According to Healio (9/22, Miller), deaths from overdose in the US “that involved psychostimulants other than cocaine – mostly methamphetamine – rose 180% in the last five full years before the COVID-19 pandemic,” researchers concluded after reviewing “data on methamphetamine use, methamphetamine use disorder…injection and frequency of use from 195,711 individuals aged 18 to 64 years…who participated in the 2015 to 2019 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.” The findings of the cross-sectional analysis were published online Sept. 22 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Overdose deaths involving methamphetamine nearly tripled prior to COVID-19 pandemic “Janel Miller, Healio, September 22, 2021

Healio (9/22, Gramigna) reports research indicates that “antipsychotic treatment did not increase risk for mortality among adults with serious mental illness diagnosed with COVID-19 infection.”

Psychiatric News (9/22) reports that included in the analysis were 464 adult patients “who were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection between March 3, 2020, and February 17, 2021, and who had a preexisting diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder.” Of this group, 196 were “treated with antipsychotic medication.” The findings were published online Sept. 22 in a research letter in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Antipsychotics do not increase COVID-19 mortality risk “Joe Gramigna, Healio, September 22, 2021

The Hill (9/21, Coleman) reports, “Physicians have prescribed 44 percent” fewer “opioids over the past decade, yet fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses have continued to climb, according to a new report [PDF] from the American Medical Association (AMA)” that “documented a 44.4 percent decrease in opioid prescriptions between 2011 and 2020, with a 6.9 percent reduction between 2019 and last year, with more” physicians “using prescription drug monitoring programs.” Nevertheless, CDC data revealed that “more than 93,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2020, including about 69,000 from opioid overdoses,” representing “a record high and an almost 30 percent increase in overall fatal overdoses from the prior year.”

Related Links:

— “Opioid prescriptions fell over past decade while drug overdose deaths climbed: AMA report “Justine Coleman, The Hill, September 21, 2021

Psychiatric News (9/21) reports, “The types of online content that youth explore and the messages they share with others may help identify those most likely to be at high risk of a suicide attempt or self-harm,” researchers concluded in a study that “analyzed data drawn from more than 2,600 U.S. schools participating in online safety monitoring using a program called Bark” that “monitors and sends alerts to school administrators and parents about content ‘threatening to the health and well-being of students, such as messages about self-harm, suicidal ideation, online predators, bullying, or threats of violence.’” The findings of the 227-youth study were published online Sept. 20 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Youth’s Online Activity May Point to Subsequent Suicidal Behaviors, Psychiatric News, September 21, 2021

HealthDay (9/21, Reinberg) reports, “Living within a few blocks of a shooting increases the risk that a child will end up visiting the emergency department [ED] for mental health-related problems,” investigators concluded after studying data on some 54,300 patients. The study revealed “significant increases in mental health-related” ED “visits in the two weeks after a neighborhood shooting, especially among kids who lived closest to it and those exposed to multiple shootings.” The findings were published online Sept. 20 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Neighborhood Gun Violence Means Worse Mental Health for Kids “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, September 21, 2021

According to HealthDay (9/20, Reinberg), hospitalized people with opioid use disorder (OUD) appear to “die at a rate similar to people who have a heart attack after leaving the hospital,” investigators concluded after examining “data on more than 6,600 Medicaid patients treated in Oregon hospitals between April 2015 and December 2017.” The study revealed that “nearly 8% of patients addicted to opioids died within 12 months of hospital discharge.” The findings were published in the September issue of the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Opioid Use Disorder Is as Deadly as Heart Attack: Study ” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, September 20, 2021

Psychiatric News (9/20) reports, “A program that teaches parents how to engage with babies identified to be at high risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may reduce the likelihood of the children’s developing the disorder,” investigators concluded in a study that tested the “iBASIS–Video Interaction to Promote Positive Parenting” intervention among “103 families of babies aged nine to 15 months old showing behaviors associated with ASD, as measured by the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance–Revised…12-month checklist.” The findings were published online Sept. 20 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Childhood trauma increases depressive episode risk during perinatal period, Psychiatric News, September 20, 2021

Healio (9/20, Gramigna) reports, “Childhood trauma appeared linked to a depressive episode during the perinatal period in adulthood,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data of 3,252 women who completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire at a maternity department between November 2011 and June 2016 as part of a French multicenter prospective cohort study.” The findings were published online Sept. 7 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Childhood trauma increases depressive episode risk during perinatal period “Joe Gramigna, Healio, September 21, 2021

In a letter to the New York Times (9/16), University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine professor emeritus and psychiatrist Victor Reus says he “was disappointed” with a Times article highlighting potentially dangerous use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes because it failed to mention “the fact that psychiatry as a profession has recognized this issue and directly addressed it in an American Psychiatric Association treatment guideline that was formulated by an expert team that I chaired in 2015-16.” Reus concludes, “It is important to identify and critique practices such as those described, but it is also important to remind clinicians and caregivers that formal professional standards exist and should be adopted.”

Related Links:

— “The Use of Antipsychotic Drugs in Nursing Homes, The New York Times, September 16, 2021

Bloomberg Law (9/17, Subscription Publication) reported, “The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a surge in mental health claims for employers,” so many “employers in many industries are looking at their cultures to ensure they’re more conducive to supporting mental health, and making sure employees get support and access to care when needed, Darcy Gruttadaro, director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation’s Center for Workplace Mental Health (CWMH), said in an interview.” According to Bloomberg Law, “the CWMH has produced a Returning to the Workplace Guide, as well as a guide to help managers recognize and respond to employees who are having mental health problems.”

Related Links:

— “Companies Urging Workers to Open Up About Mental Health (Correct) “Sara Hansard, Bloomberg Law, September 17, 2021