Healio (10/29, Weller) reports, “Stigma and potential career consequences may prevent ED physicians from seeking mental healthcare…poll data discussed during an American College of Emergency Physicians’ teleconference” indicated. Currently, “depression and burnout are common among ED physicians, according to Mark Rosenberg, DO, MBA, FACEP, president-elect of ACEP,” who “cited research indicating about 6,000 ED physicians in the U.S. contemplated suicide and almost 400 had a suicide attempt in 2018.”

Related Links:

— “ED physician’s death by suicide sparks dialogue on culture, policy changes “Madison Weller, Healio, October 29, 2020

HealthDay (10/29) reports, “Maternal use of valproic acid, but not lamotrigine, is associated with an increased risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (AD/HD) “among children,” investigators concluded after using “Swedish-registry data to examine the risks for ASD and” AD/HD “in 14,614 children born from 1996 to 2011 to women with epilepsy.” Researchers then examined “maternal-reported first-trimester use of any antiseizure medications and the three most commonly reported individual” medicines “(valproic acid, lamotrigine, and carbamazepine).” The findings were published online Oct. 28 in the journal Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Maternal Use of Valproic Acid Linked to ASD, ADHD in Offspring, HealthDay, October 29, 2020

Psychiatric News (10/29) reports, “Patients with co-occurring depression and substance use disorders may be less likely to receive optimal depression treatment than those with depression alone,” investigators concluded after analyzing data on 53,034 patients who were diagnosed with a depressive disorder in fiscal year 2017 in the US Veterans Health Administration. The findings were published online Oct. 29 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Depression Care Suboptimal for Patients With Comorbid Substance Use Disorders, Study Finds, Psychiatric News, October 29, 2020

Healio (10/28, Gramigna) reports, “Transgender or gender-nonconforming adolescents may have increased risk for various mental health challenges,” investigators concluded after seeking “to compare the mental health status of” transgender or nonconforming “adolescents in China with that of their cisgender peers.” They did so by analyzing “questionnaire data of 12,108 adolescents from 18 secondary schools in one city in China.” The findings of the “cross-sectional survey study” were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Transgender adolescents at increased risk for numerous mental health challenges “Joe Gramigna, Healio, October 28, 2020

MedPage Today (10/28, Hlavinka) reports researchers surveyed 543 Chinese-American parents and found that “Chinese Americans are experiencing more racial discrimination and it appears to be affecting their mental health.” In the survey, “the proportion who reported experiencing racial discrimination in-person and online due to COVID-19 was 50.9% and 31.7%, respectively.” The findings were published in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (10/28, Bakalar) reports, “Long-term exposure to noise may be linked to an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia,” investigators concluded after conducting “periodic interviews with 5,227 people 65 and older participating in a study on aging.” After controlling for confounding factors, researchers “found that each 10 decibel increase in community noise level was associated with a 36 percent higher likelihood of mild cognitive impairment, and a 29 percent increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease.” The findings were published online Oct. 20 in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

Related Links:

— “Long-Term Noise Exposure May Be Tied To Increased Risk For Dementia, Study Indicates “Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times, October 28, 2020

Fox News (10/28, Rivas) reports, “Intense sadness, hopelessness and anxiety among new mothers may last up to three years after childbirth,” researchers concluded. For the study, investigators “examined data on 5,000 women from the Upstate KIDS study in New York and found that about one in four moms experienced high levels of depression up to three years after birth.” The findings were published online Oct. 28 in Pediatrics.

According to Psychiatric News (10/28), the study also revealed an apparently higher risk “for women who have a history of depression and/or gestational diabetes.”

Related Links:

— “Women May Continue to Experience Symptoms of Postpartum Depression 3 Years After Giving Birth, Psychiatric News, October 28, 2020

MedPage Today (10/27, Dotinga) reports “more than half of 862 emergency physicians surveyed said they’re very concerned (24%) or somewhat concerned (33%) about losing their jobs if they seek mental-health treatment, according to a survey released” by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Mark Rosenberg, DO, MBA, president-elect of ACEP, said, “Working in the front lines over the past 6 months dealing with COVID really increased the crisis. … This was not business as usual. Despite the growing toll that serving on the frontlines is having on emergency physicians, many emergency physicians feel they can’t seek the mental-health treatment that they need.” MedPage Today adds “ACEP, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and other medical societies are supporting the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act (S. 4249; HR 8094),” which would establish “grants and other support to prevent suicide and burnout among students, residents, and professionals in the healthcare industry.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (10/27) reports, “The percentage of young children with private insurance who were prescribed antipsychotics declined from 2009 to 2017,” investigators concluded in a study that looked at “trends in antipsychotic prescribing to children aged two to seven years who were privately insured, as recorded in a commercial claims database,” with a particular focus “on children who received prescriptions for first- and second-generation antipsychotics from 2007 through 2017.” The findings were published online Oct. 19 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Prescribing of Antipsychotics to Young Children Is Declining, Study Suggests, Psychiatric News, October 27, 2020

The AP (10/26, Pane, Stobbe) reports deaths from coronavirus are increasing each day in the US and overall cases are increasing in 47 states. The AP adds that “average deaths per day across the country are up 10% over the past two weeks, from 721 to nearly 794 as of Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.” Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, said the current surge is due to the combination of “pandemic fatigue,” “pandemic anger,” and cold weather. Dr. Osterholm added, “When you put those three together, we shouldn’t be surprised what we’re seeing.”

Bloomberg (10/26, Levin) reports the record spike in cases “started with young Americans,” but “is increasingly finding older communities at elevated risk of severe illness.” According to the latest CDC data, “counties with the largest 65-and-over populations are now recording on average 18.9 daily cases per 100,000 residents, 67% higher than a month ago.”

Related Links:

— “Coronavirus deaths are rising again in the US, as feared “Lisa Marie Pane and Mike Stobbe, AP, October 26, 2020