Psychiatric News (6/24) reports, “The percentage of children presenting to emergency departments (EDs) with mental illness and substance use disorders rose dramatically between 2007 and 2016, with visits related to deliberate self-harm increasing by more than 300%,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from the 2007 to 2016 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.” The study revealed that over the period of a decade, “the total number of pediatric ED visits was stable, but pediatric ED visits for all mental health disorders rose 60% and visits related to substance use disorder rose 159%.” Meanwhile, over this time period, “ED visits for deliberate self-harm increased by 329%.” The findings were published in the June issue of Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Threefold Increase Seen in Children Visiting Emergency Departments for Deliberate Self-Harm, Psychiatric News, June 24, 2020

Healio (6/23, Gramigna) reports, “Despair appeared associated with increased risk for suicidality and substance misuse among young adults,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data of 1,420 participants of the Southeastern, mixed urban-rural population-based Great Smoky Mountains Study, which was conducted between Nov. 10, 1992 and Sept. 22, 2015.” The findings of the 1,420-participant study were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Despair among young adults may increase risk for suicidality, substance misuse, “Joe Gramigna, Healio , June 23, 2020

HealthDay (6/23, Reinberg) reports, “People with schizophrenia have a suicide rate 170 times higher than the general population,” investigators concluded after examining “20 years of population data, including information on 75,000 patients with schizophrenia,” each of whom “was followed for about 10 years, on average.” The findings were published online June 2 in the journal Schizophrenia Research.

Related Links:

— “Suicide Rate 170 Times Higher for People With Schizophrenia, “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, June 23, 2020

According to MedPage Today (6/22, Hlavinka), children “whose parents were diagnosed with serious mental illness had a greater risk of sustaining injuries through age five years than those with undiagnosed parents,” investigators found. In the study, “among nearly two million parent-child pairs, children whose parents were diagnosed with depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder more frequently had injuries requiring a doctor’s visit, like burns, fractures, and poisonings, through age five versus children with undiagnosed parents.” The findings were published online June 22 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Parents’ Severe Mental Illness Tied to Infant, Toddler Injury, “Elizabeth Hlavinka, MedPage Today, June 22, 2020

Healio (6/22, Gramigna) reports, “Several pharmacologic treatments, including vitamin E, may reduce symptoms of tardive dyskinesia,” investigators concluded. Researchers also found that “VMAT2 inhibitors exhibited significant benefit,” as did “vitamin B6.” The findings of the multi-study meta-analysis and systematic review published online May 26 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Vitamins E, B6, VMAT2 inhibitors may reduce tardive dyskinesia symptoms, “Joe Gramigna, Healio , June 22, 2020

HealthDay (6/19, Preidt) reported, “The coronavirus pandemic is adding to the mood issues that many pregnant women and new moms experience, according to a new study.” Among the pregnant women and women who’d given birth in the last year, the research indicates that “before the pandemic, 29% had moderate to high anxiety and 15% reported symptoms of depression,” but “during the pandemic, those rates increased to 72% and 41%, respectively.” Moreover, “sixty-four percent of women said they were getting less physical activity now, while 15% were doing more and 21% had no change in activity,” according to the findings published in the journal Frontiers in Global Women’s Health.

Related Links:

— “Pandemic Affecting Mental Health of Pregnant Women, New Moms, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 19, 2020

USA Today (6/21, O’Donnell) reports that “amid projections of soaring suicide, drug and alcohol deaths from the pandemic-spawned social and economic collapse,” many mental health and substance abuse treatment centers and their patients are struggling. Such facilities have “been largely left out of the murky formula for federal COVID-19 health care funding, which has focused on the immediate financial impact on hospitals caring for patients with the virus and lost revenue from elective procedures.”

Related Links:

— “As suicide, addiction death projections soar amid COVID-19, treatment centers struggle to stay alive too, “Jayne O’Donnell, USA TODAY, June 21, 2020

Healio (6/18, Gramigna) reports, “Women with severe or recurrent depression were more likely to relapse during pregnancy after antidepressant discontinuation,” investigators concluded in a “systematic review and meta-analysis,” the findings of which were published online in Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Antidepressant discontinuation linked to relapse among pregnant women with depression, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, June 18, 2020

Healio (6/17, Gramigna) reports researchers found that male adolescents with conduct disorders who were arrested with a gun, and who specifically had “callous-unemotional traits,” had an increased risk of carrying and using a gun in a subsequent crime during the next 4 years. These traits were defined as having limited guilt, reduced empathic concern, reduced displays of appropriate emotion, and a lack of concern over performance in important activities. These findings were discovered after evaluating 1,215 male, juvenile offenders from 3 regions of the U.S. at 6 month intervals for three years, and again at 4 years. The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Psychiatric News (6/17) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Specific traits among adolescents increase risk for gun use, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, June 17, 2020

HealthDay (6/17, Preidt) reports researchers in Australia found that “children of mothers with long-term depression have an increased risk of behavioral problems and poor development.” The researchers examined levels of depression “in the mothers before, during and after pregnancy,” and “also analyzed their children’s development and behavior.” The findings were published in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology.

Related Links:

— “Mom’s Depression Can Lead to Behavior Problems in Kids, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 17, 2020