The New York Times (9/29, Swift, Goodnough) reports since the COVID-19 pandemic began, opioid-related deaths have increased in more than 40 states. The pandemic disrupted daily life for many in recovery by reducing access to treatment, disrupting employment, and isolating people from those they depend on for support.
Related Links:
— “‘The Drug Became His Friend”: Pandemic Drives Hike in Opiods Deaths ” Hilary Swift and Abby Goodnough, The New York Times, September 29, 2020
CNN (9/29, Mascarenhas) reports researchers at the RAND Corporation found “Americans over 30 have been drinking more during the coronavirus pandemic compared to this time last year, and there could be consequences to their physical and mental health.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.
TIME (9/29, Kluger) reports that “during the week ending March 21, national alcohol sales increased 54% from the same week a year before and online sales leapt a staggering 262%.” The researchers also found that “adults reported drinking 14% more than they did the year before.”
Other sources covering the story include: HealthDay (9/29, Mozes), MedPage Today (9/29, Walker), and Medscape (9/29, Brooks, Subscription Publication).
Related Links:
— “Americans over 30 have been drinking more during the coronavirus pandemic, research shows ” Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN, September 29, 2020
Psychiatric News (9/29) reports that while “specialty team-based services for first-episode psychosis (FEP) have the potential to improve outcomes among patients with schizophrenia,” in a viewpoint article, psychiatrists Maria Ferrara, MD, and Vinod H. Srihari, MD, of Yale University “described several factors that may disadvantage women in terms of both access to and quality of care in FEP services.” Those factors include “age of onset,” “clinical presentation,” “pathways to care,” “sexual and reproductive health,” and “preventive medicine.” The viewpoint was published online Sept. 23 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.
Related Links:
— “Women With First-Episode Psychosis Not Getting Targeted Care They Need Psychiatric News, September 29, 2020
The AP (9/28, Morgan) reports, “While suicide has long been a problem in the U.S. military, numbers have risen this year by as much as 20% as service members struggle with isolation and other impacts of COVID-19, added to the pressures of deploying to war zones and responding to national disasters and civil unrest.” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, soldiers returning home earlier this year were restricted from visiting families and friends out-of-state and “patriotic welcome home ceremonies were replaced with a mandatory two-week quarantine.” The AP adds that the US Army is considering different measures, such as shortening deployment periods, to improve well-being and reduce suicides.
Related Links:
— “As suicides rise, Army brass reassessing outreach “Sarah Blake Morgan, AP, September 28, 2020
Healio (9/28, Miller) cites researchers in reporting that “the FDA has often approved new drug applications for opioids based on trials of inadequate length that included only patients who could tolerate the drugs.” The researchers “examined 48 new drug applications (NDAs) that were approved by the FDA between 1997 and 2018.” The trials that supported the applications “lasted a median of 84 days” though according to one researcher, many patients would take these medications for longer than that. The findings were published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Related Links:
— “FDA approved opioids based on limited data, sometimes ‘flawed’ trial designs “Janel Miller, Healio, September 28, 2020
Medical Daily (9/28) reports, “Alcohol use during pregnancy causes problems with the baby’s brain as it develops,” research indicates. The study revealed that “children whose mothers drank even small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy had behavior and emotional problems.” The findings were published online Sept. 25 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.
Psychiatric News (9/28) reports investigators came to the study’s conclusion after analyzing “data from 9,719 children aged 9 to 11 who are part of the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development” study.
Related Links:
— “Think 1 Drink Won’t Harm Your Unborn Baby? Think Again Medical Daily, September 28, 2020
According to Healio (9/28, Gramigna), “young adults with” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), especially “women, were at increased risk for depression, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts vs. those without” the disorder, investigators concluded after analyzing “commercial claims data to determine the impact of” AD/HD and gender “on risk for depression, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among 162,263 and 22,705 young adult women and men, respectively.” The findings were published online Sept. 22 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
Related Links:
— “Young adults with ADHD at increased risk for depression, suicidal behavior “Joe Gramigna, Healio, September 28, 2020
Healio (9/25, Gramigna) reported, “Monitoring of cognitive function may be warranted among middle- and older-aged individuals who sleep for four or fewer or 10 or more hours per night,” investigators concluded after “evaluating the link between sleep duration and cognitive decline by analyzing data of several waves of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study among a population-based setting.” The findings of the “pooled cohort study” were published online in JAMA Network Open.
Related Links:
— “Insufficient, excess sleep may cause cognitive decline among middle-, older-aged people “Joe Gramigna, Healio, September 25, 2020
The AP (9/27, Baldor, Burns) reports military suicides “have increased by as much as 20% this year compared to the same period in 2019, and some incidents of violent behavior have spiked as service members struggle under COVID-19, war-zone deployments, national disasters and civil unrest.” While the data “is incomplete and causes of suicide are complex, Army and Air Force officials say they believe the pandemic is adding stress to an already strained force.” And senior Army leaders “– who say they’ve seen about a 30% jump in active duty suicides so far this year – told The Associated Press that they are looking at shortening combat deployments.”
Forbes (9/27, Reimann) also reports.
Related Links:
— “Military suicides up as much as 20% in COVID era “Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns, AP, September 27, 2020
Psychiatric News (9/25) reported, “The prevalence of serious mental illness (SMI) among people who live in assisted-living communities is rising faster than in the community at large,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from the Medicare Master Beneficiary Summary File, a ZIP code history file, OASIS home health assessment data, Medicare Part B claims, a national list of state licensed assisted-living communities, and a Residential History File.” The data revealed that “over the 10-year period studied, the prevalence of SMI in assisted living increased by 54%, compared with an increase of 39% in the community at large.” The findings were published online Sept. 18 in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Related Links:
— “Serious Mental Illness on Rise Among Residents of Assisted-Living Communities, Psychiatric News, September 25, 2020