The Washington Post (4/2, Achenbach) reports that almost half of the people in the US “feel the coronavirus crisis is harming their mental health, according to a survey” by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The article says that 45% of respondents reported that their mental health has been affected, and 19% reported it has a “major impact.” Joshua Morganstein, the chair of the APA’s Committee on the Psychiatric Dimensions of Disaster, said that it’s understandable people are feeling stressed during this time. He remarked, “It’s also important to remember that the vast majority of people, including all of us who are experiencing difficulties along the way, will ultimately do well. Finding and sharing creative solutions to the problems people are facing, taking care of ourselves and our families in the best way we are able, and staying connected to one another will remind us we are in this together and help us get through this difficult time.”

Related Links:

— “Coronavirus is harming the mental health of tens of millions of people in U.S., new poll finds, “Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post, April ,2 2020

The Hill (4/1, Deese) reports coronavirus is currently the third leading cause of death in the US, according to an analysis of CDC data conducted by Dr. Maria Danilychev of San Diego. The article says that deaths from coronavirus have surpassed those from Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and chronic lung disease “with 748 deaths per day and rising.” The article adds that the two leading causes of death in the US, heart disease and cancer, are responsible for 1,774 deaths per day and 1,641 deaths per day, respectively.

Coronavirus Cases Reportedly Increasing Among Healthcare Workers In The US. NBC News (4/1, Przybyla, Fitzpatrick) reports there is a growing number of coronavirus cases among healthcare workers in the US as experts predict that the total number of coronavirus cases will continue to rise for weeks. While differences in testing and tracking among states make it difficult to ascertain the precise rate, Minnesota and Ohio are both “reporting that up to 20 percent of those infected are health care professionals, a number in line with Italy and other hard hit regions of the world.” Dr. Mindy Oshrain, a psychiatrist in North Carolina, “told NBC News that some doctors and nurses are traumatized because they have no control over their personal safety. Some have taken to calling the day-to-day anticipatory worry over working conditions ‘pre-TSD’ – pre-traumatic stress disorder.”

Related Links:

— “Analysis: Coronavirus now third-leading cause of death in US, “Kaelan Deese, The Hill, April 1, 2020

The AP (4/1, Johnson, Cano) reports those who struggle with drug and alcohol addiction may face challenges in their recovery during the coronavirus pandemic. Physicians and therapists “are finding ways to work with patients in person or by phone and trying to keep them in treatment.” For instance, “in Olympia, Washington, a clinic for opioid addiction now meets patients outdoors and offers longer prescriptions of the treatment drug buprenorphine – four weeks, up from two – to reduce visits and the risk of infection,” according to one expert. In other areas, “federal health officials are allowing patients to take home methadone, another treatment drug.”

Related Links:

— “Virus outbreak creates new challenges for addiction recovery, ” Carla K. Johnson and Regina Garcia Cano, AP, April 1, 2020

Healio (4/1, Gramigna) reports, “Psychosocial stressors at work were linked to a higher risk for sickness absence among workers because of a mental disorder,” researchers concluded. Among the study’s conclusions was that “exposure to high psychological demands combined with low job control causes job strain, which can lead to health problems.” The findings of the 23-study “systematic review and meta-analysis” were published online April 1 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “On-the-job psychosocial stressors increase risk for sickness absence due to mental disorders, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, April 1, 2020

Healio (3/31, Gramigna) reports, “Patients at risk for suicide should be prevented from accessing” medications “with high case fatality rates,” investigators concluded after analyzing data on “421,466 poisoning suicidal acts that resulted in 21,594 deaths.” The findings of the “cross-sectional study” were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Restricting suicidal patients’ access to drugs with high case fatality rates vital to suicide prevention, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, March 31, 2020

Psychiatric News (3/30) reports that last week in a 6-3 ruling (pdf) in favor of the state in Kahler v. Kansas, “the US Supreme Court ruled…states can prevent criminal defendants from pleading insanity without violating their constitutional rights.” Both “experts in psychiatry and the law said that the decision could have significant consequences.” Paul Appelbaum, MD, “a member of APA’s Committee on Judicial Action,” said, “The most immediate impact of the case is on Kansas and the four other states that have elected to effectively get rid of their insanity defenses. Their laws will remain valid.” Meanwhile, “Debra Pinals, MD, chair of the APA Council on Psychiatry and Law,” stated, “Persons with serious mental illness who engage in criminal behavior living in states with narrower criteria for insanity, or in states with no insanity defense, will likely be found guilty and sentenced.”

Related Links:

— “Supreme Court Upholds States’ Rights to Nullify Insanity Defense, Psychiatric News, March 30, 2020

CNN (3/29, Holcombe) reports the US extended “its set of social distancing guidelines until April 30, President Trump said in a news briefing at the White House on Sunday.” President Trump “said he hopes the country will be on its way to recovery by June 1.”

Related Links:

— “US coronavirus cases top 139,000 as Trump extends social distancing guidelines until April 30, “Madeline Holcombe and Dakin Andone, CNN, March 29, 2020

The Hill (3/28, Moreno) reported that on Saturday, the number of deaths from coronavirus in the US passed 2,000 meaning the death toll in the US “doubled in the span of two days.” Meanwhile, “the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. now stands at over 120,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) said that an infant who tested positive for coronavirus has died marking the first coronavirus-related death of an infant in the US.

Related Links:

— “Confirmed coronavirus deaths in US hit 2,000, doubling in two days, “J. Edward Moreno, The Hill, March 28, 2020

Psychiatric News (3/27) reported that on March 27, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) “praised Congress for approving a $2 trillion stimulus aid package to provide fiscal relief for Americans and businesses in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the bill “includes many provisions supported by APA that will enable psychiatrists and mental health care professionals to better respond to the pandemic.” Trump signed the measure. APA President Bruce Schwartz, MD, said, “This stimulus bill will strengthen our ability to help the millions of Americans with existing mental illnesses or substance use disorders, and more with emerging mental health issues as the pandemic unfolds.” APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, stated, “As we respond to one of the largest public health threats facing our country in decades, funding for behavioral health initiatives and expanding telemedicine is critical.”

Related Links:

— “APA Praises Mental Health Provisions in COVID-19 Stimulus Aid Package, Psychiatric News, March 27, 2020

Reuters (3/26, Bernstein, Becker) reports, “The global coronavirus pandemic has infected at least 73,000 people and killed more than 1,000 in the United States as of Thursday afternoon.” As US authorities “have told residents to remain at home and limited all but essential healthcare, the directives aimed at saving lives have hit women particularly hard, healthcare [professionals] and patients said.” Maureen Sayres Van Niel, “a psychiatrist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and president of the American Psychiatric Association’s women’s caucus,” said: “We’re just hearing from a lot of women who are hitting a tipping point trying to do all of this. You just can’t get all the help that you normally would.”

Related Links:

— “Solo childbirth, halted fertility treatments: women’s healthcare takes hit from coronavirus, “Sharon Bernstein, Amanda Becker, Reuters, March 26, 2020