CNN International (5/18, Wolf) publishes a telephonic question-and-answer session with California surgeon general Dr. Nadine Burke Harris about the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on children. Harris mentions the 10 criteria for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that were identified in a CDC Kaiser study. According to Harris, “What we’re seeing in the Covid pandemic is that intimate partner violence is increasing, substance use is increasing, mental health disorders are increasing. And because of that on the one hand, we are seeing an increase in the traditional ACEs and that’s of really significant concern.” Harris adds, “What we understand about the way in which activation of the stress response system leads to long-term health risks, there’s one piece of that that’s really, really important – which is that if kids get adequate buffering caregiving, that can biologically buffer that stress response and prevent those harms.”

Related Links:

— “For some kids, the effects of this pandemic will last forever, “Zachary B. Wolf, CNN, May 18, 2020

Psychiatric News (5/18) reports, “Among the many ways COVID-19 has adversely impacted mental health is via the economic recession” the pandemic has caused. Now, utilizing “gleamed from previous economic crises, a team of specialists has suggested several health policy actions that may mitigate some of the impact of this recession.” The experts recommended increased “investment in suicide depression,” extended “expansion of telehealth services,” development of “support systems that connect patients to social services,” and “health insurance coverage for people who lose coverage through their employer.” Their recommendations (pdf) were published online ahead of print in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Researchers Recommend Strategies to Mitigate Risks Due to COVID-19 Economic Impact, Psychiatric News , May 18, 2020

CNN (5/18, Azad, Lamotte) reports that “delirium, confusion and agitation may be common in severe coronavirus infections while patients are hospitalized, according to a new review of studies published Monday.” The study said “long-term, psychiatric problems after battling Covid-19 may not occur in the majority of patients, although much more research is still needed.” The study, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, “looked at 72 different studies on two historical coronaviruses, as well as current studies on Covid-19, trying to hone in on any links between the diseases and psychiatric problems.” However, “information on post-recovery of patients is scarce at this time, so the study had no data on the long-term mental impact of Covid-19, and only 12 low-to-moderate quality studies on hospitalized patients to analyze, seven of which have not been scientifically vetted.” Meanwhile, “the study only looked at severe Covid-19 cases in which individuals have been treated in a hospital, and therefore doesn’t address the possible impact of milder or asymptomatic cases of the disease.”

Related Links:

— “Delirium and agitation may follow Covid-19 infection, study says, “Arman Azad and Sandee LaMotte, CNN, May 18, 2020

NPR (5/14, Dembosky) reports that some people are newly motivated to quit smoking based on reports of smokers being more likely to become infected with SARS-CoV-2 and more likely to develop severe symptoms. For example, “early studies suggest that smokers who develop COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, are 14 times more likely to need intensive treatment compared with nonsmokers.”

Related Links:

— “Fear Of Contracting Coronavirus Propels Some Smokers To Quit, “April Dembosky, NPR, May 14, 2020

CNN (5/14, Alfonso) reports that fears of contracting COVID-19 “have infected thousands of people suffering with substance abuse disorders around the Appalachian region, where substance abuse experts, doctors and state officials have seen a rise in relapses as the US struggles with the coronavirus pandemic.” Public health officials also “say the pandemic is aggravating the problem by forcing people in recovery into isolation, stripping them of crucial support systems and causing some to relapse.” In response “to this grim reality, officials in the region are developing new medical practices and guidelines to help an already at-risk community cope with the pandemic.”

Related Links:

— “The pandemic is triggering opioid relapses across Appalachia, “Fernando Alfonso III, CNN, May 14, 2020

NPR (5/14, Kamenetz) reports, “In response to a call on social media, parents across the country shared with NPR that the mental health of their young children appears to be suffering as the weeks of lockdown drag on.” According to Dr. Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the editor-in-chief of the journal JAMA Pediatrics, the problem “isn’t just learning loss.” Christakis says a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics “documents elevated depression and anxiety among children under lockdown in China.” Christakis wrote an editorial, also published in JAMA Pediatrics, arguing “that the risks to children’s learning, social-emotional development and mental health need to be better balanced with the risks of spreading the coronavirus.”

Related Links:

— “With School Buildings Closed, Children’s Mental Health Is Suffering, “Anya Kamenetz, NPR, May 14, 2020

Kaiser Health News (5/13, Gold, Hawryluk) reports that “from cafeteria staff to doctors and nurses, hospital workers around the country report frustrating failures by management to notify them when they have been exposed to co-workers or patients known to be infected with COVID-19.” There are “some medical centers” that “do carefully trace the close contacts of every infected patient and worker, alert them to the exposure and offer guidance on the next steps.” However, “others, by policy, do not personally follow up with health workers who unknowingly treated an infected patient or worked with a colleague who later tested positive for the virus.”

Related Links:

— “Hospital Workers Complain of Minimal Disclosure After COVID Exposures, “Jenny Gold and Markian Hawryluk, Kaiser Health News, May 13, 2020

NPR (5/13, Noguchi) reports, “Mental health specialists are working now to bolster the resilience of Americans who are suffering from feelings of despair — in hopes of preventing increases in suicides among people who are under increased pressure during the coronavirus pandemic.” NPR adds that experience with past natural disasters “shows that a rise in suicide often happens in the months after the immediate physical dangers of the disaster have passed.” Dr. Roger McIntyre, professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto, said, “The two most replicated, robust factors linked to suicide are economic change – downturn – and social disconnection,” and both are present during the current pandemic.

Related Links:

— “Act Now To Get Ahead Of A Mental Health Crisis, Specialists Advise U.S., “Yuki Noguchi, NPR, May 13, 2020

CNBC (5/12, Higgins-Dunn) reports, “As millions of Americans lose their jobs and economists predict a slow recovery, mental health professionals warn that the prolonged financial and personal stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic increases the risk of suicide, especially in people already grappling with depression and anxiety.” Dr. Vaile Wright, director of clinical research and quality for the APA, said, “We’re in for a long-term mental health crisis.” Dr. Wright added that people should engage in activities to maintain their well-being, such as staying connected to people virtually, “They sound very simple, but they provide the structures that need to protect our mental health. When we’re able to do that and have some sort of even keel, then we can figure out, ‘OK, what do I do about the fact that I don’t have a job?’”

Related Links:

— “Coronavirus crisis creates ‘perfect storm’ for suicide risk as job losses soar and people are isolated at home, “Noah Higgins-Dunn, CNBC, May 12, 2020

CNN (5/11, Fox) reports that the “first US study of autism in adults estimates that 2.2% of Americans adults have an autism spectrum” disorder, totaling “5.4 million people age 18 and older, or about 1 in 45 people, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.” The CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities said, “This is the first CDC study to provide estimates of the number of U.S. adults with autism and fills a gap in data on adults living with autism spectrum disorder in the United States because there is no existing surveillance system to collect this information.”

Related Links:

— “First US study of autism in adults estimates 2.2% have autism spectrum disorder, “Maggie Fox, CNN, May 11, 2020