HealthDay (6/17, Thompson ) reports a systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 previous studies suggests that “electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) lowered the risk of death by suicide 34% among patients with severe depression.” They noted that “depression patients receiving ECT also had a 30% lower risk of death from any cause,” and these “benefits might be even greater than reflected, given that ECT has improved as a psychiatric treatment.” With that said, “because the studies were observational and not clinical trials, they cannot draw a direct cause-and-effect link between ECT and lowered suicide risk.” The study was published in the journal Neuroscience Applied.

Related Links:

— “Electroshock Therapy Appears To Reduce Suicide Risk Among People With Depression,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, June 17, 2025

MedPage Today (6/17, Monaco ) reports the FDA has “eliminated clozapine’s risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) program, with all REMS operations stopped as of June 13.” The announcement comes months after “joint FDA advisory committee voted to eliminate the REMS program for clozapine that was put in place due to the risk for severe neutropenia associated with the drug, which is used to treat schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.” With the program eliminated, “clozapine prescribers don’t need to submit patients’ absolute neutrophil count (ANC) results and pharmacies no longer need to obtain a REMS Dispense Authorization prior to dispensing clozapine.” The FDA continues to recommend “that prescribers monitor patients’ ANC according to the monitoring frequencies listed on the drug label.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The Washington Post (6/16, Docter-Loeb) reports that a study published in Tobacco Control reveals that “around 1 in 7 U.S. adults who smoke might have some degree of disability.” The researchers analyzed “data from the 2019-2023 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for about 150,000 people.” They determined that “14.1 percent of adults who currently smoked had a disability, and estimates for any kind of disability were significantly higher for current or former adult smokers.” Researchers found that “the prevalence of vision, hearing, mobility and cognitive disability was two to 2.4 times higher among those who currently smoked.” According to the study, “about 16.5 percent of women who smoke and 12.1 percent of men who smoke have a disability.” In addition, “19 percent of non-Hispanic smokers had a disability vs. 11 percent of Hispanic smokers.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (6/16) reports a study found that “legalization of cannabis was associated with small but significant increases in opioid use disorder (OUD) between 2005 and 2022 among patients receiving care in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).” Researchers found that in states that enacted medical cannabis laws (MCLs) but not recreational cannabis laws (RCLs), “OUD prevalence increased among VHA patients from 1.13% in 2005 to 1.19% in 2022, while OUD prevalence decreased from 1.12% to 1.06% in states without cannabis laws. OUD prevalence remained stable in states that enacted an MCL and then an RCL. Among patients with chronic pain, MCL and RCL enactment was associated with a 0.08% and 0.13% increase in OUD prevalence, respectively.” They noted the “largest change in OUD prevalence was seen among adults ages 65 to 75 years with chronic pain following RCL enactment – a 0.23% increase.” The study was published in JAMA Health Forum.

Related Links:

— “Cannabis Legalization Associated With Increase in Opioid Use Disorder,” Psychiatric News, June 16, 2025

HealthDay (6/13, Thompson ) reported a study found that “women’s endometriosis risk increased 20% if they had experienced childhood ordeals such as violence, sexual abuse, a death in the family, poverty or troubled parents.” The results indicate that “violence produced the strongest link, more than doubling a woman’s odds that she would develop endometriosis.” Researchers concluded, “The results suggest that early life experiences can affect the body’s health much later in life and highlight the importance of looking at the whole person, not just the symptoms.” The study was published in Human Reproduction.

Related Links:

— “Childhood Trauma Boosts Endometriosis Risk,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, June 13, 2025

HealthDay (6/13, Thompson ) reported a study found that “teenagers with less sleep had lower connectivity between the parts of the brain that play a critical role in decision making, self-reflection and information processing.” The researchers “analyzed data on more than 2,800 kids whose sleep patterns were tracked using Fitbit wrist devices for at last two weeks on average.” The results “showed that short sleep dramatically affected the kids’ default mode network, a network of brain regions that tend to be active when a person is at rest and not focused on their external environment. A lack of sleep caused the different regions of the default mode network to become less connected.” According to researchers, “problems in these parts of the brain are also linked to mental illnesses like depression, ADHD and schizophrenia.” Additionally, “boys, older children and kids from racial minorities tended to have shorter sleep, as well as more behavior problems.” The study was published in Brain and Behavior.

Related Links:

— “Lack Of Sleep Alters Teens’ Brains, Potentially Promoting Behavior Issues,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, June 13, 2025

The Washington Post (6/11, Gibson) reports a study of social media use and depressive symptoms among early adolescents over a three-year period “found that an increase in social media use predicted a future rise in symptoms of depression – but not the other way around.” Researchers examined data drawn from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. They observed that “daily social media use among study participants surged tenfold over those years, from about 7 minutes per day at age 9, to 74 minutes per day by age 13. During that same time frame, reported depression symptoms jumped 35 percent.” Although the minimum age requirement for most social media platforms is 13 years old, researchers noted that “20 percent of 9- and 10-year-olds had social media accounts, and by age 11 or 12, two-thirds of them did. On average, those children had accounts on three platforms.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (6/11, Gotkine ) reports a research letter published in JAMA Network Open says “opportunities remain to increase use of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.” The researchers calculated that “between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2024, 988 was contacted 16,333,707 times nationally, with 11.0 percent of contacts rerouted to the Veterans Crisis Line.” Over the 30-month period, “the national lifetime 988 contact incidence rate was 48.9 per 1,000 population,” and the “estimated lifetime 988 use prevalence was 2.4 percent. The corresponding past-year contact incidence rate and past-year prevalence was 23.7 per 1,000 population and 1.6 percent.” They concluded, “The past-year 988 contact rate of 23.7 per 1,000 is less than half that of the rate of adult emergency department visits that include a mental health diagnosis (53.0 per 1,000 population), [suggesting] that although 988 has been contacted more than 16 million times since its launch, there remains opportunity to increase 988 use.”

Related Links:

— “988 Contacted More Than 16 Million Times From Its Launch to December 2024,” Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, June 11, 2025

American Journal of Managed Care (6/10, Shaw ) reports a study suggests that “in the process of recovering from COVID-like symptoms, mental health and well-being took close to 3 times as long to recover compared with physical health.” Data show that “although physical health tends to bounce back by 3 months after symptoms became apparent, mental well-being can take up to 9 months to reach a comparable level of recovery.” Researchers found that “up to 1 year after infection, close to 20% of patients continued to report a reduced health-related quality of life (HRQOL) vs before their self-reported COVID-like symptoms.” Furthermore, they noted there “is potential for underestimation of other illnesses because of this; among their study population, health recovery recovered to a higher level for those who reported COVID-like symptoms vs those who tested negative.” The study was published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Related Links:

— “Prolonged Mental Health Recovery Linked to Long COVID,” Maggie L. Shaw, American Journal of Managed Care, June 10, 2025

Healio (6/10, Herpen) reports a study found that “therapy for anxiety and depression after stroke was associated with improved recovery, with early treatment leading to better outcomes than delayed treatment.”

Study results indicate that patients “who commenced psychological services 12 months or more after stroke had 20% lower odds for reliable recovery from symptoms of anxiety or depression compared with those who began attending within 6 months of their stroke. Both groups demonstrated moderate reductions in depression and large reductions in anxiety symptoms.” Yet data show “that patients who started treatment earlier consistently recorded lower” PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores.

Researchers concluded, “It is essential for general practitioners and other clinicians working with stroke survivors to screen for depression and anxiety symptoms and refer patients for psychological therapy as early as possible.” The study was published in Nature Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Earlier counseling after stroke linked to improved anxiety, depression,” Robert Herpen, MA, Healio, June 10, 2025