Healio (5/27, Gramigna) reports, “Bereaved adults with prolonged grief disorder commonly experienced bereavement-related posttraumatic stress symptoms,” which “appeared common in the context of both violent and nonviolent death and were linked to poorer functioning,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data of 395 adults with prolonged grief disorder, defined as an Inventory of Complicated Grief score of 30 or higher plus confirmation via structured clinical interview.” The findings were published online April 20 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Healio adds, “‘Prolonged grief disorder has only recently been recognized as a diagnosis in the psychiatric nomenclature with formal criteria included in ICD-11 and recently approved by the American Psychiatric Association for inclusion in an update to the DSM-5,’ Naomi Simon, MD, MSc, professor of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and director of the Anxiety, Stress and Prolonged Grief Program at NYU Langone Health, told Healio Psychiatry.” Dr. Simon is the study’s lead author.

Related Links:

— “Posttraumatic stress symptoms common among bereaved adults with prolonged grief disorder “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 27, 2021

Healio (5/27, Gramigna) reports, “Early emerging autism spectrum disorder [ASD] symptom levels often declined across development,” the study team concluded after analyzing “data of 8,094 individuals who participated in the prospective U.K. population-based cohort the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and had two time points available for the parent-rated Social and Communication Disorders Checklist…spanning ages seven to 25 years, which the researchers used to derive trajectories based on five assessments.” The findings of the “prospective population-based cohort” were published online April 26 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Autism symptoms tend to decline with age, but support, monitoring remain beneficial “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 27, 2021

USA Today (5/26, Rodriguez) reports researchers at UCLA “examined data from emergency medical service (EMS) calls and compared overdose deaths in 2020 to prior years,” and “found overdose deaths seen by EMS increased by 42% in the U.S. in 2020 compared to 2018-2019, according to the study published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Psychiatry.” The greatest increases “were seen among Blacks and Latinos, with 50.3% and 49.7% increases in overdose deaths during the pandemic, respectively.”

Related Links:

— “Not just a ‘white problem’: Blacks and Latinos see largest spike in overdose deaths during COVID-19 pandemic, study finds “Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY, May 26, 2021

HealthDay (5/26, Reinberg) reports, “Teenage girls who use over-the-counter diet pills and laxatives to lose weight run a very high risk of developing eating disorders,” investigators concluded after examining “data on more than 1,000 girls” who “were followed from their teens for more than” a decade. The study revealed that “girls who used diet pills had a 258% greater risk of being diagnosed with an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia within five years,” and “if they used laxatives, the risk was 177% greater, compared with those who didn’t use those products.” The findings were published online May 5 in a brief report in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Diet Pill Use Could Be a Step Away From Eating Disorder “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, May 27, 2021

MedPage Today (5/26, Grant) reports, “Adults with schizophrenia, particularly young adults, have a significantly higher suicide rate compared with the U.S. general population,” investigators concluded after analyzing “five national retrospective longitudinal cohorts of patients with schizophrenia in the Medicare program from January 2007 to December 2016 who were split up by age groups – 18 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64, and 65 and older,” including “668,836 patients with schizophrenia (52.5% men), 2,997,308 years of follow-up, and 2,218 suicide deaths.” The study revealed that “the rate of suicide per 100,000 person-years among” adults with schizophrenia “was 74.0, which is 4.5 times higher than the rate for the general population,” with “suicide risk…highest among the youngest group of adults – ages 18 to 34 – with a suicide rate of 141.95.” The findings were published online May 26 in JAMA Psychiatry. Healio (5/26, Gramigna) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (5/25, Gramigna) reports, “Most patients with bipolar disorder endorsed involuntary treatment via self-binding directives on the basis of impaired decision-making abilities,” investigators concluded after conducting “a qualitative study in which they analyzed data from an internet-based survey sent to the mailing list of the U.K. charity Bipolar U.K.” According to Healio, “a total of 932 participants with a self-reported clinical diagnosis of bipolar disorder completed the survey; 565 of them, most of whom were white British, gave free-text responses to the open question.” Of those “565 participants, 82% (n = 63) endorsed self-binding directives, and of these individuals, 89% (n = 411) said their main reason for endorsement was a determinate shift to distorted thinking and decision making when unwell.” The findings were published online May 20 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Most patients with bipolar disorder support self-binding involuntary treatment directives “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 25, 2021

HealthDay (5/24) reports, “Americans with drinking problems are rarely referred for treatment, even though most say a” physician “has asked about their alcohol use,” investigators concluded in a study that “is not the first to uncover low rates of treatment for alcohol use disorders (AUDs).”

Healio (5/24, Weller) reports researchers “used data from the 2015 to 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to determine the prevalence of” AUDs among US “adults as well as the proportion of adults with AUDs who used health care services in the previous 12 months; were screened for alcohol use; received a brief intervention for alcohol misuse; received information about treatment; and received treatment for AUD.” The study authors wrote that they “advocate for increased engagement of this high-risk population by implementing evidence-based treatment in the primary care setting.” The findings were published online May 16 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Related Links:

— “Just 1 in 10 People With Alcohol Problems Get Treatment “Amy Norton, HealthDay , May 24, 2021

Psychiatric News (5/24) reports research indicates that “over 99% of prescriptions for the anticonvulsant gabapentin are off label, including many prescriptions for psychiatric disorders.” What’s more, “nearly 60% of the patients prescribed gabapentin were also found to be taking central nervous system depressants…such as benzodiazepines,” investigators concluded in a study that “specifically focused on data gathered from 2011 to 2016, which included 205,417 office visits involving patients aged 18 and older.” Of these visits, 5,732 involved a gabapentin prescription. The findings were published online May 21 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Off-Label Psychiatric Use of Gabapentin Found to Be Frequent, Risky, Psychiatric News, May 24, 2021

The AP (5/22, Tanner) reported, “The pandemic created treacherous conditions for eating disorders, leading to a surge of new cases and relapses that is not abating as restrictions are loosened and COVID-19 cases subside in many places, doctors and other specialists say.” Jennifer Wildes, “an associate psychiatry professor and director of an outpatient eating disorders program at the University of Chicago Medicine, said: ‘We are absolutely seeing massive increases.’” The Emily Program, “a University of Minnesota-affiliated eating disorders treatment program, is experiencing the same thing.”

Related Links:

— “Pandemic has fueled eating disorder surge in teens, adults “Lindsey Tanner, AP, May 22, 2021

NBC News (5/23, Berger) reported, “When the Covid-19 pandemic forced behavioral health” clinicians “to stop seeing patients in person and instead hold therapy sessions remotely, the switch” resulted in fewer patients skipping appointments. Just nine “percent of psychiatrists reported that all patients kept their appointments before the pandemic, according to an American Psychiatric Association report,” but once clinicians “switched to telepsychiatry, that number increased to 32 percent.” What’s more, both patients and clinicians “say teletherapy has largely been an effective lifeline for people struggling with anxiety, depression and other psychological issues during an extraordinarily difficult time.” In addition, “virtual visits can…save patients money, because they might not need to travel, take time off work or pay for child care, said” Jay Shore, MD, MPH, “chairperson of the American Psychiatric Association’s telepsychiatry committee and a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado medical school.”

Related Links:

— “Remote therapy was a mental health lifeline during the pandemic. What happens now? “Eric Berger, NBC News, May 23, 2021