Psychiatric News (11/16) reports, “People who develop major depression following a COVID-19 infection appear to respond to treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) within four weeks,” researchers concluded in a study that “included 60 adults (average age: 55 years) who developed a major depressive episode within six months following recovery from COVID-19 and were starting a new SSRI treatment; 26 were treated with sertraline, 18 with citalopram, 10 with paroxetine, four with fluvoxamine, and two with fluoxetine.” The findings were published online ahead of print in the upcoming January issue of the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 Survivors With Depression Respond to SSRIs Within 4 Weeks, Small Study Suggests, Psychiatric News, November 16, 2021

On its website, ABC News (11/16, Kindelan, Joseph) reports, “The number of people who were hospitalized for eating disorders in the United States doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research shows.” According to the study, published in JAMA, “rising cases were seen across anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and unspecified eating disorders.”

Related Links:

— “Eating disorder hospitalizations doubled during COVID-19 pandemic, new data shows “Katie Kindelan and Lauren Joseph, ABC News, November 16, 2021

HealthDay (11/16, Norton) reports, “Medical training may be taking less of a mental health toll on young” physicians “than it used to, but depression remains common,” researchers concluded in a study that “tracked nearly 17,000 U.S. interns (first-year residents) who entered residency programs between 2007 and 2019.” The study revealed that “overall, interns in 2019 did show an increase in depression symptoms during that first year of training, but it was about one-quarter less, compared to their counterparts in 2007.” The findingswere published online Nov. 16 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Better Work Conditions Bringing Better Mental Health to Resident Doctors: Study “Amy Norton, HealthDay, November 16, 2021

Healio (11/15, Gawel) reports, “Stretch marks can negatively impact pregnancy, quality of life and the psychological and emotional well-being of those who experience them,” investigators from Michigan Medicine concluded after surveying “116 pregnant patients with” striae gravidarum. The findings were discussed here.

Related Links:

— “Pregnancy stretch marks cause psychological, emotional burden “Richard Gawel, Healio, November 15, 2021

MedPage Today (11/15, Monaco) reports patients with COVID-19 “on an antidepressant were less likely to die from the infection, a retrospective study found.” According to researchers, “compared with patients not on an antidepressant, patients with COVID-19…taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) had a modest but significant 8% reduced risk of death.” Overall, the study, published in JAMA Network Open, found that “14.6% of patients (497 of 3,401) on an SSRI died from COVID-19 versus 16.6% (1,130 of 6,802) of patients who never had a history of taking an SSRI.”

HealthDay (11/15, Mozes) reports the study also revealed a “higher survival rate among those taking two specific SSRIs – Prozac (fluoxetine) and Luvox (fluvoxamine). The 481 patients taking either Prozac or Luvox alone…were 26% to 28% less likely to die from COVID-19, the study team found.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (11/15, Gramigna) reports, “Suicide prevention efforts may need to account for ethnicity because of variation across underrepresented groups,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data of those who died by suicide within 12 months of mental health service contact between 2007 and 2018, with data collection occurring for the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health.” For the study, the team “compared suicide rates and standardized mortality ratios…of 698 South Asian, Black African, Black Caribbean and Chinese patients (69% men; mean age, 41 years) with those of 13,567 white patients (66.6% men; mean age, 48 years).” The study authors concluded, “The important social and clinical differences we found between minority ethnic groups highlights that the one size fits all approach by mental health services might not be fit for purpose.” The findings were published online Nov. 8 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “‘One size fits all’ suicide prevention does not account for ethnic differences “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 15, 2021

According to Psychiatric News (11/12), the CMS “has expanded the definition of telehealth services that will be permanently eligible for reimbursement under the Medicare program to include audio-only services for established patients with mental illness/substance use disorders (SUDs) who are unable or unwilling to use video technology.” This “final rule on telehealth services for mental illness/SUDs is part of the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which covers updates to physician payment and other regulations regarding Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) each year.” APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, stated, “This is a real win for our patients.” Dr. Levin added, “We are grateful to CMS for this rule, which will prove invaluable to our patients well beyond the public health emergency.”Related Links:

— “CMS Approves Permanent Coverage of Audio-Only Telehealth Services for Mental Illness/SUDs, Psychiatric News, November 12, 2021

According to Healio (11/12, Gramigna), emergency department (ED) “patients with suicide attempts or self-harm had a high risk for suicide in the year after discharge,” researchers concluded after analyzing the “data of 55,323 patients with suicide attempts or self-harm, 435,464 patients with suicidal ideation and 9,144,807 patients with other mental health visits via 2008 to 2012 Medicaid data,” then following all patients “for suicide for one year after discharge.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Suicide attempt, self-harm in ED patients pose risks in year after discharge “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 12, 2021

Medwire News (11/11, McDermid) reports, “Researchers find women with type 1 diabetes report a high rate of sexual dysfunction, which may be linked to psychosocial issues.” According to the study, published in Diabetic Medicine, “sexual dysfunction was reported by 50.3% of 171 women (average age 39 years) with type 1 diabetes attending a single outpatient clinic, compared with 35.0% of 60 control women of similar age, equating to a significant 1.93-fold increased risk after accounting for menopausal status, recent urinary or genital infection, and depression.”

Related Links:

— “Sexual dysfunction risk in women with type 1 diabetes highlighted “Eleanor McDermid, Medwire News, November 11, 2021

HealthDay (11/11, Preidt) reports in a follow-up study “based on surveys of more than 3,000 people nationwide,” researchers found that for “people whose sitting times stayed high” during the COVID-19 pandemic, “their depressive symptoms, on average, didn’t recover in the same way as everyone else’s.” The findings were published online Oct. 1 in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Too Much Sitting May Be Bad for Your Mental Health ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 11, 2021