KFF Health News (8/1, Giles) reports, “Clinicians from various ethnic groups have recently begun to draw a direct line between colorism and poor health,” pointing to a 2023 KFF survey which “found that, among Black and Hispanic adults, those with self-described darker skin tones reported more experiences with discrimination in daily life compared with those who have lighter skin tones.” Due to the potential health implications of this data, “the health care system should pay more attention to colorism, said Regina James, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who heads the American Psychiatric Association’s Division of Diversity and Health Equity.” While “clinical approaches that incorporate cultural competence” are an important step, “therapists, doctors, and other clinicians from diverse backgrounds say that…more efforts are needed to diversify the pool of mental health practitioners and to collaborate between disciplines.”

Related Links:

— “‘I feel dismissed’: People experiencing colorism say health system fails them,”Chaseedaw Giles, KFF Health News, August 1, 2024

CBS News (7/30, Tin ) says, “Close to 1 in 3 adolescents in the U.S. received mental health treatment in 2023, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported Tuesday, which works out to around 8.3 million young people between the ages of 12 and 17 getting counseling, medication or another treatment.” For adolescents, “the biggest increase from 2022 was in the number getting medication for mental health treatment,” with SAMHSA estimating “that 13.9% of those age 12 to 17 received such a prescription in 2023,” up from “12.8% the year before.” The findings were included in SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2023.

The Hill (7/30, Nazzaro ) also reports.

Related Links:

— “Nearly a third of adolescents getting mental health treatment, federal survey finds,”Alexander Tin, CBS News, July 30, 2024

The Washington Post (7/30, Malhi ) reports, “The suicide rate for U.S. children 8 to 12 years old has steadily climbed in the past decade and a half, with a disproportionate rise among girls, data released Tuesday…shows.” The Post adds, “Between 2001 and 2022, 2,241 children ages 8 to 12 – known as preteens – died by suicide,” and “while suicide rates were decreasing until 2007, they increased by about 8 percent each year from 2008 to 2022.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Reuters (7/30, Sunny) reports researchers “examined U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) records on preteen suicide from 2001 to 2022” and discovered that “suicide was the 5th leading cause of death in girls between 2008 and 2022, moving up from being the 11th leading cause between 2001 and 2007.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

CNN (7/30, Howard ) reports “research suggests that the majority of young people who have died by suicide did not have a documented mental health diagnosis in their medical history.” About “3 out of 5 young people who died by suicide between January 2010 and December 2021 had no previously diagnosed mental health condition, according to the study,” which “suggests that mental health problems might be going missed or undiagnosed, and thus untreated, in some young people.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

HealthDay (7/30, Thompson ) reports researchers came to this conclusion after analyzing “data on more than 40,000 suicides by youth ages 10 to 24 between 2010 and 2021” that had been “gathered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Related Links:

— “Most young people who die by suicide in the US do not have previous mental health diagnoses, study suggests,”Jacqueline Howard, CNN, July 30, 2024

Neurology Advisor (7/29, Khaja) reports, “Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may potentially increase the risk for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, with varying effects depending on age, sex, and severity, according to study results.” Investigators undertook “an observational study combining a population-based approach, nested case-control, and sibling comparison design to explore the link between TBI and later bipolar disorder and schizophrenia diagnoses, investigate if there is a correlation influenced by TBI severity, and assess potential moderating effects of demographic and familial factors.” The findings were published in Psychiatry Research.

Related Links:

— “Traumatic Brain Injury May Raise Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Risk,”Hibah Khaja, Neurology Advisor, July 29, 2024

HCP Live (7/29, Derman) reports, “A new study demonstrated the number of relapses among patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) depends on whether their depression symptoms improve on antidepressants.” Using “data from the double-blind, randomized clinical trial on alcohol-specific inhibition training among patients with AUD,” researchers “analyzed 153 detoxified AUD patients who attended a 12-week residential treatment program between 2015 and 2019.” The findings were published in Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research.

Related Links:

— “Patients with AUD Have Fewer Relapses When Antidepressants Improve Depression,”Chelsie Derman, HCPlive, July 29, 2024

Healio (7/26, Rhoades) reported, “Increased social isolation may be linked to greater risks for several adverse health outcomes in older adults, according to a study.” Researchers came to this conclusion after assessing “associations between changes in social isolation and multiple health outcomes – including death, CVD, dementia, stroke and disability — within a sample of 13,649 respondents aged 50 years or older from the 2006 to 2020 Health and Retirement Study waves.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Social isolation increases risk for death, dementia in older adults,”Andrew (Drew) Rhoades, Healio , July 26, 2024

The New York Times (7/28, Belluck ) says researchers on Sunday “reported that a blood test was significantly more accurate than doctors’ interpretation of cognitive tests and CT scans in signaling” Alzheimer’s disease. The study “found that about 90 percent of the time the blood test correctly identified whether patients with memory problems had Alzheimer’s,” while “dementia specialists using standard methods that did not include expensive PET scans or invasive spinal taps were accurate 73 percent of the time” and “primary care doctors using those methods got it right only 61 percent of the time.” The findings were published in JAMA and presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

HCPlive (7/26, Derman) reported that a “study found probable PTSD was prevalent among adults long after the mass violence incidents occurred in their community.” Researchers came to this conclusion after conducting “a cross-sectional survey study from February 2020 to September 2020 with a sample of adults from 6 communities who had most likely experienced a mass violence incidence between 2015 and 2019.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “1 in 4 Adults in the Community Meet PTSD Criteria Following Mass Shooting,”Chelsie Derman , HCPlive, July 26, 2024

Psychiatric News (7/25) reports, “More than half of people incarcerated before the age of 18 go on to be reincarcerated as adults, with bipolar disorder and substance use disorders significantly increasing the odds of recidivism, according to a study.” Researchers found “other reincarceration risk factors that had been previously identified included not graduating college, parental drug use and imprisonment, and childhood and lifetime homelessness.” The findings were published in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

Related Links:

— “Bipolar Disorder, Substance Use Disorder Raise Odds of Reincarceration of Youths as Adults, Psychiatric News, July 25, 2024