Reuters (1/29, Carroll) reports researchers found that “nearly half of deployed soldiers thinking about suicide show no obvious signs that would help mental health professionals identify them.” The researchers analyzed “data on almost 4,000 soldiers serving in Afghanistan in 2012” and “found that 40% of those who said they had contemplated suicide in the past 30 days had not been diagnosed with a major mental health problem and did not show any other signs that would help [healthcare professionals] to identify them as being at risk.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Many soldiers thinking about suicide show no signs, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, January 30, 2020

HealthDay (1/28, Preidt) reports, “Girls tend to be diagnosed with autism at an older age than boys, perhaps delaying essential treatment,” research indicated. Included in the study were “the first 1,000 participants in the Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment.” The study revealed that “on average, girls were diagnosed with autism nearly 1.5 years later than boys.”

Healio (1/28, Gramigna) reports that the study also “reported a high rate of co-occurring psychiatric and medical conditions among those affected.” For example, “approximately 50% of participants reported another neurodevelopmental disorder, such as” AD/HD “or intellectual disability; 44.1% reported a psychiatric disorder; 42.7% reported a neurological condition, such as seizures/epilepsy, migraines, or tics; 92.5% reported at least one general medical condition and approximately 33% reported other behavioral problems.” The findings were published online Jan. 20 in the journal Autism Research.

Related Links:

— “Girls With Autism Diagnosed Later Than Boys, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 28, 2020

Medscape (1/28, Franki, Subscription Publication) reports, “The Food and Drug Administration is strengthening a previous warning regarding the uncommon risk of serious bowel complications associated with the schizophrenia medication clozapine.” According to an FDA press release, “clozapine affects bowel function in a majority of patients, and constipation is a common adverse event associated with clozapine use.” These effects “can uncommonly progress to serious bowel complications, including complete bowel blockage, and can result in hospitalization or even death if the constipation is not diagnosed and treated quickly.”

Related Links:

— “FDA Strengthens Bowel Complication Warning for Clozapine, “Lucas Franki, Medscape, January 28, 2020

Reuters (1/27, Carroll) reports that “more than a third of gynecologists don’t screen for” depression in perimenopausal women, according to a study published in Menopause, “even though studies have shown that some 40% of women experience depression as they go through menopause.” Researchers surveyed gynecologists and found that “while most of the gynecologists surveyed said they believed they could recognize depression in perimenopausal women, almost half did not feel confident in their ability to treat depressed patients.” The article mentions that the researchers sent survey invitations to 500 members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and 206 participated.

Related Links:

— “Depression common in lead-up to menopause, but few gynecologists screen for it, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, January 27, 2020

HealthDay (1/27, Preidt) reports research indicated that “children and teens in U.S. areas with greater levels of poverty face a higher risk of suicide.” Researchers arrived at that conclusion after having “analyzed federal government data on suicides in children and teens aged 5 to 19 that occurred from 2007 to 2016.” What’s more, the study revealed that “youth suicide by guns was 87% more likely in areas with the highest poverty levels.” The findings were published online Jan. 27 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Psychiatric News (1/27) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Poverty Could Drive Up Youth Suicide Risk, ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 27, 2020

Medscape (1/27, Anderson, Subscription Publication) reports, “Early life adversity including neglect and physical, emotional, and sexual abuse is the single biggest risk factor for psychiatric disorders,” researchers concluded in “what has been described as a seminal review.” The findings of the review paper were published in the January issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Top Risk Factor for Mental Disorders Identified, “Pauline Anderson, Medscape, January 27, 2020

Healio (1/24, Gramigna) reported, “Adolescents who were cyberbullied experienced greater psychiatric symptom severity, including for depression and PTSD,” researchers concluded after collecting and analyzing “data on the prevalence of social media utilization and cyberbullying victimization from 50 inpatients aged 13 to 17 years.” The findings of the “questionnaire-based study” were published online Jan. 14 in Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Victims of cyberbullying report higher levels of depression, PTSD, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, January 24, 2020

STAT (1/24, Thielking) reported, “Sometimes, in especially intense moments in the emergency” department, “a staffer might have to take the drastic step of physically restraining a patient who is in mental health crisis.” ED “staffers themselves have described it as an exceedingly difficult process, rife with the tension between providing good care and feeling physically threatened.” But, “how does a patient feel during the experience, and how does that affect a person’s care and recovery?”

MD Magazine (1/24, Rosenfeld) reported, “Patients with behavioral disorders who were physically restrained in the emergency department reported distrust in the healthcare system and psychological distress,” researchers concluded after interviewing “25 adults who were physically restrained during” a visit to the ED. The study team “found three major themes from the interviews: harmful experiences of restraint use and care provision; diverse and complex personal contexts affecting visits to the emergency department; and challenges in resolving their experiences which resulted in worsened well-being.” The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “‘Traumatic as hell’: Patients describe what it’s like to be restrained in the ER, “Megan Thielking, STAT, January 24, 2020

HealthDay (1/23, Preidt) reports, “Gun violence appears to deliver more long-term damage to survivors than car crashes do,” researchers concluded after assessing “63 gunshot injury survivors who were treated at three trauma centers in Boston.” Investigators “found that six to 12 months after suffering their injuries, 68% reported daily pain; 53% screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); 39% said they had a new limitation in a daily living activity such as walking, cooking, eating or going to the bathroom; and 59% had not returned to work.” The findings were published online in the Annals of Surgery.

Related Links:

— “More Lasting Damage From Gun Violence Than Car Accidents, ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 23, 2020

Reuters (1/23, Rapaport) reports, “While only a minority of transgender youth who want puberty-blocking medicines receive this treatment,” research “suggests they may have a lower suicide risk when they get it.”

CNN (1/23, Christensen) reports investigators arrived at this conclusion after “analyzing data from the 2015 US Transgender Survey, involving 20,619 people between the ages of 18 and 36 years old.” The findings were published online Jan. 23 in Pediatrics. Currently, “at least six states are trying to restrict transgender kids from getting gender reassignment treatments.”

Providing similar coverage are Newsweek (1/23, Gander) and MedPage Today (1/23, Monaco).

Related Links:

— “For some trans youth, suicide risk lowers with puberty suppression, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, January 23, 2020