Psychiatric News (7/26) reports, “Future care planning can be difficult for aging parents and caregivers of people with serious mental illness (SMI),” so “an article…describes the important role that mental health professionals can play in helping families to prepare for the future.” The article offers “recommendations for mental health professionals on when to begin planning for future care, who should participate in this planning, and what should be included in a future care plan for the plan to be successful.” The article was published online July 20 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Future Care Planning Can Help Patients With SMI, Aging Caregivers With Major Life Transitions, Psychiatric News, July 26, 2021

Healio (7/23, Gramigna) reported, “Rates and severity of postpartum depression [PPD] and anxiety symptoms among women who sought treatment for postpartum depression worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic,” researchers concluded after examining the “data of 603 participants, of whom 305 enrolled pre-pandemic and 298 during the pandemic.” The findings were published online July 6 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Mothers with postpartum depression ‘highly vulnerable’ during pandemic ”
Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 23, 2021

Healio (7/23, Gramigna) reported, “The continued use of electroconvulsive therapy [ECT] appeared warranted for reducing suicide risk among patients with severe depression,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from Swedish national registers of 28,557 patients (ECT group mean age, 55.9 years; non-ECT group, 45.2 years; 55.5% women) who received inpatient care between Jan. 1, 2012, and Oct. 31, 2018, for moderate depression, severe depression or severe depression with psychosis.” The findings of the “registry-based cohort study” were published online July 21 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Electroconvulsive therapy significantly reduces suicide risk in severe depression “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 23, 2021

HealthDay (7/22, Murez) reports, “Youth who identify as LGBTQ+ suffer more bullying at their schools when they live in areas with politically conservative voting records.” Investigators examined “school district voting records in the 2016 presidential election, as well as bullying experiences in schools and mental health outcomes of LGBTQ+ students in Washington state using the 2018 Washington State Healthy Youth Survey.” The study revealed that “LGBTQ+ students are at a higher risk for psychological distress and suicidal thoughts as a result of bullying, particularly in school districts that voted for former President Donald Trump in the 2016 election.” The findings were published online in the journal Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.

Related Links:

— “When It Comes to Bullying of LGBTQ Teens, Local Politics Matters  “Cara Murez, HealthDay, July 22, 2021

Psychiatric News (7/22) reports, “An estimated 1.562 million children worldwide lost a caregiver from March 2020 to April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” investigators concluded in a study that revealed that “862,365 children in…21 countries had been orphaned or lost a custodial grandparent due to COVID-19, including 788,704 who lost a mother, father, or both parents.” The findings were published online July 20 in The Lancet.

Related Links:

— “More Than 1.5 Million Children Globally Lost Caregivers Due to COVID-19 Pandemic, Psychiatric News, July 22, 2021

CNN (7/22, Hunt) reports, “The proportion of schizophrenia cases linked with problematic use of marijuana has increased over the past 25 years, according to a new study.” According to the research, CNN writes that “in 1995, 2% of schizophrenia diagnoses in the country were associated with cannabis use disorder,” but “in 2000, it increased to around 4%,” and has “increased to 8%” since 2010. The findings were published online July 21 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds “Katie Hunt, CNN, July 22, 2021

Medwire News (7/21, McDermid) reports, “The presence of an eating disorder diagnosis significantly increases the risk for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and all-cause mortality in adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes [T1D],” researchers concluded after using “health records to identify 20,035 adolescents and young adults (aged 10–39 years) with type 1 diabetes, 0.8% of whom had an eating disorder diagnosis.” The study authors concluded. “It is important to incorporate screening tools for disordered eating behavior into routine type 1 diabetes care to allow for timely identification of such patients and to consider eating disorders as a reason for poor glycemic control, potentially due to insulin withholding.” The findings were published online in Diabetes Care.

Related Links:

— “Eating disorders tied to increased DKA, mortality risk in young people with type 1 diabetes “Eleanor McDermid, Medwire News, July 21, 2021

Medscape (7/20, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports, “The global prevalence of young-onset dementia (YOD) is significantly higher than previously thought,” investigators concluded in a 74-study, 2.7 million-participant systematic review and meta-analysis showing that “currently, 3.9 million individuals are living with YOD” in which “symptoms of the memory-robbing disease start before age 65.” The findings were published online July 19 in JAMA Neurology.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (7/20) reports researchers have provided “a comprehensive overview of the neurological and psychiatric impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.” They did so by compiling “data from individual case reports, cohort studies, and meta-analyses on the neurological and psychiatric outcomes in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.” The study authors observed, “CNS infection combined with environmental stress caused by pandemic fear, social and financial restrictions, and ICU monitoring may result in the development of neuropsychiatric symptoms or syndromes, including depressive symptoms or episodes, manic or hypomanic symptoms or episodes, psychotic symptoms, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress.” The findings were published online July 19 in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 Has Numerous Neuropsychiatric Consequences, Report Finds, Psychiatric News, July 20, 2021

Healio (7/20, Gramigna) reports, “Individuals with eating disorders had nearly nine times greater risk for lifetime OCD and eight times greater risk for current OCD vs. healthy controls,” researchers concluded in an “epidemiological meta-analysis” that “identified 846 articles,” then “calculated 35 lifetime and 42 current estimates.” The findings were published online ahead of print in the September issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Related Links:

— “People with eating disorders have nine times greater risk for lifetime OCD “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 20, 2021