HealthDay (6/24, Mundell ) says, “The rate of self-reported mental distress and depression among American adults who identify as transgender or gender-diverse (TGD) has more than doubled between 2014 and 2022, an analysis of federal health data reveals.” Over that period, “‘a record number of enacted laws…threatened the rights and protections of TGD people, including restricting access to gender-affirming care and permitting discrimination in public accommodations,’ noted a team of researchers.” The results were published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Psychiatric News (6/24) reports, “Between 2014 and 2022, the prevalence of frequent mental distress increased from 18.8% to 38.9% among transgender or gender-diverse adults, while the prevalence of depression rose from 19.7% to 51.3%. Cisgender adults experienced significantly smaller increases in the prevalence of frequent mental distress (11.2% to 15.5%) and depression (18.6% to 21.1%) during this period.”

Related Links:

— “Rates of Distress, Depression Have Doubled Among Transgender Americans Since 2014,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, June 24, 2024

ABC News (6/25, Cobern) reports US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, “issued a new advisory on Tuesday declaring gun violence a public health crisis.” More than “50% of Americans say they or their family have experienced a firearm-related incident in their lifetime, and about 60% of U.S. adults say that they worry ‘sometimes,’ ‘almost every day,’ or ‘every day’ about a loved one being a victim of firearm violence, according to the advisory.” The new “advisory outlines an evidence-informed public health approach with prevention strategies that public health leaders and policymakers can consider to reduce and prevent firearm-related death and injury, including by increasing research investments and data collection, implementing risk reduction strategies and engaging communities.”

Related Links:

— “US Surgeon General Murthy declares gun violence ‘public health crisis’ in America,”Dr. Jade Cobern, ABC News , June 25, 2024

NBC News (6/23, Pettypiece ) reports, “The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among professions – with the rate among male construction workers 75% higher than men in the general population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Around “6,000 construction workers died as a result of suicide in 2022, an increase from 2021, according to the most recent data available. That compares to around 1,000 who died from a construction work-related injury.”

Related Links:

— “Construction workers are dying by suicide at an alarming rate,”Shannon Pettypiece, NBC News, June 23, 2024

Psychiatric News (6/20) reports, “Patient suicide has a profound effect on health care professionals, and institutions that train or employ them should develop best practices for suicide education, prevention, and post-suicide intervention, according to a report in Psychiatric Services in Advance.” The report “revealed that more than half of all health care professionals and nearly three-quarters of all psychiatrists have experienced the suicide of a patient; just under half of all psychiatric trainees have experienced the suicide of a patient.”

Related Links:

— “Education, Resources, and Support Needed for Physicians Who Experience Patient Suicide, Psychiatric News, June 20, 2024

HealthDay (6/20, Mundell ) reports, “Transgender and bisexual adults have rates of loneliness that are much higher than that of cisgender and heterosexual people, new data shows.” Federal health data “from 2022 finds the highest rates of self-reported loneliness among people who identify as bisexual (56.7%) or transgender (rates ranging from 56.4% to 63.9%), according to researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” This compares “to the 30.3% of straight people who said they often felt lonely, and the 32.1% of cisgender people who said they were lonely.” The results were published in the CDC’s MMWR.

MedPage Today (6/20, Robertson ) reports, “Bisexual and transgender people also reported the highest prevalence of stress (34.3% and 36.1% to 37.8%, respectively), frequent mental distress (40.5% and 37.2% to 51.8%), and history of depression (54.4% and 47.4% to 67.2%).”

Related Links:

— “High Rates of Loneliness Seen Among Bisexual and Transgender People,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, June 20, 2024

Healio (6/19, Welsh) reports, “At 2 months postpartum, about one in 11 women with cesarean deliveries at 34 weeks’ gestation or longer developed PTSD symptoms, according to study results published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.” However, “women with immediate skin-to-skin contact with their newborn had a lower PTSD risk (aOR = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.46-0.98), the researchers reported.”

Related Links:

— “Nearly 10% of women with cesarean delivery experience PTSD at 2 months postpartum,”Erin T. Welsh, Healio, June 19, 2024

Psychiatric News (6/13) says, “For every 22 extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs) issued in Connecticut, one suicide is prevented, according to a report in JAMA Network Open. ERPOs, also known as red flag gun laws, allow firearms to be removed from people at high risk of self-injury or injury to others.” Researchers concluded, “As policymakers attempt to learn how to use ERPOs most effectively and equitably, the heterogeneous U.S. landscape presents an opportunity for future studies to identify and learn more about the effect of different ERPO implementation approaches, which, in turn, could help guide policy and legislative decisions.”

Related Links:

— “About 1 in 20 Risk Protection Orders To Remove a Firearm Prevent a Suicide, Researchers Find, Psychiatric News, June 13, 2024

The New York Times (6/13, Rosenbluth) says, “Many firearm owners in the United States do not securely store their guns, even when the weapon is kept loaded and there are children in the home, according to a report released on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” The report “found that many gun owners kept weapons unlocked and loaded in their homes despite rising rates of suicides involving guns and firearm fatalities among children.” In all eight states where people were surveyed, “about half of respondents who reported having loaded firearms in their homes said that at least one loaded gun was kept unlocked, a finding consistent with similar studies about firearm storage behavior.”

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (6/13, Thompson ) reports, “Bipolar disorder doesn’t have to be a lifelong challenge, a new study says. Nearly 1 in 4 people with bipolar disorder wind up achieving complete mental health, researchers found.” Additionally, “more than 2 in 5 become free from bipolar symptoms over time, results show.” The findings were published in the Journal of Affective Disorders Reports.

Related Links:

— “Nearly 1 in 4 People With Bipolar Disorder Achieve Complete Mental Health,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, June 13, 2024

The Washington Post (6/14, Ortega) reported, “Black adolescents’ experiences with racial discrimination may put them at higher risk of depression and anxiety, according to a study published [last] week in JAMA Network Open that sheds light on the long-term impact of racism.” For the study, researchers “pulled data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, a nationwide project funded by the National Institutes of Health that collects data on children’s health and brain development.” In addition to reviewing surveys collected from these participants, researchers used fMRIs of their amygdalas “to better understand the role it plays in Black youths’ responses to threats such as racism.” They “found a correlation between youths whose amygdala shut down in response to negative stimuli and increased reporting of internalizing symptoms – including anxiety and depression.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)