HCPlive (3/18, Walter) reports research “commissioned by the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) highlights a rise in drug overdoses over the last half a decade, particularly in urban areas.” Investigators from the CDC’s “National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Analysis and Epidemiology examined recent mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System…to further illuminate urban-rural differences in drug overdose death rates for all drugs and by selected types of opioids and stimulants.” The study also found “urban and rural differences in trends based on overdose deaths caused by different types of opioids.” The findings (PDF) were published online in NCHS Data Brief No. 403.

Related Links:

— “CDC Report Shows Troubling Opioid Overdose Trends “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, March 18, 2021

Healio (3/18, Gramigna) reports, “Trauma exposure appeared significantly associated with obsessive-compulsive symptoms among a community sample,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data included in the restricted access National Comorbidity Survey Replication…dataset,” the first part of which “included 9,282 participants who comprised a nationally representative sample aged 18 to 74 years,” and the second part of which “included 5,692 participants,” of whom “a total of 1,808 were assessed for OCD.” The findings were presented at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America annual conference (virtual).

Related Links:

— “People with trauma exposure at increased risk for obsessive-compulsive symptoms “Joe Gramigna, Healio, March 18, 2021

Psychiatric News (3/18) reports, “In response to the shooting of eight people, including six women of Asian descent, at spas in Georgia on” March 16, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) “issued a statement condemning the act and expressing support for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.” In a media release, APA President Jeffrey Geller, MD, MPH, stated, “This year has seen a significant increase in racism and xenophobia against Asian Americans, and it is unacceptable and harmful.” APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, said, “The tragedy that occurred in Georgia is becoming far too familiar.” Dr. Levin added, “We must be mindful that the mental health impacts of mass shootings are far reaching, touching families, communities, and the nation as a whole.”

Related Links:

— “APA Condemns Violence Against Asian Americans in Georgia, Psychiatric News, March 18, 2021

Bloomberg Law (3/17, Wille, Subscription Publication) reports, “The parents of a four-year-old autistic child who sued their health plan for categorically excluding an autism treatment called applied behavioral analysis can challenge this practice under the Affordable Care Act’s anti-discrimination rule but not federal benefits or mental health parity law,” according to Judge Tanya Walton Pratt of the Southern District of Indiana. Judge Pratt concluded the “plan’s ‘blanket exclusion’ for coverage of autism spectrum disorder treatments is valid under the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, because it doesn’t draw impermissible distinctions between mental health treatments and medical and surgical treatments.”

Related Links:

— “Family’s Challenge to Blanket Autism Coverage Exclusion Trimmed “Jacklyn Wille, Bloomberg Law, March 17, 2021

Healio (3/17, Vecchione) reports, “Stroke survivors may be more likely to attempt or die by suicide than people who have not had a stroke,” investigators concluded after analyzing data from “23 studies that included more than two million stroke survivors (mean age, 64 years; 52% women), of whom 5,563 attempted suicide or died by suicide.” The findings of the systematic review and meta-analysis were presented at the American Stroke Association’s virtual International Stroke Conference and published simultaneously online March 11 in the journal Stroke.

Related Links:

— “Suicide risk elevated among stroke survivors “Anthony Vecchione, Healio, March 17, 2021

Healio (3/16, Gramigna) reports researchers at Sapien Labs have released “a report that outlined global mental health during 2020.” The report, called Mental State of the World 2020, “found societal circumstance and behavior had an ‘enormous impact’ on mental wellbeing.” What’s more, the current pandemic “appeared to play an important role in changes in mental wellbeing between 2019 and 2020,” with “a total of 57% of respondents” experiencing “various negative health, financial or social consequences.”

Related Links:

— “Mental wellbeing declined significantly during 2020, global report finds “Joe Gramigna, Healio, March 16, 2021

Roll Call (3/16, Raman) reports, “House lawmakers are restructuring their bipartisan task forces dedicated to combating the drug epidemic and expect the chamber to consider behavioral health legislation this year, members told CQ Roll Call.” The changes are expected to “broaden the scope of legislative efforts beyond opioids to include all forms of addiction and mental health.”

Related Links:

— “House reshapes approach to mental health and addiction “Sandhya Raman, Roll Call, March 16, 2021

The AP (3/13, Swenson, Klepper) reported that “journalists, public health officials and tech companies” have sought to counter the “bogus claims about the virus, masks and vaccines [that] have exploded since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic a year ago,” but “much of the job of correcting misinformation has fallen to the world’s front-line medical workers.” The AP highlights that nurses are playing a key role in the effort, but concedes that “in some cases, it’s nurses and other health care workers themselves spreading misinformation. And many nurses say they encounter falsehoods about the coronavirus vaccine in their own families.”

Related Links:

— “Nurses fight conspiracy theories along with coronavirus “Ali Swenson and David Klepper, AP, March 13, 2021

The AP (3/12, Leicester) reported around the world, pediatric healthcare professionals are seeing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental health. In France, Japan, and other countries, physicians have reported increases in suicide attempts among children and teenagers. The AP adds, “Pediatric psychiatrists say they’re also seeing children with coronavirus-related phobias, tics and eating disorders, obsessing about infection, scrubbing their hands raw, covering their bodies with disinfectant gel and terrified of getting sick from food.”

Related Links:

— “Global rise in childhood mental health issues amid pandemic “John Leicester, AP, March 12, 2021

The Washington Post (3/12, Chiu) reported, “Several health-related organizations held a news conference Friday to raise alarm about the significant effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on Americans’ efforts to quit smoking.” In a report (PDF) released Friday, the “North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC) found a steep drop in calls during 2020 to the National Cancer Institute-operated portal that connects callers to local quitlines.” And “at the same time, the nonprofit noted, cigarette sales increased after years of steady decline, according to data from the Treasury Department.”

USA Today (3/12, Alltucker) reported, “Officials attributed the decline in calls…to stress, anxiety, depression and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)