Psychiatric News (10/11) reported, “Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) who do not live with their family are not more likely to be prescribed antipsychotics to manage challenging behaviors like aggression,” a recent study found.

Investigators “analyzed medical chart data from 112 adults with ID who received care at a regional health system from 2019 to 2021” and found that “about 60% of all patients were prescribed antipsychotics, with the highest proportion of prescribing found for adults in group homes or other supported living.” The research was published in Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice.

Related Links:

— “Living Situation of People With ID Does Not Appear to Influence Antipsychotic Prescribing Decisions,” Psychiatric News, October 11, 2024

HCPlive (10/10, Brooks) reports, “New research is calling attention to the burden of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, providing new evidence highlighting various unmet needs for patients with these conditions.” Using “data from the Healthcare Integrated Research Database, the study found patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder had high levels of comorbidities and healthcare resource utilization, frequently incurring elevated costs but receiving suboptimal treatment that they often discontinued, leading to relapse.” The findings were published in Schizophrenia.

Related Links:

— “Study Describes Unmet Needs in Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder Management,” Abigail Brooks, MA, HCP Live, October 10, 2024

HealthDay (10/10, Mundell ) reports, “A new study finds persistent loneliness taking a toll on aging brains and significantly raising a person’s odds for dementia.” Researchers “found loneliness was linked to a 31% rise in the likelihood that a person would go on to develop any form of dementia.” Additionally, loneliness “raised the chances of cognitive impairment in people by 15%.” The findings were published in Nature Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Loneliness Raises Odds for Dementia by 31%,” Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, October 10, 2024

Reuters (10/10, Singh) reports, “Roughly 15.5 million U.S. adults have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and most of them struggle with gaining access to treatment for the condition, according to data from a U.S. study released on Thursday.” Approximately “one-third of those reporting a diagnosis of ADHD said they had received a prescription for a stimulant drug used to treat it in the previous year, researchers reported in the” CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The study also found that “nearly three quarters of those with a prescription for a stimulant drug reported difficulty getting it filled because the medication was unavailable.”

Related Links:

— “More than 15 million US adults have ADHD, new study estimates,” Puyaan Singh, Reuters, October 10, 2024

HealthDay (10/9, Mundell ) reports, “A study tracking almost 10,000 9- and 10-year olds for two years finds a link between time spent watching TV and other screens with…higher odds for ADHD and depression.” Researchers found that “kids with the highest levels of daily time spent staring at screens had…10% higher odds for depression, a 7% higher risk for conduct issues, and a 6% higher risk for ADHD, compared to children with lower rates of screen use.” The findings were published in BMC Public Health.

Related Links:

— “More Screen Time Tied to Mental Health Risks for Tweens,” Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, October 9, 2024

USA Today (10/9, Rodriguez ) reports research found that “it’s far more common to live through childhood trauma than to grow up without it.” A “study found that 3 in 4 high school students experienced at least one potentially traumatic event involving violence, abuse or exposure to mental health or substance use problems.” The study also found “1 in 5 high school students said they experienced at least four of these potentially traumatic events.” The findings were published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

HealthDay (10/9, Gotkine ) reports “emotional abuse, physical abuse, and household poor mental health were the most common” adverse childhood experiences (61.5, 31.8, and 28.4 percent, respectively).

Related Links:

— “Most high school students say they’ve had a traumatic experience as a kid,” Adrianna Rodriguez, USA Today, October 9, 2024

The New York Times (10/8, Ghorayshi ) reports, “About 3.3 percent of high school students identify as transgender and another 2.2 percent are questioning their gender identity, according to the first nationally representative survey on these groups, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday.”

Gender-questioning and transgender “teenagers reported alarmingly higher rates of bullying at school, persistent sadness and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, according to the survey, which was carried out in 2023.” Roughly “one in four transgender students said they had attempted suicide in the past year, compared with 11 percent of cisgender girls and 5 percent of cisgender boys.” The findings were published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (10/8) reports, “Women with mild to moderate depression or anxiety and no other mental illnesses who discontinue antidepressants during pregnancy do not appear to experience adverse psychiatric outcomes postpartum, according to a study.” Researchers found that “individuals who discontinued their antidepressants during pregnancy also used fewer days of sick leave 1.5 years after childbirth compared with those in the continued use group (45 days vs. 53 days).” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Stopping SSRIs/SNRIs During Pregnancy Not Tied to Adverse Outcomes in Women With Milder Symptoms,” Psychiatric News, October 8, 2024

Healio (10/8, Mahoney ) reports, “Adults with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder had increased risk for severe infection outcomes while exposed to antipsychotics compared with nonexposure periods, according to a study.” The researchers said, “Based on our findings and in corroboration with previous findings, it seems reasonable to consider recommending pneumococcal (and potentially other anti-infective) vaccination for individuals with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder, who are older than 40 years, and are treated or due to commence treatment with antipsychotic medication.” The findings were published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Antipsychotic use tied to severe infection risk in patients with schizophrenia,” Moira Mahoney, Healio, October 8, 2024