HealthDay (10/8, Reinberg) reports, “Kids who reach puberty earlier than other kids are at an increased risk of harming themselves as teens,” investigators concluded. After examining “data from more than 5,000 boys and girls,” researchers concluded that “early puberty resulted in a higher risk for self-harm at age 16.” What’s more, “for girls, the risk continued into adulthood.” The findings were published online Oct. 6 in the journal Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences.

Related Links:

— “For Kids Who Hit Puberty Early, Risk of Self-Harm Rises “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, October 8, 2020

HealthDay (10/8, Reinberg) reports, “By about age 16, teens diagnosed with depression have substantially lower educational attainment,” investigators concluded after using “British health and education records to identify nearly 1,500 kids under 18 years of age with depression,” then comparing “educational attainment…with a group of young people who were not depressed.” The findings were published online in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Depressed Teens May Struggle in School “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, October 8, 2020

According to Psychiatric News (10/8), on Oct. 7, the American Psychiatric Association announced “the release of My Mental Health Crisis Plan, a mobile app that allows people with serious mental illness (SMI) to create a plan to inform their treatment should they experience a mental health crisis.” Using the app, individuals “can easily create and share a psychiatric advance directive (PAD), a legal document that outlines one’s preferences around treatment during a crisis.” In a news release, APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, said, “A psychiatric advance directive is an important tool for individuals with serious mental illness to be able to plan ahead and have some control over their treatment at a time when they may not be able to make decisions.”

Related Links:

— “New App Helps People With Serious Mental Illness Develop a Crisis Plan, Psychiatric News, October 8, 2020

Healio (10/7, Weller) reports, “Paternal self-efficacy in tasks like soothing or putting an infant to sleep was linked to a lower risk for depressive symptoms among fathers in the year after birth,” investigators concluded in a study that included “a total of 881 Black, Latino and white fathers of low socioeconomic statuses who lived in urban, mixed/suburban or rural areas.” The findings were published online Sept. 23 in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Fathers who actively parent infants may have lower risk for depression “Madison Weller, Healio , October 7, 2020

HealthDay (10/7, Reinberg) reports cocaine overdose deaths have nearly tripled over a period of five years, according to a CDC report. HealthDay adds, “After a period of stability, cocaine-induced deaths rose by about 27% per year, on average, from 2013 through 2018.”

Related Links:

— “Overdose Deaths From Cocaine Rising Dramatically “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, October 7, 2020

HealthDay (10/6, Gordon) reports researchers found “girls who played after-school sports in elementary school seem to have fewer symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) once they reach middle school.” The findings were published in Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Early School Sports Reduce ADHD Symptoms Years Later for Girls “Serena Gordon, HealthDay, October 6, 2020

CNN (10/6) reports “researchers at New York’s Columbia Business School and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Chicago found” that “being authentic” on Facebook might be beneficial for people’s mental health. The study’s authors said, “Being prompted to post in an authentic way was associated with more positive mood and affect, and less negative mood within participants. Our findings suggest that all individuals regardless of personality traits could benefit from being authentic on social media.” The study was published in Nature.

Related Links:

— “Being authentic on Facebook is better for your mental health, researchers say “Katie Hunt, CNN, October 6, 2020

Medscape (10/5, Brauser, Subscription Publication) reports researchers found “substance use disorders, particularly opioid addiction and smoking, are tied to an increase risk for COVID-19 and serious adverse outcomes including hospitalization and death.” The findings were published in Molecular Psychiatry. Dr. Andrew J. Saxon, professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and a member of the APA’s Council on Addition Psychiatry, said, “I found it pretty convincing that people who have substance use disorders are probably at higher risk for getting COVID-19 infection and more complications once they are infected.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (10/5, Belluck) reports in a study published in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, researchers at Northwestern Medicine found that almost a third of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 “experienced some type of altered mental function – ranging from confusion to delirium to unresponsiveness – in the largest study to date of neurological symptoms among coronavirus patients in an American hospital system.” In addition, the researchers found that “patients with altered mental function had significantly worse medical outcomes.”

TIME (10/5, Ducharme) reports the researchers also found that “out of 509 people admitted…for coronavirus care this spring, 82% had a neurologic symptom at some point.” TIME adds, “The most common neurologic symptoms were muscle aches and headaches, which were experienced by about 45% and 38% of patients, respectively.”

HealthDay (10/5, Preidt) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Nearly One-Third of Covid-19 Patients in Study Had Altered Mental State “Pam Belluck, The New York Times, October 5, 2020

Healio (10/3, Downey) reported, “There was a 32.5% increase in THC-exposed newborns at a Michigan hospital following the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state,” investigators concluded after identifying “the rate of newborn exposure to marijuana in utero prior to and following the legalization of recreational marijuana in Michigan in a 2018 vote.” The findings were presented during the AAP National Conference & Exhibition.

Related Links:

— “Number of THC-exposed newborns increases after recreational marijuana legalized “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, October 3, 2020