STAT (3/29, Deng, Huh) reports that Afghan refugees are struggling with “grief, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder after living through war and having to leave their homes.” Even though “there are mental health resources available to Afghan refugees – who were recently granted temporary protected status in the U.S. – there are significant barriers to accessing that care.” Additionally, experts say that “providing mental health services is more challenging for Afghans” because of cultural factors and “a ‘mismatch’ between Western and Afghan ways of thinking about mental health.” Language barriers also pose a formidable problem. The article adds that “past reports from the American Psychiatric Association suggest very few refugees in the U.S. are referred for” mental healthcare.

Related Links:

— “Afghan refugees, grappling with grief and trauma, face barriers to mental health care ” Grace Deng and Jenny Jiin Huh, STAT, March 29, 2022

PatientEngagementHIT (3/17, Rodriguez) reports, “Medical misinformation has been spreading rapidly nationwide, causing many Americans to struggle to identify the difference between fact and fiction and hampering patient health literacy, according to… research from GoodRx.” Nearly “three-quarters of the 1,000 adult survey participants had been exposed to inaccurate medical or health information,” and “16% stated they were unable to decide if they had been exposed.” The results also “showed that 44% of people reported low confidence in their ability to distinguish the accuracy of medical information.”

Related Links:

— “Medical Misinformation Exposure Reduces Patient Health Literacy ” Sarai Rodriguez, PatientEngagementHIT, March 17, 2022

Healio (3/17, VanDewater) reports, “Women who took antidepressant medication had persistent depressive and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum, with some women experiencing increased anxiety symptoms,” investigators concluded in a study that “enrolled 88 pregnant women (89% white) by 18 weeks’ gestation who had a diagnosis of” major depressive disorder (MDD) “and were currently taking” the SSRI antidepressants “sertraline (n = 47), fluoxetine (n = 10), citalopram (n = 9) or escitalopram (n =22).” The study revealed that “despite maintenance treatment, pregnant women with MDD frequently had residual symptoms at enrollment and throughout pregnancy and postpartum.” The findings were published online March 4 in the journal Psychiatric Research & Clinical Practice, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Anxiety, depression persist despite antidepressant use in pregnancy, postpartum “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, March 17, 2022

HealthDay (3/17, Preidt) reports, “Rates of postpartum depression among American mothers rose nearly three-fold during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with large increases in major depression and thoughts of self-harm,” researchers concluded in a study that “included 670 new moms who completed online screening between February and July 2020.” Of those women, “one-third screened positive for postpartum depression and 20% had symptoms of major depression,” whereas “before the pandemic, about one in eight new mothers had postpartum depression and between 5% and 7% had major depression, according to the” CDC. The findings were published online March 14 in the journal BMC Research Notes.

Related Links:

— “Postpartum Depression Rates Have Tripled for New Moms During Pandemic “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 17, 2022

According to the New York Times (3/16, Richtel), for about the past 20 years, investigators “have used brain-imaging technology to try to identify how the structure and function of a person’s brain connects to a range of mental-health ailments, from anxiety and depression to suicidal tendencies.” Now, findings published online March 16 in the journal Nature call “into question whether much of this research is actually yielding valid findings.” This is because “many such studies, the paper’s authors found, tend to include fewer than two dozen participants, far shy of the number needed to generate reliable results.”

Related Links:

— “Brain-Imaging Studies Hampered by Small Data Sets, Study Finds “Matt Richtel, The New York Times, March 16, 2022

Modern Healthcare (3/16, Devereaux, Subscription Publication) reports “Hospitals are seeing more emergency department visits for mental health issues after COVID-19 surges, particularly among young adults and racial minority groups,” according to a study that “looked at a sample of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 64 with several million ED visits across 3,600 emergency facilities nationwide between Jan. 1, 2019 and Aug. 14, 2021 that were related to a set of 10 mental health disorders.” The study findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Mental health-related ED visits increase after COVID-19 surges, study finds “Mari Devereaux, Modern Healthcare, March 16, 2022

CNN (3/16, McPhillips) reports, “Annual drug overdose deaths have reached another record high in the United States as deaths from fentanyl and other synthetic opioids surge to unprecedented levels,” investigators concluded. In fact, “an estimated 105,752 people died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending October 2021, according to provisional data published” March 16 by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics on its website.

Related Links:

— “US drug overdose deaths reach another record high as deaths from fentanyl surge “Deidre McPhillips, CNN, March 16, 2022

Bloomberg Law (3/15, Subscription Publication) reports, “President Joe Biden recently signaled he wants to strengthen enforcement of mental health parity rules,” an effort that “will include a demand that insurers offer an adequate network of behavioral health [professionals], including three visits for a patient each year without cost-sharing, and ask Congress to help improve parity.” Meanwhile, “some mental health [professional] groups are calling on Congress to levy fines against insurers that fall short.” American Psychiatric Association CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA said, “We need to make sure there is some penalty for not doing it right.”

Related Links:

— “Biden’s Call for Mental Health Coverage Sparks Legislative Push “Alex Ruoff, Bloomberg Law, March 15, 2022

HealthDay (3/15, Munez) reports, “In the past two decades, a growing number of preteens have taken medicines or other chemicals as a way to end their lives,” investigators concluded after examining data “collected in the National Poison Data System for children aged six to 18.” The study revealed “a 4.5-fold increase in suicidal ingestion cases among children between the ages of 10 and 12 since 2000.” The findingswere published online March 14 in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Suicide Rate Is Spiking Upwards in Preadolescent Children “Cara Murez, HealthDay, March 15, 2022

HealthDay (3/15, Reinberg) reports, “People who have severe COVID-19 are at higher risk for depression and other mental woes that can last more than a year, a large study suggests.” Investigators “reported that COVID patients who were bedridden but not hospitalized for a week or more can experience depression, anxiety, distress and trouble sleeping up to 16 months after being ill.” The researchers’ findings were published in The Lancet.

Related Links:

— “Mental Issues Can Linger More Than a Year After Severe COVID “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, March 15, 2022