Psychiatric News (8/18) reports, “Compared with other common antipsychotics, clozapine appears most likely to decrease the risk of suicidal outcomes in patients with schizophrenia,” investigators concluded after examining data from “two nationwide register-based cohort studies of 61,889 patients with schizophrenia who lived in Finland and 29,823 patients with schizophrenia who lived in Sweden.” The findings were published online Aug. 15 in the Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Related Links:

— “Clozapine Found Most Likely of Common Antipsychotics to Reduce Risk of Suicide in Patients With Schizophrenia, Psychiatric News, August 18, 2020

The Wall Street Journal (8/17, Reddy, Subscription Publication) reports a federal committee recommends that men should not consume more than one alcoholic drink per day. The committee is recommending changes to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Related Links:

— “Men Urged to Limit Alcohol to One Drink a Day Amid New Concerns, “Sumathi Reddy, The Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2020

HCPlive (8/17, Walter) reports researchers “used phenotypic and genomic data from over 100,000 UK Biobank participants to systematically screen and validate a wide range of potential modifiable factors for depression,” extracting “baseline data for 106 modifiable risk factors [for] depression including lifestyle measures such as exercise, sleep, media, and diet, social factors including support and engagement, and environmental variable[s] such as green space and pollution.” After using “Mendelian randomization evidence,” investigators concluded that certain factors were “actionable targets for preventing depression.” The findings were published online Aug. 14 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “More Risk Factors Predict Future Depression, “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, August 17, 2020

Psychiatric News (8/14) reported, “Yoga may help relieve symptoms for patients with generalized anxiety disorder [GAD], but group cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) should remain a first-line treatment,” investigators concluded after comparing “the six-month response rates of 155 patients who were randomized to 12 weeks of Kundalini yoga, CBT, or education about stress.” The findings were published online Aug. 12 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Yoga May Help Relieve Anxiety Symptoms, But CBT Is More Effective, Psychiatric News, August 14, 2020

The AP (8/16) reports that Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) are working on proposed legislation(PDF) that “would create mental health telemedicine services for veterans in rural parts of the country.” The bipartisan “bill would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to create programs at three VA facilities that use computerized cognitive behavioral therapy to treat veterans who suffer from conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Related Links:

— “US reps eye mental health telemedicine for rural veterans, AP, August 16, 2020

NPR (8/13, Mann) reports “drug overdoses are spiking during the coronavirus pandemic, rising by roughly 18%,” according to data from the University of Baltimore’s Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP). Aliese Alter, ODMAP program manager, said, “Overdose clusters have shifted from traditional centralized urban locations to adjacent and surrounding suburban and rural areas.” The AMA “has also raised alarms about the link between COVID-19, addiction and drug overdoses, particularly in Black and Latinx communities.” Dr. Patrice Harris, the head of the AMA’s opioid task force, said “This pandemic has brought into stark reality many things.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. Sees Deadly Drug Overdose Spike During Pandemic, “Brian Mann, NPR, August 13, 2020

Modern Healthcare (8/13, Livingston, Subscription Publication) reports, “Employers and other commercial payers spend little on behavioral health treatment, even though people with behavioral health conditions tend to have higher healthcare costs than those who don’t,” investigators “from the consulting firm Milliman” concluded after analyzing “commercial insurance claims for 21 million people.” The study revealed that “behavioral health treatment was meager, accounting for a fraction – 4.4% – of total healthcare costs across the 21 million people.” Click here to see the findings. Commenting on the study, Jeffrey Geller, MD, “president of the American Psychiatric Association, which is part of a private-sector initiative called The Path Forward for Mental Health and Substance Use, which commissioned the study,” stated, “It’s almost unimaginable how small a percentage of money went toward psychiatric care and treatment.”

Related Links:

— “Behavioral health patients spur 57% of commercial healthcare spending, “Shelby Livingston, Modern Healthcare, August 13, 2020

USA Today (8/13, Dastagir) reports the coronavirus pandemic “is having a significant impact on Americans’ mental health, according to a new survey (8/13)” from the CDC. The CDC survey “found elevated levels of symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorders, substance use and suicidal ideation among U.S. adults, and identified populations at increased risk, including young people, racial and ethnic minorities, essential workers and caregivers of adults.”

The Hill (8/13, Wilson) reports according to the survey, 41% “of Americans said they were suffering from one or more symptoms of serious mental health problems.” Around 13% “said they were drinking or using drugs more because of the stress of the pandemic,” and almost 11% “said they had seriously considered suicide in the last month, including more than a quarter of those between the ages of 18 and 24 years old.”

HealthDay (8/13, Mundell) also covers the survey.

Related Links:

— “The pandemic is taking a toll on Americans’ mental health. A new CDC study shows who we need to worry about most, “Alia E. Dastagir, USA TODAY, August 13, 2020

Kaiser Health News (8/12, Huetteman) reports public health officials have said that people who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 should stay home and not go to work, but healthcare workers who test positive for the virus are often pressured to return to work. According to Kaiser Health News, “hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities have flouted that simple guidance, pressuring workers who contract COVID-19 to return to work sooner than public health standards suggest it’s safe for them, their colleagues or their patients.”

Related Links:

— “Nurses and doctors sick with COVID feel pressured to get back to work, “Emmarie Huetteman , Kaiser Health News, August 12, 2020

STAT (8/12, Cooney) reports that some individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 “say they can’t think.” Even those “who were never sick enough to go to a hospital, much less lie in an ICU bed with a ventilator, report feeling something as ill-defined as ‘Covid fog’ or as frightening as numbed limbs.” Experts told STAT that “as many as 1 in 3 patients recovering from [COVID-19] could experience neurological or psychological after-effects of their infections…reflecting a growing consensus that the disease can have lasting impact on the brain.”

Related Links:

— “Long after the fire of a Covid-19 infection, mental and neurological effects can still smolder, “Elizabeth Cooney, STAT, August , 2020