research found that “71% of individuals with lifetime schizophrenia spectrum disorders reported some mental health treatment in the past year – 56% had at least one outpatient visit, 9% had an inpatient or residential stay, and 58% were currently taking a psychotropic medication.”

Related Links:

— “Most People With Schizophrenia Aren’t Getting Treated,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay , September 25, 2024