HealthDay (7/6, Mozes) reports research indicates that “many people living with HIV/AIDS still face a dramatically higher risk for suicide.” Investigators arrived at that conclusion after conducting “a review of 40 studies that involved a total of roughly 185,000 adults with HIV or AIDS” from “all over the world.” In fact, “the study team concluded that suicide risk is 100 times higher among such patients, compared with the population at large.” The findings of the systematic review and meta-analysis were published online April 9 in the journal General Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “People With HIV Have Much Higher Risk for Suicide “Alan Mozes, HealthDay, July 6, 2021

Psychiatric News (7/6) reports, “Young adults with serious mental illness (SMI) who are overweight or obese experienced similar weight loss and cardiorespiratory fitness improvements after participating in a 12-month group intervention as those who received one-on-one mobile health (mHealth) coaching for 12 months,” investigators concluded in a study involving “150 adults with SMI aged 18 to 35 years with a body mass index ≥25 kg/m2 who were receiving services at four community mental health centers in the northeastern” US. The findings of the randomized study were published online June 30 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Mobile Intervention as Effective as Group Intervention for Promoting Weight Loss in Young People With SMI , Psychiatric News, July 6, 2021

Healio (7/6, Gramigna) reports, “Adults with anorexia nervosa had increased risk for relapse in the first months after acute care discharge,” researchers concluded in a study involving “93 women with anorexia nervosa.” The findings were published online June 22 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “People with anorexia nervosa at increased risk for relapse soon after acute care discharge “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 6, 2021

“Parents of kids with medical complexity face challenges other parents don’t,” the Washington Post (7/3, Blakemore) reported. But “how is their mental health compared to their counterparts whose children don’t face problems such as chronic diseases, developmental disabilities or congenital disorders?” A new large study published in the July issue of Pediatrics indicates that “parents of children with medical complexity are up to five times likelier to have poor or fair mental health – and that many don’t know how to get support.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (7/2) reported, “More than one in four American adults who had symptoms of depression or anxiety reported an unmet need for mental health counseling at the end of 2020,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from approximately 70,000 adults in the Household Pulse Survey, which was conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and other federal agencies from December 9 to December 21, 2020.” The study revealed that “overall, more than one in 10 adults in the study reported this unmet need.” The findings were published online June 30 in a brief report in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Study Reveals Extent of Unmet Need for Mental Health Counseling During Pandemic, Psychiatric News, July 2, 2021

CNN (7/4, Vera) reported that for some survivors of gun violence and mass shootings, “the loud explosions and bangs” that surround Independence Day fireworks “have become nightmarish triggers.” Gun-related “violence can lead to life-long trauma that can even develop into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” a “a psychiatric disorder that occurs in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event like a shooting, natural disaster or abuse, according to the American Psychiatric Association.” The article interviewed several gun violence “survivors and witnesses of mass shootings, including some who have been diagnosed with PTSD, in an effort to understand how July 4 fireworks celebrations might affect them.”

Related Links:

— “Independence Day fireworks, once joyous celebrations, are now nightmares for these gun violence survivors ” Amir Vera, CNN, July 4, 2021

Healio (7/1, Gramigna) reports, “Depression treatment among older adults reduced functional disability, which in turn reduced suicide ideation,” researchers concluded in a study that “sought to assess the relationship between changes in functional disability and suicide ideation among 65 adults aged 65 to 91 years (72% white; 66% women) with depression after they received psychotherapy.” The findings were published in a brief report in the June issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Psychotherapy reduces functional disability, suicide ideation among older adults “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 1, 2021

Healio (7/1, Gramigna) reports, “Eating disorder behaviors appeared to change brain reward processing,” researchers concluded in a functional brain imaging study that sought “to evaluate brain response during unexpected receipt or omission of a salient sweet stimulus in 317 women, of whom 197 had eating disorders and 120 served as healthy controls, and to determine whether this brain response was linked to the ventral striatal-hypothalamic circuitry, which has correlated with food intake control.” The study revealed that “BMI modulated prediction error and food intake control circuitry in the brain, and alteration of this circuitry may reinforce eating disorder behaviors when paired with behavioral traits linked to overeating or undereating, researchers noted.” The findings were published online June 30 in JAMA Psychiatry. HealthDay (7/1, Preidt) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Eating disorder behaviors linked to changes in brain reward processing “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 1, 2021

Psychiatric News (6/30) reports, “Paid family leave policies enacted by states for new parents appear to improve mental health and decrease psychological distress of new parents,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data collected between 1997 and 2016 as part of the annual National Health Interview Survey,” then comparing “changes in parental psychological distress (as determined by the Kessler 6 score) and child behavioral problems (as determined by the Mental Health Indicator score) among families in California and New Jersey before and after implementation of paid family leave policies.” The findings were published online June 28 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Paid Family Leave May Reduce Psychological Distress of New Parents, Psychiatric News, June 30, 2021

Psychiatric News (6/29) reports, “People with substance-induced psychosis appear to be at a greater risk of dying earlier than those who do not experience psychosis,” investigators concluded in a study that included 9,303 people who “were diagnosed with substance-induced psychosis only, 2,197” who were “were diagnosed with schizophrenia following substance-induced psychosis, and 39,738” who “were diagnosed with schizophrenia without preceding substance-induced psychosis.” The study population “was followed until death, emigration, or August 10, 2017, whichever came first.” The study “revealed that the risk of death was elevated in people with substance-induced psychosis regardless of whether they later developed schizophrenia.” The findings were published online June 9 in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “People With Substance-Induced Psychosis Found to Be at Greater Risk of Death Than General Population, Psychiatric News, June 29, 2021