HealthDay (11/20, Norton) reported, “The number of women who contemplate suicide or self-harm during or after pregnancy may be on the rise,” investigators concluded in a study revealing that “among nearly 600,000 U.S. childbearing women, researchers found that close to 2,700 were diagnosed with suicidality in the year before or after giving birth.” The findings were published online Nov. 18 in JAMA Psychiatry.

According to Psychiatric News (11/20), the study “authors noted that Black women, those with lower incomes, and younger women experienced the larger increases in suicidality.” They wrote, “Given the severe maternal mortality crisis among racial/ethnic minority individuals, especially Black women, it is imperative to include psychiatric risks in predictive models and practice guidelines.”

Related Links:

— “Suicidality Among Childbearing Women Found to Increase Over 12-Year Period, Psychiatric News, November 20, 2020

Modern Healthcare (11/19, Castellucci, Subscription Publication) reports researchers found “patients with coronavirus – particularly those over 65 – may present to healthcare settings with only symptoms of delirium rather than well-known signs of the virus like fever and shortness of breath.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

STAT (11/19, Cooney) reports that in the study, “more than one-fourth of older patients…arrived at hospital emergency rooms with delirium, and 37% of these patients had no typical Covid-19 signs, such as fever or shortness or breath.”

Psychiatric News (11/19). also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Modern Healthcare Requires Subscription

The Washington Post (11/19, A1, Shammas) reports, “With Thanksgiving a week away and coronavirus cases exploding nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended against traveling or gathering for the holiday, urging Americans to consider celebrating in their own households instead.” In the agency’s “first news briefing in months, officials said they were alarmed to see 1 million new cases reported across the United States within the past week.” As the nation’s death toll “since the start of the pandemic reached 250,000, officials spoke of the risks in stark terms, warning that as friends and relatives get together over the holidays, they could inadvertently bring the coronavirus with them.”

Related Links:

— “CDC recommends against Thanksgiving travel amid surge of coronavirus cases “Brittany Shammas, The Washington Post, November 19, 2020

Cardiovascular Business (11/19) reports researchers found “social isolation during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more patients arriving at the emergency department (ED) with high blood pressure.” The findings were presented at the Argentine Congress of Cardiology 2020 virtual meeting.

Related Links:

— “COVID-related social isolation associated with high blood pressure “Michael Walter, Cardiovascular Business, November 19, 2020

Frailty Appears To Be Key Risk Factor For Age-Related Cognitive Dysfunction And Dementia, Research Suggests
HCPlive (11/18, Meglio) reports research indicates that “health-deficit accumulation, specifically among older Americans, affects the likelihood of progressive cognitive impairment, as well as the likelihood of cognitive improvement independent of the APOE ε4 allele.” For the study, investigators “calculated a frailty index score using the deficit-accumulation approach in participants aged 50 years and older from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center.” The 14,490-participant study revealed that frailty appears to be “a key risk factor for age-related cognitive dysfunction and dementia.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Researchers Find New Method to Measure Cognitive Impairment, Dementia “Marco Meglio, HCPlive, November 18, 2020

Psychiatric News (11/18) reports, “Certain symptoms of borderline personality disorder – especially chronic feelings of emptiness, fear of abandonment, and disturbances in one’s sense of identity – appear to be significantly associated with suicide attempts,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from the Collaborative Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders, a multisite, prospective study of adults with at least one of four personality disorders (schizotypal, borderline, avoidant, and obsessive compulsive) and a comparison group of adults with major depressive disorder.” Investigators focused on “the occurrence of suicide attempts in both groups over a 10-year period and examined the associations between specific symptoms and suicide attempts.” The findings of the 701-participant study were published online Nov. 18 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Specific Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder Linked to Suicide Risk, Psychiatric News, November 18, 2020

MedPage Today (11/18, Hlavinka) reports research indicates that “the prevalence of suicidal ideation among commercially insured women in the year before or after giving birth increased from 0.1% to 0.5%  from 2006 to 2017.” The study also revealed that “rates of self-harm…doubled during this time period, from 0.1% to 0.2%.” What’s more, “overall suicidality increased from 0.2% to 0.6%, adding up to about 24,000 suicidal women when extrapolated to the four million who give birth each year.” The findings were published online Nov. 18 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (11/17, Gramigna) reports, “Job insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant mental health burden among young adults,” researchers concluded in a study that analyzed “data from June 15 to June 30 of 4,852 young adults in this age range who were included in the weekly, cross-sectional Household Pulse Survey.” Next, the investigators “analyzed two job insecurity measures and four anxiety and depression measures using multivariable Poisson regression models, which they adjusted for race/ethnicity, age, sex, marital status and education.” The findings were published online Nov. 9 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19-related job insecurity linked to young adult mental health burden “Joe Gramigna, MA, Healio, November 17, 2020

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