NPR (1/2, Dembosky) reports that 100,000 young adults or adolescents have a psychotic episode every year in the US, but “on average, it takes people a year and a half to get into meaningful treatment, if they ever do at all. About 80 to 90% of affected young people inch through the country’s fragmented mental health care system, many struggling to find a clinician with adequate training in psychosis.”

Additionally, “only 10 to 20% … find space in one of the holistic treatment programs recommended by the National Institute of Mental Health,” because “these programs rarely have enough slots available … and because health insurance companies typically refuse to cover the full cost of these programs.”

The article notes that “multiple agencies, including the National Institute of Mental Health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the American Psychiatric Association, all recommend full-scope early psychosis care for treatment of a first psychotic episode.”

Related Links:

— “It keeps people with schizophrenia in school and on the job. Why won’t insurance pay?,” April Dembosky, NPR, January 2, 2024

HealthDay (1/2, Mundell) reports, “Reduced income, unemployment and mental health issues are more common among people who live with a loved one diagnosed with depression, new research shows.” Investigators found that “folks living with a depressed person had, on average, $4,720 less in total annual income, than people who didn’t.” Additionally, “folks living with a person who was depressed…were more likely to be unemployed,” and had “lower scores on tests aimed at assessing mental and physical health.”

The findings were published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. In a news release from the American Psychiatric Association, study lead author Paul Greenberg said, “These findings indicate that the impact of depressive symptoms may extend beyond the affected individuals, imposing a burden on other adults in their households.”

Related Links:

— “Living With a Depressed Loved One Can Take Mental, Financial Toll,” Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, January 2, 2024

HCP Live (1/2, Derman) reports, “Young adults and adolescents are the age groups most likely to discontinue ADHD medication within 5 years, according to a new study.” Meanwhile, “children had the lowest rates.” The findings were published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Young Adults, Adolescents Discontinue ADHD Medication More Than Children,” Chelsie Derman, HCPLive, January 2, 2024

HealthDay (12/29, Mundell) reported, “Suicide rates for Vietnam veterans over the past four decades were no higher than that of the general population.” Nonetheless, “between 1979 and 2019 – the period covered by the new study – almost 100,000 Vietnam War vets did lose their lives to suicide, the researchers noted.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Vietnam War Veterans at No Higher Risk for Suicide: Study,” Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, December 29, 2023

Politico (1/1, Paun) reports, “Nearly 60 years after Congress barred Medicaid from treating people in what were then derided as insane asylums, lawmakers are on the verge of reversing course.” The House passed a bill in December that “would give states the option to treat Medicaid patients suffering from addiction for up to a month in a mental hospital on the government’s dime,” while “the Senate Finance Committee approved a similar provision in November.”

However, “fears of reinstitutionalization have also animated civil rights advocates” who “fear a slippery slope back to warehousing the sick and point to states like California and New York that are already experimenting with forcing patients into care.”

Related Links:

— “Mental hospitals warehoused the sick. Congress wants to let them try again.,” Carmen Paul, Politico, January 1, 2024

Psychiatric News (12/28) reports, “Living with an adult with depressive symptoms is linked to substantially lower average yearly income and employment rates as well as reduced quality of life for adults who do not have depressive symptoms, a study…has found.” Investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing “data from The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component…which collects data on demographics, health conditions, health status, use of health care services, income, and employment for each person in a household.” The findings were published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Living With Adults With Depressive Symptoms Linked to Lower Income, Quality of Life,” APA Psychiatric News Alert, December 28, 2023

The AP (12/29, Schoenbaum) reports transgender-identifying youths are sometimes sent to inpatient wards inconsistent with their gender identities. Notably, “North Carolina lacks uniform treatment standards across hospitals and runs low on money and staff with proper training to treat transgender kids in crisis,” while “last-resort measures to support patients…often fail to help them, and sometimes make things worse.”

Meanwhile, “a nationwide dearth of pediatric psychiatric beds was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw an unprecedented number of people seeking emergency mental health services, according to a report by the American Psychiatric Association.”

Related Links:

— “For transgender youth in crisis, hospitals sometimes compound the trauma,” Hannah SchoenBaum, Associated Press, December 29, 2023

KFF Health News (12/28, Whitehead) reports mental health courts aim to divert people with mental illnesses from the criminal justice system, but they often struggle to fulfill this promise. According to critics, the diversion programs “are often expensive and resource-intensive, and serve fewer than 1% of the more than 2 million people who have a serious mental illness and are booked into U.S. jails each year.”

Additionally, “there is a lack of conclusive evidence on whether the courts help participants long-term.”

Related Links:

— “Mental Health Courts Can Struggle to Fulfill Decades-Old Promise,” Sam Whitehead, KFF Health News, December 28, 2023

HealthDay (12/27, Mundell) reports, “For the growing number of American seniors who live alone, having a beloved dog or cat by their side could help them maintain a healthy brain.” According to new research involving more than 7,900 people averaging 66 years of age, “those who lived alone were able to stave off losses in memory and thinking if they had a pet,” although “pet ownership didn’t seem to affect the cognition of older folks who lived with others.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Pets Bring Health Boost to Single Seniors’ Brains: Study,” Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, December 27, 2023

Psychiatric News (12/27) reports, “A volunteer program that engages lonely older adults in delivering psychosocial interventions to other lonely older adults benefited the volunteers themselves by reducing their loneliness, stress, and depressive symptoms and increasing their social engagement, according to study.” Researchers found that “volunteers reported medium-sized reductions in their loneliness on the UCLA and De Long Gierveld scales compared with the control group.”

Additionally, “the volunteer group reported increased engagement with their social network (small effect), decreased perceived stress (medium effect), and depressive symptoms after six months (small effect).” The findings were published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Older Volunteers Delivering Loneliness Interventions Found to Be Less Lonely Themselves,” APA Psychiatric News Alert, December 27, 2023