Healio (5/2, Gramigna) reported, “Anthony S. Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, provided an overview of lessons learned and remaining challenges” from the COVID-19 pandemic at the American Psychiatric Association’s virtual annual meeting. Discussing “psychiatric outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr. Fauci also “referenced a CDC study conducted in June 2020 that surveyed 5,470 U.S. adults and found 41% reported one or more adverse mental or behavioral health condition,” including “31% with anxiety or depression symptoms, 26% with trauma or stressor-related disorder symptoms, 13% who initiated or increased substance use and 11% who seriously considered suicide.”

Related Links:

— “Fauci gives overview of lessons learned from COVID-19 pandemic at APA annual meeting “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 2, 2021

HealthDay (4/29, Preidt) reports that even though “herbal kratom is used by less than 1% of the U.S. population,” its rate of use “is much higher among those who misuse opioid” analgesics, researchers concluded after examining “data collected from more than 56,000 U.S. teens and adults during the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health..” The study also revealed that “men, white people and those with depression and serious mental illness were also more likely to report using kratom.” The findings were published online in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Who Is Using Herbal Kratom? ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April 29, 2021

Psychiatric News (4/29) reports, “People who use prescription opioid” analgesics “along with the so-called Z-drugs (zolpidem, zopiclone, and zaleplon) for insomnia have a significantly higher risk of overdose than people who use opioids alone,” researchers concluded after using “the IBM Marketscan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental Database” to analyze “data on patients 15 to 85 years of age who had filled an opioid prescription between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2017,” then comparing “510,529 patients within this group who also began taking Z-drugs with an equal number of patients who were taking opioids alone.” The findings were published online April 26 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association

Related Links:

— “Psychiatric News, Psychiatric News, April 29, 2021

Healio (4/28, Gramigna) reports, “Children exposed to mass trauma were at increased risk for developing panic disorder,” investigators concluded in research assessing the “psychiatric effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on youths.” For the study, researchers “analyzed data from 6,991 students in grades six through 12 who participated in a New York City Board of Education post-Sept. 11 needs assessment study.” The findingswere published online ahead of print in the June issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Related Links:

— “Children with mass trauma exposure more likely to develop panic disorder “Joe Gramigna, Healio, April 28, 2021

MedPage Today (4/28, Monaco) reports, “Gender-affirming surgery can make a substantial beneficial impact on the mental health of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals,” investigators concluded. In their “secondary analysis of data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey,” investigators found that “undergoing at least one type of gender-affirming surgery nearly halved the likelihood of TGD individuals experiencing severe psychological distress within the past month,” and “those who underwent at least one gender-affirming surgery also reported significantly less suicidal ideation within the past year.”

HealthDay (4/28, Murez) reports the study comes “at a particularly critical time, as some states move to ban certain gender-affirming treatments and surgeries for transgender minors.” The findings were published online April 28 in JAMA Surgery.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (4/28, Preidt) reports, “Bullied and mistreated teens are much more likely to fantasize about hurting or killing others,” investigators concluded in a study that “included more than 1,400 young people in Zurich, Switzerland, who were asked about their thoughts and experiences at ages 15, 17 and 20.” The findings were published online April 27 in the journal Aggressive Behavior.

Related Links:

— “Being Bullied Often Leads Teens to Thoughts of Violence ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April 28, 2021

Psychiatric News (4/27) reports while “policy changes during the COVID-19 pandemic enabled physicians to deliver care via telehealth, people of all ages from across the country remain without access to such care due to a lack of reliable internet service and/or computers.” Marie Smith-East, Ph.D., D.N.P., and Shaquita Starks, Ph.D., A.P.R.N., wrote a letter to the editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, “While a large majority of youth in the United States have internet access, about 14% of youth ages 6 to 17 live in homes without internet and 17% of youth ages 3 to 18 live in homes without computers, numbers which translate to approximately 11 million youth without access to the internet.” In the letter, “Smith-East and Starks offered several recommendations for connecting youth without internet access and/or computers to remote mental health care, including the use of telephone consultations with psychiatrists; buses that go into local communities equipped with internet service and laptops, where patients can access telehealth appointments; and community internet hubs where youth can access the internet outside their home for telehealth appointments.”

Related Links:

— “‘Digital Divide’ May Further Worsen Mental Health Disparities in Youth, Psychiatric News, April 27, 2021

The Washington Post (4/27, Goldstein) reports, “The Biden administration released guidelines Tuesday to make it easier for [physicians] and other health-care practitioners to prescribe the drug buprenorphine to treat” patients with “opioid addiction, softening restrictions widely criticized as hampering the response to the opioid epidemic.” Under the new guidelines, physicians, “physician assistants, nurse practitioners and other [healthcare professionals] no longer will need to undergo training before they are allowed to prescribe” buprenorphine, “as long as they are prescribing the medication for no more than 30 patients at a time.”

The AP (4/27, Johnson) reports under the new guidelines, prescribers will also “no longer have to refer patients to counseling services.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (4/27, Collins) reports researchers surveyed “322 adults with COVID and a sudden change in smell or taste,” finding “56% reported decreased enjoyment in life and 43% admitted feeling depressed after losing their sense of smell.” The findings were published in the American Journal of Otolaryngology.

Related Links:

— “Nothing to Sniff at: Depression Common for People With COVID-Linked Smell Loss “Sarah D. Collins, HealthDay, April 27, 2021

Healio (4/26, Gramigna) reports, “An increase in the consumption of foods rich in polyunsaturated fats may decrease suicide risk,” researchers concluded in a study that sought to “assess whether having distinctive fatty acid profiles was linked to observed fatty acid levels among a sample of 800 U.S. military members who died by suicide between 2002 and 2008 and 800 demographically matched living controls, as well as whether an association existed between those latent classes and suicide and mental health diagnoses.” The findingswere published online Feb. 23 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Higher polyunsaturated fat consumption may reduce suicide risk “Joe Gramigna, Healio, April 26, 2021