Healio (6/29, Gramigna) reports, “Antipsychotic-naive patients with first-episode psychosis exhibited widespread functional dysconnectivity at baseline,” researchers concluded in a “secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial” that included data on “59 antipsychotic-naive patients with first-episode psychosis receiving either a second-generation antipsychotic or a placebo…over six months of treatment,” as well as 27 healthy individuals who served as controls. Study participants underwent resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging at “baseline, three months and 12 months…with data analysis between May 2019 and August 2020.” The findings were published online June 23 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Functional dysconnectivity ‘widespread’ in antipsychotic-naive first-episode psychosis “Joe Gramigna, Healio, June 29, 2021

Healio (6/28, Gramigna) reports, “Young adults with or without depression who used cannabis had higher prevalence of suicidal ideation, plan and attempt,” investigators concluded after conducting “a survey study using data from 281,650 adults aged 18 to 34 years who participated in the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, with data collection between 2008 and 2019.” The study also revealed that “past-year cannabis use disorder, daily cannabis use and nondaily cannabis use were associated with a higher prevalence of past-year suicidal ideation, plan and attempt among both sexes; however, women were more affected than men.” The findings were published online June 22 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Young adults who use cannabis have higher rates of suicidal ideation, plan and attempt “Joe Gramigna, Healio, June 28, 2021

Psychiatric News (6/28) reports, “More research on the prevention of suicide among Black youth is urgently needed, yet clinicians can and should address suicidality within this population in their practices now, according to two viewpoints published” online June 28 in JAMA Pediatrics. The authors of one viewpoint contend that “over the past several decades, data have clearly illustrated the rising trend of suicide among Black youth.” The editorialists “suggest a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methodology, such as interviews and focus groups with youth, families, and clinicians, to better understand culturally relevant risk and protective factors.” The authors of the second viewpoint “emphasized the importance of universal screenings for suicidality across health care settings, but they noted that clinicians should be aware that suicidality and risk factors may differ for Black youth compared with other groups.”

Related Links:

— “Research to Prevent Suicide of Black Youth Must Take Ground Zero Approach, Say Experts, Psychiatric News, June 28, 2021

The New York Times (6/28, Caron) reports that “interviews with mental health [professionals] and data from hospitals across the country reveal that while [professionals] are continuing to see a surge in teenagers visiting the emergency room for mental health problems, the number of children in crisis under the age of 13 is also on the rise, and has been for years.” Even prior to the pandemic, “a mental health crisis was brewing among children struggling with bullying, abuse, eating disorders, racism or undiagnosed mental health conditions.” Children are now “facing even more stressors, like the loss of a family member to Covid-19, adjusting to remote school or the anxiety of returning to in-person school.”

Related Links:

— “8-Year-Olds in Despair: The Mental Health Crisis Is Getting Younger “Christina Caron, The New York Times, June 28, 2021

HCPlive (6/26, Alicea) reported research “indicates that simultaneous treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) for mental health disorders in children may have negative impacts on cardiometabolic health.” The 569-patient study consisted of four cohorts: “SSRI and SGA treatment-naïve (n = 242), SSRI only (n = 123), SGA only (n = 112), and SSRI + SGA (n = 92).” The findings were presented at the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) 81st Scientific Sessions (virtual).

Related Links:

— “Antidepressant Plus Antipsychotic Use Linked to Cardiometabolic Complications “Jonathan Alicea, HCPlive, June 26, 2021

The Hill (6/25, Wilson) said that more than half of public health workers surveyed by the CDC reported symptoms of at least one mental health condition, according to a new study by the agency. The study “found nearly a third of the 26,000 health care workers polled suffered from symptoms of depression in the last two weeks. Three in 10 reported suffering from anxiety, and more than one third say they have experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder”

Related Links:

— “Half of public health workers experiencing mental health strain: study “Reid Wilson, The Hill, June 25, 2021

Psychiatric News reports, “Regardless of a patient’s level of engagement in psychiatric care prior to being hospitalized, having an appointment scheduled when discharged from the hospital may increase the likelihood that the patient receives follow-up care,” results published in Psychiatric Services show. Researchers found that “the less patients were engaged in care prior to their admission, the less likely they were to have a follow-up appointment scheduled as part of their discharge plan. … However, regardless of the patients’ level of engagement, scheduling an outpatient appointment as part of the discharge plan was significantly associated with attending an initial outpatient psychiatric appointment within seven or 30 days after discharge.”

Related Links:

— “Discharge Planning Improves Engagement With Psychiatric Care, Study Finds, Psychiatric News, June 24, 2021

HealthDay (6/24, Preidt) reports, “The brain interprets physical signals differently in people with depression, anorexia and some other mental health disorders,” according to researchers who “found that in patients with bipolar disorder, anxiety, major depression, anorexia and schizophrenia, a brain region known as the dorsal mid-insula had different activity when processing pain, hunger and other physical signals.” Findings from the 626-patient study were published in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Body’s ‘Signals’ May Feel Different in People With Anorexia, Depression “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 24, 2021

Healio (6/23, Marabito) reports, “Patients with antipsychotic-naïve and first-episode schizophrenia who received antipsychotic treatment experienced” an average of 2.89 kg in weight gain “and improvement of clinical symptoms following 8 weeks of treatment,” researchers concluded in a study in “441 patients with schizophrenia and 313 control patients” published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. The “researchers observed a significant association between weight gain, age at onset, the course of disease and education.”

Related Links:

— “Weight gain correlates with greater symptom improvements for antipsychotic treatment “Maria Marabito, Healio, June 23, 2021

Healio (6/23, Marabito) reports, “The percentage of patients receiving medication for PTSD declined between 2009 and 2018 despite a doubling in the number of veterans diagnosed with PTSD in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) care,” researchers concluded in findings published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Despite a growth in PTSD diagnoses from 499,143 in 2009 to 1,073,183 in 2018, “the number of patients who received at least one of the examined mediations for PTSD decreased by 9% to 58% overall in 2018.”

Related Links:

— “PTSD trends among veterans: Reuptake inhibitors most prescribed, psychotherapy preferred “Maria Marabito, Healio, June 23, 2021