The New York Times (11/17, Rabin) reports, “Gun violence kills about 40,000 Americans” annually, with the “majority” of those deaths suicides. In fact, “just over half of suicides involve guns.” Now, a growing worry “about suicides has led to an unusual alliance between suicide-prevention advocates and gun-rights proponents; together they are devising new strategies to prevent suicide in a population committed to the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms.” The article details a number of ongoing initiatives and efforts to stem the tide of gun-related suicides, particularly now during the COVID-19 pandemic.

People Who Buy Guns During Pandemic More Likely To Be Suicidal Than Those Who Already Own Firearms, Researchers Say. HealthDay (11/17) reports, “Those who buy guns as the pandemic rages are more likely to be suicidal than those who already own firearms,” researchers concluded after surveying some “3,500 Americans,” a third of whom owned guns. The study revealed that “among people who bought guns during the pandemic, about 70% reported having suicidal thoughts, while just 37% of other gun owners had such thoughts.” The findings were published online Nov. 17 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.’

Related Links:

— “Buying Gun During Pandemic Might Raise Suicide Risk ” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, November 17, 2020

Healio (11/17, Gramigna) reports, “Prevention and intervention targets for prescription stimulant misuse vary by age and education level,” investigators concluded in a study that “used data from the 2015 to 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to examine numerous prescription stimulant misuse among 86,918 adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 25 years.” The researchers “examined individual prescription stimulant misuse motives, such as study aid, and motive categories, such as cognitive enhancement only, recreational only, weight loss only and combined motives, by age,” then “used logistic regression models to evaluate associations between individual motives or motive categories and educational status, substance use, DSM-4 substance use disorder and mental health correlates.” The findings were published online Nov. 3 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Motivating factors for prescription stimulant misuse vary by age, education level “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 17, 2020

HealthDay (11/16, Murez) reports, “Less screen time and more sleep are critical for preventing depression,” investigators concluded after analyzing “UK Biobank data from 85,000 people to determine impact of lifestyle on depression.” The study revealed that “physical activity, a healthy diet and getting between seven and nine hours of sleep nightly was associated with less frequency of depressed mood.” What’s more, “screen time and tobacco smoking were significantly associated with higher frequency of depression,” researchers discovered. The findings were published online Nov. 11 in the journal BMC Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Two Key Lifestyle Factors May Ward Off Depression, HealthDay, November 16, 2020

CNN (11/16, LaMotte) reports new research “comparing poor sleep among more than a million adults and children in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States found women experience more insomnia problems than men in all three countries.” What’s more, “the trend emerges during puberty, ‘suggesting sex hormones, among other social factors such as stress or parenting,’ might contribute to the development of insomnia in women,” investigators concluded after comparing “sleep studies on 1.1 million people from the US, the UK and the Netherlands.” The findings were published online in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

Related Links:

— “More women than men struggle to fall asleep in both Europe and the US, study finds “Sandee LaMotte, CNN, November 16, 2020

Healio (11/16, Gramigna) reports, “Prescription opioid use appeared to increase risk for depression,” investigators concluded in a “mendelian randomization analysis” that included data from “737,473 participants with predominantly European ancestry who were included in the population-based U.K. Biobank and Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research studies.” The findings were published online Nov. 11 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Prescription opioid use may increase depression risk “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 16, 2020

Clinical Endocrinology News (11/12, Splete) reports, “All patients with postpartum depression should be screened for thyroid dysfunction, as postpartum thyroiditis is often missed and misdiagnosed, according to” a presentation given by Christine Kessler, CNS, ANP, at the Metabolic & Endocrine Disease Summit by Global Academy for Medical Education. Kessler explained that “postpartum thyroiditis (PPT) is ‘an inflammatory, autoimmune thyroid condition’” that “can involve high or low thyroid-stimulating hormone and may occur during the first postpartum year in women who were euthyroid prior to pregnancy.” Patients who present “with PPT in the hyperthyroid phase display symptoms including insomnia, anxiety, irritability, heat intolerance, fatigue, and palpitations, Ms. Kessler said,” and “these women ‘are often told they have postpartum depression; they aren’t sleeping well, and they feel like they are failing as a mom.’”

Related Links:

— “Don’t miss postpartum thyroiditis “Heidi Splete, Clinical Endocrinology News, November 12, 2020

The New York Times (11/12, Goldberg) reports, “The social isolation of the pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of many Americans.” However, “the impact has been especially severe on teenagers, who rely on their friends to navigate the maze and pressures of high school life.” Dr. Gabrielle Shapiro, chair of the APA’s Council on Children, Adolescents, and Their Families, is concerned that teenagers whose parents dismiss mental health symptoms are not able to confide in teachers or school counselors during the pandemic. In response, Dr. Shapiro “recommended that schools put in place lessons to teach students how to share their emotions.”

Related Links:

— “Teens in Covid Isolation: ‘I Felt Like I Was Suffocating’ “Emma Goldberg, The New York Times, November 12, 2020

NBC News (11/12, Arkin) reports, “From the middle of March to October, the proportion of” emergency department (ED) “visits related to children’s mental health rose dramatically for school-aged children and adolescents compared to the previous year, according to” a CDC report. The report’s authors wrote that the “findings provide initial insight into children’s mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight the importance of continued monitoring of children’s mental health throughout the pandemic, ensuring access to care during public health crises, and improving healthy coping strategies and resiliency among children and families.”

The Hill (11/12, Budryk) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Covid stress taking a toll on children’s mental health, CDC finds “Daniel Arkin, NBC News, November 12, 2020

The Washington Post (11/11, Fears, Achenbach, Martin) reports, “The number of new daily coronavirus cases in the United States jumped from 104,000 a week earlier to more than 145,000 on Wednesday, an all-time high.” Almost every metric “is trending in the wrong direction, prompting states to add new restrictions and hospitals to prepare for a potentially dark future.” Dave Dillon, a spokesman for the Missouri Hospital Association, said: “We’re at a fairly critical juncture.”

Related Links:

— “As coronavirus soars, hospitals hope to avoid an agonizing choice: Who gets care and who goes home “Darryl Fears, Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post, November 11, 2020

MedPage Today (11/11, Monaco) reports, “The alopecia treatment finasteride (Propecia) was tied to suicidality in male users,” investigators concluded. After examining data on some “3,200 users,” investigators found “2,926 reports of psychological adverse events – defined as cases of depression and anxiety – associated with the use of finasteride,” which “equated to a more than four times higher chance of experiencing depression and anxiety while using finasteride.” What’s more, researchers “found a 63% higher odds of experiencing suicidality…with a more than four times higher chance of experiencing suicidal ideation.” The findings were published online Nov. 11 in JAMA Dermatology.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)