Psychiatric News (10/31) reported a study found “patients with mental illness who received a model of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) that integrates local police into ACT teams (ACT-PI) had significantly fewer overall police encounters than before their entry into treatment.” The overall “rates of monthly police interactions decreased significantly for individuals after admission to the ACT-PI program, from an average of one occurrence every two months to one occurrence every three months.” In addition, “clients with a history of violence showed a decrease in violent occurrences and an increase in mental health–focused interactions with police.” According to researchers, this finding “suggests that ACT-PI program admission might reduce the risk of violent behaviors that can put staff and the public in danger while facilitating police interactions that focus on mental health.” The study was published in Psychiatric Services.

Related Links:

— “Assertive Community Treatment With Police Involvement Leads to Fewer Overall Police Encounters, Psychiatric News , October 31, 2025

CNN (10/30, McPhillips) reports, “Children may be more likely to be diagnosed with autism and other neurodevelopment disorders if their mother had” COVID-19 “while pregnant, according to a new study.” Investigators “analyzed more than 18,000 births that occurred…March 2020 and May 2021, assessing records for laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 tests among the mothers and for neurodevelopment diagnoses among their children through age 3.” The investigators “found that children born to mothers who had COVID-19 during pregnancy were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with a neurodevelopment disorder than those born to mothers who did not have an infection while pregnant: more than 16% versus less than 10%, or a 1.3 times higher risk after adjusting for other risk factors.” The findings were published in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Related Links:

— “Autism diagnosis rates higher among children born to mothers who had Covid-19 during pregnancy, study suggests,”Deidre McPhillips, CNN, October 30, 2025

Psychiatric News (10/30) reports a study found that adults with serious mental illness (SMI) are more likely to develop long COVID, or “post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC).” The researchers “used health records data from the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network to compare outcomes over six months for 1.6 million U.S. adults with a confirmed COVID-19 infection between March 2020 and October 2022 who also attended a follow-up visit 30 or more days postinfection.” They observed that “among patients with a prior SMI, 28% developed PASC. After adjusting for demographics, people with any SMI were 10% more likely to develop PASC. The increased risk held true for each individual SMI category; COVID patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or recurrent depression were 7%, 14%, and 8% more likely to develop PASC, respectively.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Adults with Serious Mental Illness Face Increased Risk of Long COVID, Psychiatric News, October 30, 2025

The Los Angeles Times (10/30, Purtill) reports that clinics have advertised “something called magnetic e-resonance therapy, or MERT, as a therapy for autism.” The clinics “licensing MERT have claimed that their trademarked version of the treatment can also produce ‘miraculous results’ in kids with autism, improving their sleep, emotional regulation and communication abilities. A six-week course of MERT sessions typically costs $10,000 or more.” However, the FDA “hasn’t approved MERT for this use.” Although off-label prescribing “is a legal and common practice in medicine,” a group of researchers “argue in a new peer-reviewed editorial in the medical journal Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation” that when “such treatments are offered to vulnerable people,” they should be “evidence-based, clearly explained to patients and priced in a way that reflects the likelihood that they will work as advertised. Most clinics advertising off-label TMS as a therapy for autism don’t meet those standards, the researchers say.” The editorial singles out MERT as an “example of off-label TMS where there is negligible evidence of efficacy.”

Related Links:

— “Families pay thousands for an unproven autism treatment. Researchers say we need ethical guidelines for marketing the tech,”Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, October 30, 2025

NPR (10/29, Chatterjee) reports a study found that “teens who start using cannabis before age 15 are more likely to use the drug often later in their lives.” Study results indicate that “they are also more likely to develop mental and physical health problems in young adulthood compared to their peers who did not use the drug in adolescence.” Researchers found that “early, frequent cannabis users had a 51% higher chance of seeking care for mental health problems in young adulthood compared to those who didn’t use the drug.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Teens who use weed before age 15 have more trouble later, a study finds,”Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, October 29, 2025

The New York Times (10/29, Abelson, Sanger-Katz) reports the administration “has released a preview of the available plans sold through” ACA “marketplaces in 30 states, giving Americans who buy their own health insurance a first look at just how much prices would go up.” Insurers have significantly increased rates “for next year – an average of about 30% for a typical plan in the 30 states where the federal government manages markets, and an average of 17% in states that run their own markets, according to a new analysis from KFF.” However, “the biggest impact for nearly all Americans covered by” ACA “plans will occur with the expiration of generous subsidies at the end of the year unless Congress extends them.” Prices on healthcare.gov “reflect that change using calculations based on a return to the lower subsidy levels offered before 2021.”

Related Links:

— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Healio (10/28, Monostra) reports researchers wrote in a study that “GLP-1s hold promise as a potential treatment for alcohol and substance use disorders.” The researchers “discussed how GLP-1s are tied to several changes in the central nervous system and suggested the activation of GLP-1 receptors could reduce ‘drug-seeking and consummatory behaviors.’” They wrote “that some studies have found certain forms of obesity have phenotype characteristics that resemble addiction. Additionally, some therapies used to treat alcohol or substance use disorders, such as naltrexone and topiramate, are also used for obesity.” They called for “more research, including more studies to assess the mechanisms of GLP-1s as they relate to substance use disorders and more randomized controlled trials to evaluate efficacy and safety.” The studywas published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

Related Links:

— “GLP-1s may offer ‘real impact’ for treating alcohol and substance use disorders,”Michael Monostra, Healio, October 28, 2025

HealthDay (10/28, Gotkine) reports a study found that “trauma exposure and traumatic stress are common among adolescents.” The researchers “described rates of trauma exposure and traumatic stress symptoms among youth aged 11 to 19 years who presented to primary care clinics for well-child visits between July 2022 and June 2024.” They observed that “15.5 percent of 24,675 youth reported trauma exposure and 7.5 percent reported moderate or high symptoms of traumatic stress. The researchers found that the likelihood of reporting a traumatic experience was higher for female and Hispanic youth. High anxiety and/or depression symptom scores were seen in only half of youth with high traumatic stress symptoms.” They noted that “compared with those with low or moderate traumatic stress, adolescents with trauma and high traumatic stress were 10 times more likely to have a high risk for suicide, representing 48 percent of all youth at high risk for suicide.” The study was published in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Trauma Exposure, Traumatic Stress Common in Adolescents,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, October 28, 2025

The American Journal of Managed Care (10/27, Shaw) reports a study found that “clinicians continue to diagnose new cases of opioid use disorder (OUD) among publicly insured youth, even though opioid use continues to drop overall among this group.” The study “employed data from January 2020 through December 2023 from 2 groups of youths: adolescents aged 10 to 17 years and young adults aged 18 to 24 years.” Researchers observed the “overall rate of new OUD diagnoses was 0.27%; of new nonfatal opioid-involved overdose, 0.09%; and of OUD and new nonfatal opioid-involved overdose, 0.04%. The adolescent group accounted for 15% of new OUD diagnoses and the young adult group accounted for 85%. New nonfatal overdose rates were 23% and 77%, respectively, and OUD and nonfatal overdose rates were 13% and 87%.” In response, “researchers are calling for more and better screenings of at-risk youth due to high rates of co-occurring mental health disorders and nonfatal opioid-involved overdoses in youth with OUD.” The study was discussed in a JAMA Pediatrics research letter.

Related Links:

— “With New OUD Diagnoses on the Rise, More Comprehensive Screenings Needed,”Maggie L. Shaw, The American Journal of Managed Care, October 27, 2025

Psychiatric News (10/27) reports the APA’s latest Healthy Minds poll found that just 19% of Americans are familiar with kratom. Nevertheless, “America’s Poison Centers have noted that reports of kratom exposure are increasing across the country: 1,690 kratom-related cases were logged in the first seven months of 2025, more than the entirety of 2024.” The FDA in recent months has “taken steps toward banning certain forms of kratom, sent a warning letter about the substance to clinicians, and announced early steps toward federal regulation. Several states have already banned kratom and/or its psychoactive chemicals, while others have placed restrictions on its purchase.” Meanwhile, the poll “also asked about other unregulated substances marketed for mental health purposes, including kava, blue lotus, wild lettuce, salvia, mugwort, and yohimbe. Less than 8% of those polled were very familiar with any of these.” APA President Theresa M. Miskimen Rivera, MD, said in a statement, “It’s alarming that substances with addictive potential such as kratom are widely available and sold in convenience stores.”

Related Links:

— “Most Americans Don’t Know What Kratom Is, Poll Finds, Psychiatric News, October 27, 2025